Please note that these listings are updated frequently. The best way to be instantly notified about new show postings is to subscribe to my BestNewYorkComedy.com blog and allow for email notifications, and/or to follow me on Twitter (@hybender) or Instagram (@hybenderny).
In addition, you can use the links below to explore the schedules of all the major comedy venues in NYC; and you can find excellent live comedy recommendations weekly via The New York Times.
That said, my top NYC comedy recommendations for April 2018 include:
Sunday 4/1: Not technically comedy, but with Alice Cooper as King Herod potentially amusing. Set your recording devices to NBC at 8:00 pm for Jesus Christ Superstar: Live in Concert
Sunday 4/1: Tim Platt, Peter Mills Weiss, and Lorelei Ramirez perform their best absurdist mini-plays, aided by Sydnee Washington, Theda Hammel, Ike Ufomadu, Becca Blackwell, and Ieva Miseviciute: Sloop Jumbly (7:30 pm, $12, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Sunday 4/1: Improvisors—who are also experienced Shakespearian actors—David Brummer, George Hider, and Conor Mullen perform new plays from the Bard made up on the spot springboarding off an audience suggestion: As You Will: Shakespearean Improv (7:00 pm, $8, The PIT Underground at 123 East 24th Street)
Monday 4/2: Andrew Rose Gregory (above; musician who's a member of the fabulous Autotuning Gregory Brothers), Marie Faustin (above; co-host of 99.5 FM's Tall Tales in the Big City and podcast The Unofficial Expert; former host of Oxygen's Very Real Talk; VH1, TruTV, MTV's Girl Code and Vidiots), Alise Morales (Managing Editor/Video Producer of Betches), and Shane Baker (vaudeville historian) perform and/or are interviewed by host Nat Towsen (VICE, College Humor)—who will also be doing a trivia contest with prizes for the audience: Downtown Variety Hour (7:30 pm, $9, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)
Tuesday 4/3: The brilliant Anthony Atamanuik and his team put on another hour-long special tonight, this time with President Trump hosting a telethon to raise money for all the projects he can’t get Congress to fund such as The Wall and infrastructure—plus "these mouthy porn stars aren't going to pay themselves off." Scheduled highlights include Kathy Griffin playing Kellyanne Conway. Debuting on Comedy Central at 11:00 pm: Make America Great-A-Thon: A President Show Special
Tuesday 4/3: A wild monthly pun competition hosted tonight by Fred Firestone (co-author with Jo Firestone of #1 bestselling Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers), with 18 audience members fiercely competing for wordplay dominance: Punderdome 3000 (8:00 pm; $10—sold out of advance tickets, but there'll be 150 tickets available at the door; Brooklyn's Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Tuesday 4/3: Briefly visiting from LA to endure our colder weather is the great Kyle Kinane (Jimmy Fallon, Conan O'Brien, @midnight, Drunk History; Comedy Central hour-long specials Whiskey Icarus, I Liked His Old Stuff Better, and Loose in Chicago; recurring character on TruTV's Those Who Can't; has opened for Patton Oswalt and Daniel Tosh), warming up his NYC comedy muscles before headlining tomorrow at Brooklyn's Bell House. Also on the lineup are Mo Rocca (reporter for CBS' Sunday Morning, former correspondent for The Daily Show), Drew Michael (writer for Saturday Night Live; Comedy Central Half Hour; NBC's The Carmichael Show), Julian Velard (singer/songwriter; pianist for NPR's Ask Me Another), Dion Flynn (Jimmy Fallon), and more, all performing for host Seth Herzog's (long-time staff comic for Jimmy Fallon; 30 Rock, @midnight, CBS, VH1) seminal weekly stand-up & variety show: Sweet (9:00 pm, $10, The Slipper Room at 167 Orchard Street)
Tuesday 4/3: Storytellers Kate Greathead, Gail Thomas, Kate Sheridan, Simone McKitterick, and David Hutell tell tales on this month's science theme of Diagnosis, ranging from arguing with doctors to arguing with insurance companies to self-diagnosis via WebMD, hosted by Tracy Rowland & Paula Croxson: The Story Collider: Diagnosis (8:00 pm, $12, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Wednesday 4/4: A stand-up who's performed on Jimmy Fallon, Conan O'Brien, @midnight, and Drunk History, starred in three Comedy Central hour-long specials (Whiskey Icarus, I Liked His Old Stuff Better, and Loose in Chicago), is a recurring character on TruTV's Those Who Can't, and has opened for Patton Oswalt and Daniel Tosh performs a long stand-up set in Brooklyn: Kyle Kinane (7:30 pm, $30, Brooklyn's The Bell House at 149 7th Street; take R subway to 9th Street or F/G to Fourth Avenue)
Wednesday 4/4: Stand-ups try to solve the world's problems—with this month's theme Indulgences—using PowerPoint, video, and more, featuring tonight's sages Geoffrey Asmus, Kate Hannigan, Nathan Macintosh, Josiah Madigan, and Brock Mahan hosted by Kevin McCaffrey: Serious Matters: Indulgences (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Wednesday 4/4: One of the very best shows at UCB is by Jay Malsky, a super-charged & hilarious character comic who also sings beautifully. This 25-minute solo musical shows off all of Jay's strengths, as he plays a variety of women whose boyfriends he stole. With musical direction by Jody Shelton, choreography by Zak Sommerfield, and taped vocals by David Carl & Taylor Ortega, this production establishes Jay Malsky as a vibrant rising star with a great comedy career ahead of him. If you're in the industry and looking for fresh talent, come check this out: Jay Malsky Slept With My Boyfriend! (9:30 pm; $9—which includes a second show, I'm Your Mommy; UCB Hell's Kitchen at 555 West 42nd Street)
Thursday 4/5: Amber Tamblyn (above) hosts this release party for comedic poet Derrick C. Brown and his book Hello. It Doesn't Matter, featuring Jon Glaser & H. Jon Benjamin, Elna Baker, Emily Wells, and Mahogany Browne: Hello. It Doesn't Matter: Book Release Party and Variety Show (8:00 pm, $15, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Thursday 4/5: Because there isn't enough strife pitting the living against each other, tonight comics roast long-past historical figures and events, ranging from Rasputin to The Beat Generation to The 1968 Democratic Convention, featuring Christi Chiello, Matt Strickland, Emily Winter, Sonia Denis, Yedoye Travis, Colby Smith, Akilah Huges, and Pat Wise: The Roast of History (10:30 pm, $8, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Friday 4/6: "Do you ever leave a comedy show saying 'Hmm, that was pretty funny but not enough reading'? Literati is a night of comics in character performing hilarious readings—sometimes while wearing wigs," with comics Mitra Jouhari (above left; writer for Full Frontal with Samantha Bee and The President Show), Branson Reese (above right; cartoonist/comic; Cartoon Network's We Bare Bears, The Onion, WNYC), Laura Thomas, and Joe Castle Baker hosted by Colin O'Brien & Michael Wolf: Literati: A Comedy Show About Books and the Idiots Who Write Them (9:00 pm, $10, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Friday 4/6: Sixteen comics—including John Reynolds, Connor O'Malley, Mitra Jouhari, Joe Pera, and Carmen Christopher—perform characters, songs, and a variety of other comedic bits: Yardsale Comedy Night (10:00 pm, $8, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Friday 4/6: Becky Drysdale (top right; appeared in 30 Rock, Orange is the New Black, Key & Peele, Kroll Show, The League; writer for HBO's High Maintenance, Comedy Central's Key & Peele, FX's Baskets; genius improvisor who's a member of Baby Wants Candy and Gravid Water) and Mike Carlsen (top left; cast member of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) are the guests of brilliant improvisor & character comic Connor Ratliff (bottom right; TruTV's The Chris Gethard Show; The Stepfathers), who transforms into "filmmaker George Lucas (Radioland Murders) as he embarks upon an exciting new career as a comedian and talk show host!" He's joined by talk show sidekick Griffin Newman (bottom left; brilliant character/improv comic; Arthur on Amazon's The Tick, Jared Kushner on Showtime's Our Cartoon President, HBO, CBS, MTV, TBS; feature films Draft Day, Fort Tilden, Night Moves) "as they revolutionize the talk show format the same way Lucas once revolutionized cinema:" The George Lucas Talk Show (Midnight, $9, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)
Saturday 4/7: This monthly show & podcast that interviews luminaries about what it's like to have a dreamy job tonight offers a spectacular all-star lineup: Anthony Atamanuik (brilliantly innovative comic; star of Comedy Central hit The President Show; Trump vs. Bernie, 30 Rock, Conan O'Brien; wrote A Viewer's Guide to Donald Trump for The New York Times), Masha Gessen (famed Russian activist/journalist and National Book Award winner; books include The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia and Never Remember: Searching for Stalin's Gulags in Putin's Russia; translator for FX's The Americans), and Martha Plimpton (iconic Emmy Award winning actress; co-star of ABC sitcom The Real O'Neals; films include The Goonies, The Mosquito Coast, Running on Empty, Parenthood, Samantha, Raising Hope, and Small Town Murder Songs), with songs from the wonderful Lucy Wainwright Roche and music from Chris "Shockwave" Sullivan (amazing human beatbox; The Daily Show, The Electric Company, Freestyle Love Supreme, co-host of Battlicious—see directly below) & Andrew Bancroft, all hosted by Catie Lazarus: Employee of the Month (7:30 pm, $20, LES' Abrons Arts Center at 466 Grand Street; take F to Delancey Street or J/M/Z to Essex Street; part of NYC PodFest 2018)
Saturday 4/7: The cast member on HBO’s Silicon Valley who hilariously plays Jian-Yang, the Asian guy who refuses to leave, is both an actor who's appeared on numerous series (e.g., It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D) and a stand-up comic. Get to know him better tonight as he performs a long set in Brooklyn: Jimmy O. Yang; How to American (7:30 pm, $25, Brooklyn's The Bell House at 149 7th Street; take R subway to 9th Street or F/G to Fourth Avenue)
Saturday 4/7: A fun freestyle rap contest with NYC comics (not announced), plus a volunteer from the audience!, hosted by superstar human beatbox Chris "Shockwave" Sullivan (above left; The Daily Show, The Electric Company, Freestyle Love Supreme, Employee of the Month—see directly above) and Victor Varnado (above right; Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Comedy Central): Battlicious (11:30 pm, $9, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)
Sunday 4/8: Jacqueline Novak (exceptionally smart, fresh stand-up; Jimmy Fallon, James Corden, Comedy Central Half Hour, Inside Amy Schumer, HBO; comedy album Quality Notions; book How to Weep in Public) and Chris Laker (Jimmy Kimmel; comedy album Moments of Greatness; opens for Mike Birbiglia) vacation from stand-up tonight to tell long stories, produced by Mike Birbiglia because "I’ve noticed that some of the special guests on my tours have great stories that they don’t always tell on stage. The stories are longer. Sometimes they’re uncomfortable. But they’re also very, very funny. So often we hear comics make reference to some crazy situation or encounter but we don’t hear the whole thing. So that’s what this show is..." The Whole Story (7:00 pm, $15, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Sunday 4/8: The fabulous Emmy Blotnick (above; brilliant rising star stand-up who's performed on Stephen Colbert and stars in an upcoming Comedy Central Half Hour; Head Writer for Comedy Central's The President Show; former writer for Comedy Central's @midnight, Roast of Rob Lowe, and Not Safe with Nikki Glaser; MTV, VH1) and Nimesh Patel (exceptionally sharp stand-up; staff writer for Saturday Night Live; Comedy Central, TruTV; written for Chris Rock hosting the 2016 Oscars; co-host of Broken Comedy) headline this weekly stand-up show hosted by Gianmarco Soresi (Seeso; sketch group Uncle Function; acclaimed FringeNYC play <50%) & Jay Schmidt: The Last Laugh (8:00 pm, $8, The PIT Underground at 123 East 24th Street)
Sunday 4/8: The wonderful Ashley Brooke Roberts (middle row; energetic, enormously likeable stand-up, sketch comic and actress; stellar co-host of Fresh Out and Camp; former writer for NatGeo Explorer and MTV's Guy Code; UCB Maude sketch groups The Prom and Absolutely) hosts—starting from top row, left to right—Liza Treyger (fresh, fierce, fearless stand-up; Seth Meyers, Comedy Central Half Hour, Horace and Pete, Chelsea Lately), Sam Morril (Stephen Colbert, Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Half Hour, America's Got Talent), Luke Mones (videos for The Howard Stern Show, Funny or Die), Jim Tews (rising star; Louie, Last Comic Standing; host of Homeschooled and co-host of Fresh Out; New York Times bestselling author of Felines of New York; comedy album I Was in Band), Tommy McNamara (The Onion, Seeso), and Beecher Taylor performing stand-up, produced by Kara Klenk (writer for MTV's Girl Code & Guy Code and contributor to Broad City): If You Build It (7:30 pm, $9, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)
Monday 4/9: Al Gore (played by Rollie Williams) won't stand for his message about our planet dying being ignored, so he's begun this show on the current state of climate change, with tonight's guests Sudi Green (writer for Saturday Night Live), Bowen Yang (Comedy Central's Broad City; member of sketch group Pop Roulette; co-host of podcast Las Culturistas) and Peter Smith (trans stand-up; Carolines), directed by Mark Vigeant with music by Will Moritz: An Inconvenient Truth 3: Maybe I Wasn't Clear the First Two Times (7:30 pm, $12, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Monday 4/9: Because there isn't enough division in America, this monthly show strives to create more discord by asking the musical question "Whose side are you on: Jessica Simpson ("I Wanna Love You Forever," Sweet Kisses, Irresistible, In This Skin) or her younger sister Ashlee Simpson ("Pieces of Me," Autobiography, I Am Me, Bittersweet World)?" Comic Mo Fry Pasic argues for Jessica and Greta Titelman makes the case for Ashlee, with illustrative diva drag performances by Shuga Cain and more, plus music from DJ Molly Austin, with fabulous hosts Christi Chiello (Comedy Central's Roast Battle, MTV's Girl Code, TruTV, co-host of White Chocolate, stellar solo show It's Christi, B*tch!) & Matteo Lane (Seth Meyers, Comedy Central, MTV's Guy Code & Girl Code): Battle of the Divas: Jessica Simpson vs. Ashlee Simpson (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Monday 4/9: Shane Torres (above; fresh, hilarious stand-up; Conan O'Brien, IFC's Comedy Bang Bang, stand-up album Established 1981), Matthew Broussard (Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Half Hour), Julia Claire (NPR, Nerdist), and Max & Nicky (musical twins Max & Nicky Weinbach) perform for this weekly Brooklyn stand-up show hosted by Jo Firestone (staff writer for Jimmy Fallon, co-author of #1 bestselling Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers), Aparna Nancherla (co-star of HBO's Crashing, Netflix's Master of None, and Comedy Central's Corporate), and/or Maeve Higgins (Maeve in America, co-host of Nat Geo's Star Talk): Butterboy with Jo, Aparna, and Maeve (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Monday 4/9: Comics share tales of their favorite femme fatales, with guests Tija Mittal, Lindsay Pasarin, Stephanie Fagan, Robin Browne, and Allison Huntington Chase hosted by Madame Morbid (Madame Morbid's Trolley Tours in Brooklyn): Death Becomes Her (9:30 pm; $13.71 in advance online or $15 at the door; LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Monday 4/9: Ilana Glazer (co-star of Comedy Central red-hot hit Broad City), Nikki Glaser (host of You Up on SiriusXM Comedy Central Radio; star of former Comedy Central series Not Safe; film Trainwreck; hour-long special Perfect; Jimmy Fallon, Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central Half Hour, Inside Amy Schumer, @midnight; NBC's America Ninja Warrior: Celebrity Edition; podcast You Had to Be There), Erik Bergstrom (above right; Comedy Central Half Hour, cartoonist/author of Grimmer Tales, The New Yorker), Krystyna Hutchinson (above left; with comedy partner Corinne Fisher, host of popular Guys We Fucked podcast and author of F*CKED: Being Sexually Explorative and Self-Confident in a World That’s Screwed), Nick Kocher (writer for Saturday Night Live; previously wrote for Marvel and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia; half of sketch duo BriTANicK), and more perform stand-up hosted by the charming Ruby Karp: We Hope You Have Fun (7:30 pm, $9, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street; Please Note: This is SOLD OUT, but you might get in if you arrive early and are okay with standing)
Monday 4/9: For over nine years, under the guidance of brilliant comedy booker Jeremy Levenbach, and the extraordinary hosting of Leo Allen and Aparna Nancherla, Whiplash became NYC's best-ever free stand-up show—and one of the finest comedy showcases anywhere—attracting such star drop-ins as Louis C.K., Chris Rock, Amy Schumer, John Oliver, Jim Gaffigan, Daniel Kitson, and pretty much any other top comic who happened to be in town and wanted to try out material. (To learn more, please click here.) Aparna recently left the show for a paid gig, co-hosting Butterball Mondays at 8:00 pm at Littlefield. Now Whiplash has followed Aparna's lead, exiting UCB to become a paid show at Union Hall, with Jeremy continuing to do the booking. It may take a while to select a new permanent host, and the lineup is almost never announced in advance; but chances are this will remain one of the top stand-up shows in the country. Come see a classic reinvent itself, now as a paid weekly event in Brooklyn: Whiplash (10:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Monday 4/9: Whiplash, which was NYC's best-ever free stand-up show, has moved to Union Hall (where it's now $10, but hopefully will continue to be transcendently great). Taking its Mondays-at-11:00 pm time slot at the UCB mainstage is a new show that sounds a great deal like UCB's much-missed School Night, which packed as many as a dozen guests into 75 minutes performing stand-up, characters, sketch, improv, and occasionally acts that defied categorization. The level of talent varied wildly; but for some, like me, that was part of the laid-back fun. If you care to support experimentation, and can patiently wait for periodic magical surprises, consider giving this new showcase a chance in the hope that, like School Night, it becomes a uniquely organic rollercoaster ride. Hosted by the multi-talented Morgan Miller (sharp improvisor, sketch comic, and stand-up), it's time to reveal the Dirty Laundry (11:00 pm, Free! (make reservation here), UCB Hell's Kitchen at 555 West 42nd Street)
Tuesday 4/10: This benefit for Everytown for Gun Safety features a great lineup Ilana Glazer (co-creator, co-writer, and co-star of of Broad CIty), Aparna Nancherla (one of the very finest stand-ups in the country; co-star of HBO's Crashing and 2 Dope Queens, Netflix's Master of None and The Standups, and Comedy Central's Corporate; former writer for Seth Meyers; Conan O'Brien, @Midnight, Comedy Central Half Hour, comedy album Just Putting It Out There), Jo Firestone (one of the most relentlessly inventive comics in the biz; staff writer for Jimmy Fallon; star of Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents special; HBO's Crashing, Comedy Central's Broad City; radio host of WFMU's Dr. Gameshow, live-on-stage host of The Unexpectashow and co-host of Butterball, co-author of #1 bestselling Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers), and Dan Soder (cast member on Showtime's Billions; film Trainwreck; Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central hour-long special Not Special, Comedy Central Half Hour, Inside Amy Schumer, MTV's Guy Code and Guy Court, VH1) hosted by Kristen Buckels & Lacey Jeka: Thoughts and Prayers: A Mandatory Assembly (7:30 pm, $12, Brooklyn's The Bell House at 149 7th Street; take R subway to 9th Street or F/G to Fourth Avenue)
Tuesday 4/10: Storytellers Aparna Nancherla, Marie Faustin, Isaac Fitzgerald, Dan Kennedy, and Mellini Kantayya share how how they learned something memorable, hosted by Blaise Allysen Kearsley. This acclaimed long-running series was on haitus, but is revived tonight: How I Learned Returns for a One Night Stand (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Tuesday 4/10: Marina Franklin (staff writer for HBO's Divorce; Trainwreck, Crashing, Louie, Stephen Colbert, Jay Leno, @midnight, The Jim Gaffigan Show, The Nightly Show, Last Comic Standing, Chappelle's Show), Ziwe Fumudoh (above left; writer for The Rundown with Robin Thede; host of hilarious webseries Baited with Ziwe), Emma Willmann (Stephen Colbert, @midnight, Sirius XM), Cat Cohen (Hulu's Difficult People), and political activist Laura Moser (bestselling author, and founder of the Daily Action service that helps concerned citizens pressure legislators via their phones) perform and/or are interviewed by spitfire host Amanda Duarte (host of Dead Darlings and co-host of Girl Friday podcast): #Nasty Women—A Night of Female Resistance Comedy (7:30 pm, $15, Brooklyn's Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Tuesday 4/10: This is your chance to relive the most stressful day of high school in a fun, supportive, and alcohol-filled environment. Work as an individual or as a team to answer real SAT questions proctored by host Michael Wolf (showrunner of MTV series After Hours with Josh Horowitz; sketch comedy groups O.S.F.U.G. and Nancy). It's a fun way to unwind after a long day and tackle the standardized test of your nightmares: Sloshed SATS (8:30 pm, $10, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Tuesday 4/10: Comics Marcia Belsky, Peter Smith, Sam Taggart, and Hallie Haas present funny lectures on silly topics—e.g., "Suck and Blow: The Forgotten Pneumatic Tubes of NYC"—produced by Kara Klenk (writer for MTV's Girl Code & Guy Code and contributor to Broad City; producer of If You Build It) and hosted by Jim Tews (rising star; Louie, Last Comic Standing; co-host of Fresh Out; New York Times bestselling author of Felines of New York; comedy album I Was in Band): Homeschooled—A Comedic Lecture Series (9:00 pm, $9, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)
Wednesday 4/11: David Cross (comedy legend; Mr. Show, Arrested Development, Modern Family) tries out new stand-up material in Brooklyn: David Cross: Still Shooting the Shit, Still Seeing What Sticks (8:00 pm, $15, Brooklyn's The Bell House at 149 7th Street; take R subway to 9th Street or F/G to Fourth Avenue)
Wednesday 4/11: Dave Hill (one of the most original and hilariously sharp alternative comics in the country; @midnight, Inside Amy Schumer, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, This American Life; host for HBO and Cinemax; host of WFMU's The Goddamn Dave Hill Show; bands Valley Lodge and Diamondsnake; books Tasteful Nudes and Dave Hill Doesn't Live Here Anymore; comedy album Let Me Turn You On), Adam Wade (two-time Moth GrandSlam Storytelling Champion (2006 & 2009) and record-breaking 20-time StorySlam Champion; album "The Human Comedy;" for a sampling of Adam's award-winning tales, please click here), Marie Faustin (co-host of 99.5 FM's Tall Tales in the Big City and podcast The Unofficial Expert; former host of Oxygen's Very Real Talk; VH1, TruTV, MTV's Girl Code and Vidiots), Sarah Kennedy (Reductress), and All Female Reboot (above; sketch group that recasts popular movies with all-female leads) hosted by Emily Winter (writer for Fusion’s Come Here and Say That, TVLand, and Glamour; co-host of Backfat Variety and Side Ponytail) and Larry Mancini (band member of The Tracys): The BackFat Variety (8:00 pm, $8, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Thursday 4/12: Two exceptionally appealing comics, Ophira Eisenberg (Comedy Central, VH1, Showtime, The Today Show, host of NPR's trivia/puzzle show Ask Me Another, bestselling book Screw Everyone, comedy album Bangs!) and Adira Amram (spectacular comedic singer & dancer; HBO, Funny or Die; album Hot Jams for Teens), perform and host Leah Bonnema (VH1, IFC's Comedy Drop, WeTV's Cinematherapy, Logo, Opie & Anthony’s Virus Channel), Sydnee Washington (MTV2's Vidiots, co-host of podcast The Unofficial Expert), and Matthew Holtzclaw (magician who Rolling Stone called "unforgettable"): Ophira & Adira (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Thursday 4/12: In this acclaimed monthly show, NYC stand-ups Rob Haze (Adam Devine's House Party, Viceland's Flophouse, Dish Network's Cabbage Town), Claudia Cogan (Last Comic Standing, MTV, Logo, here! TV), Adam Mamawala (MTV’s Girl Code), and Lizzie Martinez each perform a 10-minute set while they "risk getting slapped by Satan himself. Actually, he hosts only bringer shows, but join Matt Wayne & Doug Smith as they step into the Big Man's shoes and put NYC's finest through comedy purgatory. Hula-hoops, celebrity impressions, unwanted audience participation, all incorporated into each performance! Will they triumph or will the nether world eat their souls?f" For a sample torture set with the delightful Christi Chiello, please click here; and if you'd then like more, Matt & Wayne will See You in Hell (10:00 pm, $8, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Thursday 4/12: Enjoy a comic excavation of teen angst artifacts (journals, letters, poems, lyrics, home movies, stories, and more) shared by their original authors before total strangers at this popular monthly show—which is now also a six-part series titled The Mortified Guide on Netflix!: Mortified (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Thursday 4/12: This rare all-asian monthly stand-up show features Raj Belani, Andre Kim, Michael Salgarolo, Vince Chang, Sonya Vai, KC Arora, and Chewy May hosted by Edward Pokropski: Unwashed Comedy (7:30 pm, $10, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Friday 4/13: Comedy icon Michael Ian Black has acted in nearly a dozen movies, including Wet Hot American Summer; and in scores of TV series—most recently, Comedy Central's Another Period and The Jim Gaffigan Show, as well as such classics as seminal MTV sketch series The State and NBC's Ed. He's also the author of 11 books, including the 2016 bestseller A Child’s First Book of Trump. And on top of all that, he enjoys performing stand-up...which is what he's doing tonight: Michael Ian Black: Shut Up & Comedy (7:30 pm, $25, Brooklyn's The Bell House at 149 7th Street; take R subway to 9th Street or F/G to Fourth Avenue)
Friday 4/13: The lovely Natalie Wall (above right) hosts the best sexy storytelling show in NYC, which tonight features Jo Firestone (above left; one of the most relentlessly inventive comics in the biz; staff writer for Jimmy Fallon; star of Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents special; HBO's Crashing, Comedy Central's Broad City; radio host of WFMU's Dr. Gameshow, live-on-stage co-host of Butterball; co-author of #1 bestselling Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers), Marcia Belsky (above middle; Reductress; Handmaid's Tale: The Musical; lead singer of band Free the Mind), and David Goldberg (writer for Time Out New York) telling tales of erotic encounters gone awry: Awkward Sex...and the City (8:00 pm; $16.62 if purchased in advance online (otherwise $20)—which includes free beer and wine; The Pleasure Chest at 1150 Second Avenue between 60th & 61st Streets)
Friday 4/13: Hosts Katie Hartman (above right; brilliant, fearless dark comedy writer/performer; sketch groups Skinny Bitch Jesus Meeting and Hartman & Carl, ace improv group Gypsy Danger) and Jessie Jolles (above left; co-host of No Such Thing as Love; improv groups Witch and Lisa From School), plus guests Rebecca Vigil (rising star powerhouse improv singer; Your Love Our Musical, The Vigilante), Jon Bander (Netflix's Master of None, TBS' Search Party; musical improv groups Aquarius and Dagger), Girls With Brown Hair (sketch duo Becky Chicoine & Samantha Reece), Angel Yau (Azn Pop, Netflix), Brittanie Sheree, and Rachel Pegram demonstrate their devotion to actor Kevin Bacon "with a combination of vibrant song and prayer, Footloose hymns, revealing how to reach the ‘first degree,’ and offering the only food that matters: bacon (pork, turkey, and veggie options available):" Kevin Bacon is Our God (8:00 pm, $5, Brooklyn's Cloud City at 85 North 1st Street)
Friday 4/13: Improv trio Doppelganger—consisting of Sasheer Zamata (above left; cast member for three seasons of Saturday Night Live; Comedy Central’s Inside Amy Schumer, Amazon’s Transparent, TBS’ People of Earth), Keisha Zollar (above right; HBO's Divorce, Orange Is the New Black, MTV; writer for The Opposition with Jordan Klepper; sketch group Astronomy Club), and Nicole Byer (scores of TV and film roles)—created fresh, brilliant improv before each of its rising stars went off to be famous. Nicole is probably filming right now in LA, but Sasheer and Keisha are reuniting in NYC to make up scenes based on audience suggestions: Doppelganger (9:00 pm, $12, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)
Saturday 4/14: Comics perform their darkest, saddest, and most traumatically funny bits for this monthly catharsis machine hosted by Shane Torres, Nate Fridson, and/or Alison Zeidman, with tonight's guests Mike Drucker (hilarious stand-up and staff writer for The President Show; previously wrote for Jimmy Fallon, SNL, Bill Nye Saves the World, The Onion, McSweeney's), Roy Wood Jr. (correspondent for The Daily Show, host of This Is Not Happening), Joe Zimmerman (Jimmy Fallon, Conan O'Brien, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Comedy Central Half Hour, Last Comic Standing), Janelle James (@midnight, SeeSo's Night Train with Wyatt Cenac), Martin Urbano (Jimmy Kimmel), Alison Klemp, Saurin Choksi, and Julia Claire: Dark Spots (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Saturday 4/14: Blythe Roberson (The New Yorker, The Onion, McSweeney's) & Colin Stokes (Associate Cartoon Editor at The New Yorker; The Onion, GQ) read a book every month so you don't have to and then perform something loosely related to its themes for your edutainment, along with guests Emily Flake (above; star cartoonist for The New Yorker, The New York Times, Time, Forbes, etc.; author of books Mama Tried, Lulu Eightball, and These Things Ain't Gonna Smoke Themselves),Roy Wood Jr. (correspondent for The Daily Show, host of This Is Not Happening), and Talib Babb: Book Club—A Comedy Show (10:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Sunday 4/15: Comics Gary Richardson (writer for Saturday Night Live; brilliant improvisor; Comedy Central), Ashley Brooke Roberts (top right; energetic, enormously likeable stand-up, sketch comic and actress; stellar co-host of Fresh Out and Camp; former writer for NatGeo Explorer and MTV's Guy Code; UCB Maude sketch groups The Prom and Absolutely), and Nadia Pinder (top left) demonstrate their quick wits by hilariously answering questions about what a guest scientist's job entails at this live taping of the wonderful Chris Duffy's superb podcast: You're the Expert (7:00 pm, $16.89 in advance online or $20 at the door, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Sunday 4/15: Following the Montevideo Convention of 1933, comics Eman El Husseini, Usama Siddiquee, Kate Sisk, Fareeha Khan, and Sam Morrison design a brand new country to co-rule, with this month's theme Immigration: Statehood: Five Comedians Make a Country from Scratch (9:30 pm, $12, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Monday 4/16: David Cross (comedy legend; Mr. Show, Arrested Development, Modern Family) tries out new stand-up material in Brooklyn: David Cross: Still Shooting the Shit, Still Seeing What Sticks (8:00 pm, $15, Brooklyn's The Bell House at 149 7th Street; take R subway to 9th Street or F/G to Fourth Avenue; please note previous performances of this show have consistently sold out, so nabbing tickets in advance ASAP is recommended)
Monday 4/16: Keith Robinson (HBO, Comedy Central, Wanda Sykes Show), Brendan McLaughlin (VH1's Best Week Ever, MTV's Nikki and Sara Live), and Mary Beth Barone (Viceland) perform stand-up sets running 15-30 minutes each hosted by the fabulous Emmy Blotnick (above; brilliant rising star stand-up who's performed on Stephen Colbert and stars in an upcoming Comedy Central Half Hour; Head Writer for Comedy Central's The President Show; former writer for Comedy Central's @midnight, Roast of Rob Lowe, and Not Safe with Nikki Glaser; MTV, VH1): Big Long Sets (7:30 pm, $9, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)
Monday 4/16: Terrific character comics perform solo bits demonstrating their impressive talent directed & hosted by Michael Hartney with a co-host TBA. This is one of my favorite shows, and I especially recommend checking it out if you're a producer, casting director, or other industry pro in search of sharp comedy actors: Characters Welcome (9:00 pm, $7, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)
Monday 4/16: This weekly stand-up show's hosts Jo Firestone (staff writer for Jimmy Fallon, co-author of #1 bestselling Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers), Aparna Nancherla (co-star of HBO's Crashing, Netflix's Master of None, and Comedy Central's Corporate), and/or Maeve Higgins (Maeve in America, co-host of Nat Geo's Star Talk) emcee Katie Compa, Dave Ross, Kevin Iso, Chris Charpentier, Ashley Hamilton, and Nonye Brown-West: Butterboy with Jo, Aparna, and Maeve (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Monday 4/16: For over nine years, under the guidance of brilliant comedy booker Jeremy Levenbach, and the extraordinary hosting of Leo Allen and Aparna Nancherla, Whiplash became NYC's best-ever free stand-up show—and one of the finest comedy showcases anywhere—attracting such star drop-ins as Louis C.K., Chris Rock, Amy Schumer, John Oliver, Jim Gaffigan, Daniel Kitson, and pretty much any other top comic who happened to be in town and wanted to try out material. (To learn more, please click here.) Aparna recently left the show for a paid gig, co-hosting Butterball Mondays at 8:00 pm at Littlefield. Now Whiplash has followed Aparna's lead, exiting UCB to become a paid show at Union Hall, with Jeremy continuing to do the booking. It may take a while to select a new permanent host, and the lineup is almost never announced in advance; but chances are this will remain one of the top stand-up shows in the country. Come see a classic reinvent itself, now as a paid weekly event in Brooklyn: Whiplash (10:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Monday 4/16: Whiplash, which was NYC's best-ever free stand-up show, has moved to Union Hall (where it's now $10, but hopefully will continue to be transcendently great). Taking its Mondays-at-11:00 pm time slot at the UCB mainstage is this new show hosted by the multi-talented Morgan Miller (above; sharp improvisor, sketch comic, and stand-up). Tonight's scheduled comics include Anna Drezen (writer for Saturday Night Live; superb stand-up who blends jokes with characters, movement, and sketch; author of How May We Hate You), Chris Redd (cast member of Saturday Night Live; NBC's Will & Grace, Netflix's Disjointed, movie Popstar: Never Stop Stopping), Kate Willett (Comedy Central's The Jim Jeffries Show and This Is Not Happening; VICE's Flophouse; comedy album Glass Gutter), Jake Head, Eudora Peterson, and Fumi Abe: Dirty Laundry (11:00 pm, Free! (make reservation here), UCB Hell's Kitchen at 555 West 42nd Street)
Tuesday 4/17: Myq Kaplan (one of the quickest minds in comedy; finalist on Last Comic Standing, semi-finalist on America's Got Talent; David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Seth Meyers, Jay Leno, Comedy Central Presents; comedy albums No Kidding, Small, Dork, and Handsome, Vegan Mind Meld, and Meat Robot), Roy Wood Jr. (correspondent for Comedy Central's The Daily Show and host of This is Not Happening), Aasif Mandvi (HBO's The Brink, Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events, and numerous films; former correspondent for The Daily Show), and more perform for host Seth Herzog's (long-time staff comic for Jimmy Fallon; 30 Rock, @midnight, CBS, VH1) seminal weekly stand-up & variety show: Sweet (9:00 pm, $10, The Slipper Room at 167 Orchard Street)
Tuesday 4/17: Mary Beth Barone (above; Viceland, Mary Beth's Sex Tape) hosts Jo Firestone (one of the most relentlessly inventive comics in the biz; staff writer for Jimmy Fallon; star of Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents special; HBO's Crashing, Comedy Central's Broad City; radio host of WFMU's Dr. Gameshow, live-on-stage co-host of Butterball; co-author of #1 bestselling Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers), Gary Richardson (writer for Saturday Night Live; brilliant improvisor; Comedy Central), and Pat Regan (Lloyd Night improvisor): Mary Beth Barone: America’s Stepdaughter (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Tuesday 4/17: This benefit for Everytown for Gun Safety is sponsored by NYC indie record label Little Lamb Recordings and features David Cross (comedy legend; Mr. Show, Arrested Development, Modern Family), Selena Coppock (Amazon's Red Oaks, VH1, author of book The New Rules for Blondes), Shalewa Sharpe (Keith and the Girl; comedy album Stay Eating Cookies), Katina Corrao (HBO, Comedy Central's Broad City, VH1, co-host of Lasers in the Jungle), Greg Johnson (Sirius XM), and George Gordon ("You should totally hit this raw would be an amazing slogan for a sushi restaurant"): Little Lamb Recordings Comedy Night (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Tuesday 4/17: Five storytellers share the fascinating secret pasts of NYC locations you may walk by every day. Four of the stories are entirely true...and one is a pack of lies. Can you spot the fibber? Aiming to fool you are Adam Wade (two-time Moth GrandSlam Storytelling Champion (2006 & 2009) and record-breaking 20-time StorySlam Champion; albums The Human Comedy and Live at the Magnet Theater; for a sampling of Adam's award-winning tales, please click here), Suzanne Reisman (author of Off the (Beaten) Subway Track: New York City's Best Unusual Places), Carla Katz (Body Parts at Solocom 2017), Vicki Eastus (law professor), and host Christa Avampato (author of YA novel Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters). If you spot the liar, you'll be in the running to win a pair of tickets to a secret NYC event: New York City’s Secrets and Lies (7:00 pm; $13.71 in advance online or $15 at the door; LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Wednesday 4/18: Broadway, TV, and film star Colin Quinn (Trainwreck, national comedy treasure) hones material for a one-man show: Colin Quinn: Law Abiding Criminals (7:00 pm, $8 plus 2-item food/drink min., West Village's The Fat Black Pussycat Lounge at 130 West 3rd Street)
Wednesday 4/18: In this superb solo show, Mindy Raf (VH1, College Humor; author of YA novel The Symptoms of My Insanity; singer/songwriter alter ego Leibya Rogers) weaves a complex tapestry from her past relationships, anxieties, arcane bits of knowledge (e.g., she explains how the dark Web can record you while you're masturbating), and sexual preferences (which include being bi and polyamorous) that's thoroughly compelling. At the same time, Mindy delivers a performance so intimate and in-the-moment that it almost feels as if she's revealing herself spontaneously. Along similar lines, when anything unexpected happens (such as an audience member snapping fingers to a background song, or another audience member getting up and crossing the stage at a delicate moment to go to the bathroom), Mindy is lightning-quick in providing a response so spot-on that it couldn't have been better if she'd planned it. I recommend taking advantage of this brief revival of a wonderful show Mindy has previously performed Off-Broadway and at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival: Not the One: A Love Story (7:30 pm; $20, Theaterlab at 357 West 36th Street off Ninth Avenue)
Wednesday 4/18: Mike Drucker (hilarious stand-up and staff writer for The President Show; previously wrote for Jimmy Fallon, SNL, Bill Nye Saves the World, The Onion, McSweeney's), Christi Chiello (Comedy Central's Roast Battle, MTV's Girl Code, TruTV, stellar solo show It's Christi, B*tch!, co-host of Battle of the Divas and White Chocolate), Emily Winter (writer for Fusion’s Come Here and Say That, TVLand, and Glamour; co-host of Backfat Variety and Side Ponytail), Chloé Hilliard, Jared Fried, and Alzo Slade perform stand-up for this free weekly LES show produced by Luisa Díez, and hosted by Samantha Ruddy, Luke Touma, JP McDade, Jordan Temple, and/or Dina Hashem: Too Many Cooks (9:00 pm, Free!, Lucky Jack's Pub at 129 Orchard Street between Rivington & Delancey Streets)
Wednesday 4/18: A live band proves musical accompaniment to jokes for this monthly show that tonight features stand-ups Hari Kondabolu (David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Presents; fascinating TruTV documentary The Problem with Apu), Matt Ruby (MTV; sharp co-host of Hot Soup and We're All Friends Here, award-winning blog Sandpaper Suit, new comedy album Hot Flashes), Sam Taggart, Joyelle Nicole, Farah Brook, Rosebud Baker, Aminah Imani, and Stavros Halkias hosted by Yedoye Travis: Rent Party (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Thursday 4/19: Comics who are immigrants perform stand-up, storytelling, or characters, and comics who aren't perform immigrant-related material, for this show celebrating talents who weren't born in the US hosted by German-American Lucie Pohl (above; voice of Mercy in Overwatch and Harmony in Red Dwarf XI): Immigrant Jam (7:30 pm, $7, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Friday 4/20: On this holiest of stoner days, a screening and merciless comedic savaging of 1936 propaganda film Reefer Madness. From Wikipedia: "Originally financed by a church group under the title Tell Your Children, the film was intended to be shown to parents as a morality tale attempting to teach them about the dangers of cannabis use. However, soon after the film was shot, it was purchased by producer Dwain Esper, who re-cut it for distribution on the exploitation film circuit...In the early 1970s, (it) gained new life as an unintentional satire among advocates of cannabis policy reform. Critics have panned it as one of the worst films ever made." Enjoy live running commentary by Frank Conniff (TV's Frank on Mystery Science Theater 3000; Cinematic Titanic), Kat Burdick (Moth Grandslam champion; webseries KCK), Derek Humphrey (ABC, MTV, host of podcast Derek Mansplains It All), and Freddy G (NPR) hosted by Chris Gersbeck (co-host of Everythign Is Dumbn, and Bunk Bed and Murray Povich open mics): Movies R Dumb: Reefer Madness (11:00 pm, $10, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Friday 4/20: Comics go deep on their weird obsessions with seemingly boring things (e.g., "The History of the Rubber Duck"), with tonight's information gifters Aparna Nancherla (one of the very finest stand-ups in the country; co-star of HBO's Crashing and 2 Dope Queens, Netflix's Master of None and The Standups, and Comedy Central's Corporate; former writer for Seth Meyers; Conan O'Brien, @Midnight, Comedy Central Half Hour, comedy album Just Putting It Out There), Kate Willett (Comedy Central's This Is Not Happening, VICE's Flophouse, comedy album Glass Gutter), Jeff Simmermon (NPR's This American Life, Moth GrandSlam Champion, comedy album & show And I Am Not Lying), Benari Poulten (former senior producer for The Nightly Show), Emily Winter (writer for Fusion’s Come Here and Say That, TVLand, and Glamour; co-host of The BackFatlorette, Backfat Variety, and Side Ponytail), and Joyelle Nicole (tours for Lady Parts Justice League) hosted by Raj Sivaraman (co-host of Universe City podcast): Monotony: A Smart Comedy Show about Stupid Stuff (9:00 pm, $8, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Friday 4/20: A unique show based on the premise "Let's be honest, love doesn't exist, couples suck, and Valentine's Day is bullshit. We test real life couples to see if they are meant to be together (they aren't). The couple with the least amount of points at the end of the night will have to break up, because we all die alone anyway and what's the point of anything really? It'll be fun!" hosted by spectacular rising star Carly Ann Filbin (above; video correspondent for Cosmopolitan.com): Let Me Break You Up: An Anti-Dating Game Show (Midnight, $9, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)
Friday 4/20: Celebrate this day of four twenty with mind-altering host Greg Barris (MTV's All That Rocks, host of Heart of Darkness) and his guests Aasif Mandvi (HBO's The Brink, Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events, numerous films; former correspondent for The Daily Show), Nina Tarr (MTV’s High Crimes, Viceland’s Party Legends), and McQueen Adams (creator of Comedy Central Snapchat series Heads Will Roll): Greg Barris: Mwah Mwah Mwah (8:00 pm; $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Saturday 4/21: A show celebrating the app that redefined online dating, with the lovely and lightning-quick witted Lane Moore (above right; HBO's Girls; Sex & Relationship Editor of Cosmo; writer for The Onion, McSweeney's) going on a live Tinder safari for guys while a packed audience watches her every choice with fascination. Offering comments and suggestions for this extra special edition are brilliantly funny guests Ziwe Fumudoh (above left; writer for The Rundown with Robin Thede; host of hilarious webseries Baited with Ziwe), Jo Firestone (above middle; one of the most relentlessly inventive comics in the biz; staff writer for Jimmy Fallon; star of Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents special; HBO's Crashing, Comedy Central's Broad City; radio host of WFMU's Dr. Gameshow, live-on-stage co-host of Butterball; co-author of #1 bestselling Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers), and Louis Peitzman (Deputy Editor of Arts & Entertainment for BuzzFeed News). This show is virtually certain to sell out, so I highly recommend nabbing tickets in advance online for Tinder Live (8:30 pm, $15, Brooklyn's Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Saturday 4/21: World-class singing improvisors Evan Kaufman & Rebecca Vigil interview an audience couple about their love life and then turn it into a musical—with breathtaking skill (see my review of their award-winning FringeNYC 2015 shows here). I highly recommend the phenomenal Your Love, Our Musical (7:00 pm; $16.89 in advance online or $20 at the door; LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Saturday 4/21: Comics Rachel Pegram (MTV, sketch group Lo-Fi NYC, co-host of That Shit Ray), Zach Zimmerman (Baby Wants Candy, The Second City, iO, Annoyance; for sample stand-up, please click here), Noah Gebstadt (blogger for Jimmy Fallon), and two bona fide professors give funny lectures on the scientific topic Optical Illusions (referenced by the above left floating eyeball) hosted by the brilliant & delightful Blythe Roberson (The New Yorker, The Onion, McSweeney's) & Madelyn Freed (ace improvisor & computer programmer): The Scientists: Optical Illusions (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Saturday 4/21: A hour of sketches from 3-guy group Matt Barats (The Onion), Carmen Christopher (MTV), and Anthony Oberbeck (IFC), plus guest stand-up Ana Fabrega (Portlandia, The Jim Gaffigan Show, The Chris Gethard Show, host of Sundays with Ana): Postmen (10:30 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Sunday 4/22: National treature Kevin Smith is a director/writer/actor (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back), TV creator/host (AMC's Comic Book Men), pop culture nerd royalty, and ace talker...and tonight he conducts two Q&A sessions at Carolines. The early show has sold out, but you can still nab tickets for 9:30 pm: An Evening with Kevin Smith (7:00 pm & 9:30 pm, $32.75 per show plus 2-drink min., Carolines Comedy Club at 1626 Broadway)
Sunday 4/22: Brothers Hari Kondabolu (David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Presents; fascinating TruTV documentary The Problem with Apu) and Ashok Kondabolu (Dap in Das Racist) spontaneously interact with each other, sharing family stories, discussing current events, and more for this podcast recording: Kondabolu Brothers Podcast Live (8:00 pm, $15, Brooklyn's Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Sunday 4/22: On this Earth Day, Keisha Zollar (HBO's Divorce, Orange Is the New Black, MTV; writer for The Opposition with Jordan Klepper; sketch group Astronomy Club) hosts this show that gathers comics and scientists TBA to talk about climate change and what practical steps might help ensure the human race goes on: What the Fuck Do We Do: Earth Day at Caveat (7:00 pm; $16.89 in advance online or $20 a the door; LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Sunday 4/22: Comics work out daddy issues in this show consisting exclusively of jokes about fathers, with John Reynolds (co-star of Search Party, cast member of Stranger Things; writer for The President Show, previously writer for Craig Ferguson and Celebrity Deathmatch), Jo Firestone (one of the most relentlessly inventive comics in the biz; staff writer for Jimmy Fallon; star of Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents special; HBO's Crashing, Comedy Central's Broad City; radio host of WFMU's Dr. Gameshow, live-on-stage co-host of Butterball; co-author of #1 bestselling Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers), Catherine Cohen (Difficult People), Larry Owens (TruTV), Max Wittert, Eric Schwartan, Stephen Phillips, and sketch group Please Don't Destroy (Above Average) hosted by Steven Markow (writer for The New Yorker, McSweeney's; acted in sketch for Stephen Colbert): Dad Jokes Only (8:00 pm, $8, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Monday 4/23: In one of the finest solo shows ever created about motherhood—and one of the best comedy shows in NYC—rising star Jamie Aderski shares extraordinarily honest and hair-curling tales of what it was like for her to go through pregnancy and the early months of raising her baby (for a trailer, please click here). Whether this is a cautionary tale to would-be moms or an ode to the power of love is up to you to decide. Either way, you should not miss the unforgettable Cry Baby: My (Reluctant) Journey Into Motherhood (9:30 pm; $13.71 in advance online or $15 at the door; LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Monday 4/23: Liza Treyger (above; fresh, fierce, fearless stand-up; Seth Meyers, Comedy Central Half Hour, Horace and Pete, Chelsea Lately), Drew Michael (writer for Saturday Night Live; Comedy Central Half Hour; NBC's The Carmichael Show), Chris Thayer (Comedy Central’s Adam DeVine’s House Party, VICELAND’s Flophouse, TBS; has toured with Pete Holmes), and more perform for this weekly Brooklyn stand-up show guest-hosted this week by David Cross (comedy legend; Mr. Show, Arrested Development, Modern Family): Butterboy (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Monday 4/23: Michelle Buteau (VH1's Morning Buzz and Best Week Ever, Comedy Central's Key & Peele, FOX's Enlisted, Craig Ferguson, Last Comic Standing, @midnight, comedy album Shut Up) & Jordan Carlos (HBO's Girls, Comedy Central's Broad City and The Nightly Show, Showtime, MTV's Guy Code, Guy Court, VH1, Adult Swim) host this podcast taping, with guests including Saturday Night Live's Michael Che: Adulting (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's The Bell House at 149 7th Street; take R subway to 9th Street or F/G to Fourth Avenue)
Monday 4/23: Friends Who Folk (delightful singing duo Rachel Wenitsky & Ned Riseley; TheNewYorker.com), Sean Donnelly (David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Half Hour, Last Comic Standing, MTV), Nore Davis (HBO's Last Week Tonight, Comedy Central's Inside Amy Schumer and Russell Simmons Presents The Ruckus, Showtime's Boardwalk Empire, MTV), Sydnee Washington (MTV2's Vidiots, co-host of podcast The Unofficial Expert), and Cipha Sounds (Chappelle's Show, MTV, Hot 97) perform music or stand-up for this free weekly show hosted by the multi-talented Morgan Miller (sharp improvisor, sketch comic, and stand-up): Dirty Laundry (11:00 pm, Free! (make reservation here), UCB Hell's Kitchen at 555 West 42nd Street)
Monday 4/23: Adam Pally (Max Blum on ABC's Happy Endings, Dr. Peter Prentice on The Mindy Project, Donald Trump Jr. on The President Show; legendary improv group Hot Sauce), Michael Hartney (TV Land's Throwing Shade, Broadway's School of Rock; co-host of Characters Welcome), and Liz Plank (Vox, Divided States of Women) chug a couple of beers on stage and talk politics hosted by Charlie Todd & Cody Lindquist: Two Beers In (7:30 pm, $9, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)
Monday 4/23: For over nine years, under the guidance of brilliant comedy booker Jeremy Levenbach, and the extraordinary hosting of Leo Allen and Aparna Nancherla, Whiplash became NYC's best-ever free stand-up show—and one of the finest comedy showcases anywhere—attracting such star drop-ins as Louis C.K., Chris Rock, Amy Schumer, John Oliver, Jim Gaffigan, Daniel Kitson, and pretty much any other top comic who happened to be in town and wanted to try out material. (To learn more, please click here.) Aparna recently left the show for a paid gig, co-hosting Butterball Mondays at 8:00 pm at Littlefield. Now Whiplash has followed Aparna's lead, exiting UCB to become a paid show at Union Hall, with Jeremy continuing to do the booking. It may take a while to select a new permanent host, and the lineup is almost never announced in advance; but chances are this will remain one of the top stand-up shows in the country. Come see a classic reinvent itself, now as a paid weekly event in Brooklyn: Whiplash (10:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Tuesday 4/24: For this taping of his Sporkful podcast, host Dan Pashman interviews Hari Kondabolu (David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Presents; fascinating TruTV documentary The Problem with Apu) about the foods Hari grew up eating in Queens, the items Apu from The Simpsons offers at the Kwik-E-Mart, why you shouldn't talk to Indian-Americans about Indian food, and the time Hari mistook a papaya for a mango (expect a lot of stories about mangoes): Sporkful Live with Hari Kondabolu (8:00 pm, $20, Brooklyn's The Bell House at 149 7th Street; take R subway to 9th Street or F/G to Fourth Avenue)
Tuesday 4/24: Julio Torres (marvelously nuanced, outside-the-box stand-up; staff writer for Saturday Night Live; Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Billy on the Street, HBO's High Maintenance, Louis C.K.’s Horace and Pete), Jena Friedman (wry dark political stand-up; Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, @midnight, The New Yorker, Adult Swim, Netflix mockumentary Undecided; former staff writer for David Letterman, former producer for The Daily Show), Murray Hill (iconic NYC drag king cabaret performer; HBO's Bored to Death, music videos for Le Tigre and TV on the Radio), and guest co-host Alex Brightman (Tony nominee; Broadway's School of Rock, upcoming Broadway musical Beetlejuice, Showtime's SMILF) perform for host Seth Herzog's (long-time staff comic for Jimmy Fallon; 30 Rock, @midnight, CBS, VH1) seminal weekly stand-up & variety show: Sweet (9:00 pm, $10, The Slipper Room at 167 Orchard Street)
Wednesday 4/25: Brilliantly innovative comic Anthony Atamanuik (star of Comedy Central hit The President Show; Trump vs. Bernie, 30 Rock, Conan O'Brien, Huffington Post, Death by Roo Roo) plays oddball characters in a mix of sketch and improv, helped by cast members and guests TBA, in the revival of this show that used to run weekly at UCB East: The Tony Show: Resurrection (11:00 pm, $7, UCB Hell's Kitchen at 555 West 42nd Street)
Wednesday 4/25: John Hodgman & Jean Grae have written topics on a carnival wheel. In this show they spin the wheel and then chat about whatever subject they land on, along with a surprise guest. What else do you need to know?: Jean and John (8:00 pm, $15, The Bell House at 149 7th Street; take R subway to 9th Street or F/G to Fourth Avenue)
Wednesday 4/25: Sharp storytellers Jim O'Grady (The New York Times, This American Life, WNYC Radio, Moth GrandSlam Champion), Adam Wade (two-time Moth GrandSlam Storytelling Champion (2006 & 2009) and record-breaking 20-time StorySlam Champion; albums The Human Comedy and Live at the Magnet Theater; for a sampling of Adam's award-winning tales, please click here), Jeff Hiller (30 Rock, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, musical improv group Rumpleteaser), and Maggie Maxwell (Boogie Manja) tell comedic tales on this month's theme Most Passionate for this live podast taping hosted by the wonderful David Martin: The Nights of Our Lives (8:00 pm, $9, UCB Hell's Kitchen at 555 West 42nd Street)
Thursday 4/26: A glorious collection of hilarious film & TV clips and lectures by mass media experts hosted by super-fan Kevin Maher (Emmy-nominated writer whose work has appeared on HBO, Comedy Central, and AMC; former host of AMC's The Sci-Fi Dept.) and guest co-host Tenebrous Kate (host of the Bad Books For Bad People podcast), this month focusing on mad science (for a trailer, please click here), with scheduled guests Richard Harland Smith (acclaimed writer for Turner Classic Movies blog, Video Watchdog magazine, and numerous movie DVD audio commentaries), Kristen Sollee (author of book Witches, Sluts, Feminists: Conjuring the Sex Positive), John Cribbs (Head Writer of cinema website ThePinkSmoke.com), and Becky Munich (author of The Occult Activity Books; Associate Art Director of Little, Brown and Company's Books for Young Readers): Kevin Geeks Out About Mad Science (7:45 pm; $15—buying in advance is recommended, as this show crammed with rich imagery and fascinating ideas often sells out; Brooklyn's Alamo Drafthouse Cinema at 445 Albee Square West—take the 2/3 subway to Hoyt Street)
Thursday 4/26: Gina Yashere (correspondent for The Daily Show; HBO's Crashing, Jay Leno, Chelsea Lately, @midnight, Showtime 1-hour special Skinny Bitch), Seaton Smith (rising star stand-up; HBO's Girls, FOX's Mulaney, Chris Rock's film Top Five, Conan O'Brien, Seth Meyers, Inside Amy Schumer, The Nightly Show), Liza Treyger (fresh, fierce, fearless stand-up; Seth Meyers, Comedy Central Half Hour, Horace and Pete, Chelsea Lately), TV & movie star Janeane Garofalo, Harris Stanton (SNL, BET; opened for Tracey Morgan), Noah Gardenswartz (Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Half Hour), and more perform stand-up hosted by Michelle Collins (host of @SiriusXM's The Michelle Collins Show; former co-host of ABC's The View and Bachelor in Paradise: After Paradise; UCB stand-up show Magic Mich XXL) for this show raising funds for cooperation: Comedy Co-Op (7:30 pm, $15, Brooklyn's Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Thursday 4/26: Comics play historical figures—tonight including David Carl as Jim Henson, Jay Malsky as Saint Philomena, and Taylor Ortega as JonBenet Ramsey—and give lectures as their characters on odd topics: DED Talks: TED Talks From Dead People (7:30 pm; $11.59 in advance online or $15 at the door; LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Thursday 4/26: Comedic storytellers Jamie Brickhouse, Alan I. Ross, Tija Mittal, and Jolenta Greenberg join pioneering sketch comic and storyteller Kevin Allison (The State) at what's typically one of the finest storytelling shows in the country: Risk! (9:30 pm, $15, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Friday 4/27: The acclaimed Hit The Lights Theater company brings Herman Melville’s Moby Dick to the stage using "shadow puppetry, the interplay between darkness and light, rock ballad sea shanties, and all the curiosity and terror of the sea" in this innovative musical theatre production: Whales (8:00 pm, $20, The PIT Mainstage (Striker) at 123 East 24th Street; running through May 18th)
Friday 4/27: Janelle James (@midnight, SeeSo's Night Train with Wyatt Cenac), Krystyna Hutchinson (with comedy partner Corinne Fisher, host of popular Guys We Fucked podcast and author of F*CKED: Being Sexually Explorative and Self-Confident in a World That’s Screwed), Jamie Lee (co-star of & writer for HBO's Crashing; TruTV, Conan O'Brien, MTV's Girl Code, The Pete Holmes Show), and Katie Goodman (Broad Comedy) perform stand-up for this Second Anniversary show: She Makes Me Laugh (9:30 pm, $16, The PIT Mainstage (Striker) at 123 East 24th Street)
Saturday 4/28: Friends Who Folk (delightful singing duo Rachel Wenitsky & Ned Riseley; TheNewYorker.com), Nate Dendy (magician; Penn & Teller: Fool Us), and Dylan Marron (actor; Ridgefield Middle School Talent Nite, Seriously.tv, Welcome to Night Vale podcast) perform songs, magic, or characters, then enthusiastically endorse some product they love...which will be handed out to lucky members of the audience! Hosted by the wonderful Chris Duffy (staff writer for NatGeo Explorer, host of You're the Expert), who makes this promise for one audience member per show: You Get A Spoon (4:00 pm; $13.71 online, $15 at the door; LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Saturday 4/28: Storytelling, catharsis, and laughter as over a dozen comics who identify as survivors of sexual assault, harassment and, in one case, a lawsuit for speaking out against an alleged rapist share their experiences. This show will be filmed as part of a documentary: Rape Jokes by Survivors (7:00 pm, $12, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Saturday 4/28: Seven comics—from Canada, Chicago, Indiana, Ohio, and more—tell stories of where they originally came from and the journey that led them to NYC, hosted by the charming Katie Boyle (above; from Ireland): Transplants (7:30 pm, $7, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Saturday 4/28: In this unique show, animators spontaneously bring the jokes of stand-ups Emmy Blotnick, Seth Herzog, Sydnee Washington, Jess Salomon, and Clark Jones to visual life with lightning speed & wit. Part of the fun is that the comics don’t know what the animators will draw and the animators don’t know how the comics will react. Produced by Sam Varela & Brandie Posey and hosted by Ian Fidance: Picture This! (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Saturday 4/28: Stellar comics share their love for the weirdest animals on the planet, with tonight's zoologists Josh Gondelman (Emmy & Peabody Award-winning writer/producer for HBO's phenom Last Week Tonight with John Oliver; Conan O'Brien, The New Yorker; stand-up comedy album Physical Whisper), Ariel Dumas (writer for Stephen Colbert), Bowen Yang (Comedy Central's Broad City; co-host of podcast & stage show Las Culturistas), Larry Owens, Conier Mandt, and X Mayo hosted by Karen Chee (The New Yorker, McSweeney's): The Biodiversity Jam (9:30 pm, $12, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Saturday 4/28: NYC comics Matt Barats (HBO's High Maintenance, Seth Meyers, The New Yorker), Clark Jones (co-host of Comedy Night at the Knit), Marie Faustin (co-host of 99.5 FM's Tall Tales in the Big City and podcast The Unofficial Expert; former host of Oxygen's Very Real Talk; VH1, TruTV, MTV's Girl Code and Vidiots), Janelle James (@midnight, SeeSo's Night Train with Wyatt Cenac), Stavros Halkias (regular on Robert Kelly's You Know What Dude podcast), Anthony Oberbeck, and Usama Siddiquee perform stand-up or sketch hosted by the fabulous Christi Chiello (Comedy Central's Roast Battle, MTV's Girl Code, TruTV, stellar Ars Nova show It's Christi, B*tch!; unforgettably observed the woman in the photo on the wall of the Union Hall stage looks like Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire) & Petey Deabreu (host of Petey's World): White Chocolate (10:00 pm; $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Sunday 4/29: In this stage version of their podcast Dead Meet, Jaime Lutz & Maggie Widdoes play mediums who talk to ghosts...performed by ace comics Keisha Zollar (HBO's Divorce, Orange Is the New Black, MTV; writer for The Opposition with Jordan Klepper; ace improv trio Doppelganger, sketch group Astronomy Club), James Dwyer (Master of None; co-star of UCB's A Big Dumb Thing), and Nicole Silverberg (writer for Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Editor-at-Large for Reductress): Dead Meet (Live Show) (8:00 pm; $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Monday 4/30: Some of the most brilliant improvisors alive—David Cross, Scott Adsit, Becky Drysdale, Brian Stack, and Michael Delaney—stumble into theatre scenes of plays they've never seen performed by superb Broadway, TV, and/or film stars Amy Rutberg, Krysta Rodriguez, Amy Warren, Jonathan Kaplan, and Zoey Martinson—and make up their dialogue while the actors commit to staying in character and on book. The result is amazingly fun, hosted by actor/director Stephen Ruddy: Gravid Water (8:00 pm, $9, UCB Hell's Kitchen at 555 West 42nd Street)
Monday 4/30: Roy Wood Jr. (correspondent for Comedy Central's The Daily Show and host of This is Not Happening), Julio Torres (marvelously nuanced, outside-the-box stand-up; staff writer for Saturday Night Live; Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Billy on the Street, HBO's High Maintenance, Louis C.K.’s Horace and Pete), Emmy Blotnick (brilliant rising star stand-up who's performed on Stephen Colbert and stars in an upcoming Comedy Central Half Hour; Head Writer for Comedy Central's The President Show; former writer for Comedy Central's @midnight, Roast of Rob Lowe, and Not Safe with Nikki Glaser; MTV, VH1), Tim Dillon (Comedy Central, Netflix, Last Comic Standing), Tyler Fischer, and Eric Dittleman perform stand-up hosted by the multi-talented Morgan Miller (sharp improvisor, sketch comic, and stand-up): Dirty Laundry (11:00 pm, Free! (make reservation here), UCB Hell's Kitchen at 555 West 42nd Street)
Copyright © 2018 Hy Bender
Email: hy@hyreviews.com
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