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 August 2018 (when I was mostly on vacation) include:
Wednesday 8/1: Dan St. Germain (Jimmy Fallon, Conan O'Brien, John Oliver, Comedy Central Half Hour, Crashing, @midnight, This is Not Happening, The Electric Company, MTV, VH1; currently writing for Netflix's The Break with Michelle Wolf, previously— staff writer for CBS' Superior Donuts and TruTV's Ten Things) celebrates his upcoming stand-up album No Real Winners Here with a national tour that starts tonight in Brooklyn. Joining Dan for this extravaganza are stand-ups Sam Morril, Sean Donnelly, Rosebud Baker, Evan Williams, and Samantha Ruddy: Dan St. Germain: No Real Winners Here Album Tour (8:30 pm, $15, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Thursday 8/2: Guy Branum (razor-sharp stand-up; creator & host of TruTV's Talk Show—The Game Show, writer/producer for The Mindy Project, regular guest on Chelsea Lately) celebrates the release of his first book, My Life as a Goddess: A Memoir Through (Un)Popular Culture, by performing a long stand-up set, with an opening set by Cole Escola (Jeffery & Cole Casserole, At Home with Amy Sedaris): Guy Branum: Stand-Up Goddess (7:30 pm, $15, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Thursday 8/2 & Saturday 8/4: Have you ever known someone with whom you wanted to fall in love, but who had a flaw that made it impossible? That's been my relationship with this musical.
To start with the positive: This has one of the great titles of all time. I dare you to read it and not a) laugh and b) want to know more. Four years ago, director/composer Christian De Gré kindly shared with me how the show began: "One day I casually asked my girlfriend Serrana Gay how she was feeling, and she said, 'Oh, you know. Fatty fatty no friends.'" Christian reacted appropriately and convinced her to write an entire musical based on that delightful line. Serrana reacted appropriately in turn by having Christian write the music for it, direct it, and co-star in it (memorably, as a demon...).
The resulting production was in most ways extraordinary. The operatic music by De Gré was haunting and exquisite, the visuals—especially the two demons on stilts, courtesy of costume designer Ashley Soliman & make-up designers Kate Marley & Louiza Diavolitsis—were deliciously nightmarish, and the key singers/performers—particularly Tommy/Fatty, played by Jason Sofge—had impressive pipes.
And the core of the story is dark hilarity: When skinny kids make a fat classmate's life a living hell, he has a simple solution—eat them.
How could I not love this show?
And I mostly do...except for the flaw. It's a joke without a punchline.
This show has no idea how to end. The original version, back in 2014, had a climax that was kind of cute but emotionally unsatisfying. To my great dismay, subsequent reworkings—while improving on all other aspects of the production—had endings that were progressively worse. I'd characterize the ending from the last production as "traumatizing."
Before this new run, I expressed my feelings to the producers, and was promised this version finally fixes things.
I therefore attended opening night yesterday—and, unfortunately, it doesn't. While the new ending is less horrifying than the previous one (a step in the right direction), I still found it offensive. To my eye, it comes across as both a failure of imagination and lack of storytelling boldness.
Also, because the new venue's cabaret stage is too small to support a full production, the demons on stilts, which were the most memorable visual of the show, had to be axed.
So that's the bad news.
The good news is this latest version is a feast for the ears. The music is tighter and more beautiful than ever. And the singers are superb—the best cast to ever grace the show.
So if you love great music, I happily recommend Fatty Fatty No Friends.
But if you love great storytelling, this show still needs a substantial amount of thoughtful and courageous development work before it becomes the classic it has the potential to become.
That said, even as is, this show is unlike anything else you're likely to see or hear, and well worth experiencing: Fatty Fatty No Friends at the 2018 New York Musical Festival (tonight 8/2 at 9:30 pm and Saturday 8/4 at 7:00 pm; $31.75; The Green Room 42 at 570 Tenth Avenue between 41st and 42nd Streets, inside YOTEL on the Fourth Floor)
Friday 8/10: Sean Patton (above left; one of the very finest stand-ups in the country; killer sets on Jimmy Fallon and Conan O'Brien; Comedy Central's Half Hour, Inside Amy Schumer, @midnight, This Is Not Happening, and The Meltdown; VH1, TruTV, IFC, Viceland; feature film Wifed Out; former co-host of Esquire Network's Best Bars in America), Dulcé Sloan (above right; powerhouse comic and correspondent for The Daily Show; Conan O'Brien, @midnight), Kate Willett (Comedy Central's The Jim Jeffries Show and This Is Not Happening; VICE's Flophouse, Netflix's Comedy Lineup; comedy album Glass Gutter), Greg Warren (Seth Meyers, Comedy Central Presents, Last Comic Standing), and Brendan Eyre (Seth Meyers, Comedy Central) perform for this renowned stand-up show that moved from UCBT to Brooklyn: Whiplash (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Friday 8/10: Storytellers share tales of relationships in front of a panel of comics and therapy experts, who then give advice, with tonight's guests Mark Pagan, Erin Lynn O'Connor, and more TBA hosted by Lynn Bixenspan & Morgan Pielli: Relationshit (9:00 pm, $10, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Saturday 8/11: Shane Torres (fresh, hilarious stand-up; Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents, IFC's Comedy Bang Bang, stand-up album Established 1981), Giulia Rozzi (Comedy Central's This Is Not Happening and The Jim Gaffigan Show, Chelsea Lately, writer for MTV's Girl Code, VH1, TruTV, Playgirl Magazine, host of First Set, comedy album True Love), Sam Taggart (Live on Broadgay, Lake Homo High), DC Benny (Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, ABC's The Unusuals), and more perform stand-up 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 (7:30 pm; $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Monday 8/13: Maeve Higgins (David Letterman, Last Comic Standing, co-host of NatGeo's Star Talk, host of Maeve in America) celebrates the publication of her first book, Maeve in America, with stand-ups Todd Barry (Netflix special Spicy Honey, star of delightful documentary The Crowd Work Tour; David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Presents, FX's Louie, HBO's Flight of the Conchords and Bored to Death, Adult Swim, co-star of feature film The Wrestler), Giulia Rozzi (Comedy Central's This Is Not Happening and The Jim Gaffigan Show, Chelsea Lately, writer for MTV's Girl Code, VH1, TruTV, Playgirl Magazine, comedy album True Love), Janelle James (@midnight, SeeSo's Night Train with Wyatt Cenac), Joyelle Nicole, and more: Butterboy: Maeve in America Book Release Party (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Monday 8/13: UCB showcases some of its finest comics—including Brian Faas (top left), Michael Cruz Kayne (top right, hosting), Dara Katz (bottom left), Erica Hernandez (bottom middle), Sarah Smallwood Parsons (bottom right). Eric Feurer, Laura Canty-Samuel, Chris Thompson, Lesley Osuala, and Pedro Alcocer—in this first of two shows designed to help industry folks spot cool new talent (the second one is on 8/22): UCBT End of Summer Showcase, Part 1 (8:00 pm, $9, UCB Hell's Kitchen at 555 West 42nd Street)
Monday 8/13: Carly Ann Filbin (above; luminous & delightful sketch comic/comedic actress/writer; on-camera correspondent for Cosmopolitan.com; host of Let Me Break You Up: An Anti-Dating Game Show), Clark Jones (HBO's Crashing, Comedy Central; co-host of Comedy Night at the Knit), Catherine Cohen (Hulu's Difficult People; The New Yorker; co-host of Cumming, co-host of It's a Guy Thing), and more perform for this free weekly show hosted by the multi-talented Morgan Miller (sharp improvisor, sketch comic, stand-up, and juggler): Dirty Laundry (11:00 pm, Free! (make reservation here), UCB Hell's Kitchen at 555 West 42nd Street)
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Friday 8/17: On RottenTomatoes.com, the 1986 movie Rad—which is about kids doing bike tricks—has a rating of 0%, the lowest possible score from critics, but an audience rating of 91%! According to The Guardian critic Nick Evershed, this is the largest discrepancy between critical and audience reception in the entire RT database. Come see if you can figure out the reason for the gap when this movie is both screened and mercilessly skewered by comics Frank Conniff (TV's Frank on Mystery Science Theater 3000; Cinematic Titanic; author of How to Write Cheesy Movies and 25 MST3K Films That Changed My Life In No Way Whatsoever), Carolina Hidalgo (co-host with MST3K's Frank Conniff & Trace Beaulieu of Movie Sign with the Mads podcast), and Kat Burdick. Their cruelty will be contrasted by exceptionally kind producer/host Chris Gersbeck (co-host of Soft Core!, which is essentially a porn version of this show, Casual Sets, and Bunk Bed Time Open Mic): Movies R Dumb: Rad (9:30 pm, $8 online using discount code RAD, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Wednesday 8/15: Stand-up and/or storytellers Justin Covington, Peter K, Ellen Karis, Pauline Murphy, JoAnna Ross, and Andrew Schiavone tell tales about losing their virginity hosted by Angela Cobb (Sirius XM): My First Time: A Stand-Up and Storytelling Show (9:00 pm, $10, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Saturday 8/18: A show celebrating the app that redefined online dating, with the lovely and quick-witted Lane Moore (above left; HBO's Girls; Sex & Relationship Editor of Cosmo; writer for The Onion, McSweeney's; author of upcoming book How to be Alone) going on a live Tinder safari for guys while a packed audience watches her every choice with fascination. Offering comments and suggestions are guests Josh Gondelman (above right; one of the sharpest comics in the country; Emmy & Peabody Award-winning writer/producer for HBO's phenom Last Week Tonight with John Oliver; Conan O'Brien, The New Yorker; stand-up album Physical Whisper), Jamilah Lemieux (commentator on ABC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN, MTV2, Vice, The Daily Show, The Nightly Show, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and The Nation; VP of News at iOne Digital; previously Senior Editor of Ebony Magazine), and Heben Nigatu (co-host of the Another Round podcast). This show consistently sells out, so I 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)
Monday 8/22: UCB showcases some of its finest comics—including Richie Moriarty (top left), Gwynna Forgham-Thrift (top right), LaGina Hill (bottom left), Katina Corrao (bottom middle, hosting), Katie Talay (bottom right), Chris Cafero, Nikki Palumbo, Shelly Mar, Jared Eimicke, and Nick Ramirez—in this second of two shows designed to help industry folks spot cool new talent (the first one was on 8/13): UCBT End of Summer Showcase, Part 2 (9:30 pm, $9, UCB Hell's Kitchen at 555 West 42nd Street)
Copyright © 2018 Hy Bender
Email: hy@hyreviews.com
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