NYC Comedy Picks for Monday 8/22/11
Saturday Night Live's John Mulaney and Vanessa Bayer perform tonight at Whiplash
Recommendations for the best in New York City comedy tonight
(in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:
[FREE] 6:00 pm: An open mic stand-up show running about 90 minutes at The Creek in Queens' Long Island City with host Chris Gaynor: Open Mic Mondays
7:00 pm & 9:00 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): The perfect show for short attention spans—open mic stand-up with 4 minutes per set and 25 comics crammed into 2 hours—with an early show hosted by Sean Donnelly & Blaine Perry at 7:00 pm, and an entirely different group of stand-ups hosted by Dan Cartwright & Dave Greek at 9:00 pm—at the Luca Lounge (222 Avenue B off 14th Street) for John Morrison's Motel Luca
[FREE] 7:30 pm: Mark Normand (hilarious stand-up; Last Comic Standing; co-host of Hot Soup and We're All Friends Here), Nore Davis (MTV), Joe Zimmerman, Christian Polcano, Damien Lemon, and Sam Morril performing stand-up at a free weekly show in the Manchester Pub hosted by Phoebe Robinson: Case of the Mondays Comedy
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): UCBT has developed several terrific in-house sketch comedy troupes, but only one of them currently rivals the finest sketch groups in the country: Gramp's, spearheaded by comedy genius Kate McKinnon. Kate's group will be trying out all-new bits tonight, but the chances are a bunch of them will be breathtakingly smart, inventive, and hilarious. Also on this double-bill is house troupe Onassis, which isn't nearly in the same league, but includes such notable performers as Sue Galloway—all at Maude Night
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): "Jonathan Blank and Samara Doucette say what everyone else thinks on dates, but never says... so join them and guest comedians as they divulge all of their wildest and most embarrassing dating stories! This monthly storytelling show contains the truth and nothing but the truth. However, most of the stories are more surreal than if David Lynch directed romantic comedies. Everything from wild hookups to emotional breakups are on the table at This is Awkward
[TOP PICK] 8:30 pm ($5): Wyatt Cenac (star correspondent for The Daily Show), Myq Kaplan (one of the quickest minds in comedy, and rapidly rising star; finalist on most recent Last Comic Standing; Jay Leno, Comedy Central Presents, hit comedy CD Vegan Mind Meld), Max Silvestri (VH1, co-host of Big Terrific), and musical guest Thin Skin Jonny performing at the Magnet Theatre for Adam Lerman's and Willy Appleman's Deep Traffic
[FREE] 9:00 pm: NYC stand-ups (not announced) performing at Brooklyn's Freddy's Bar (627 Fifth Avenue; take R subway to Prospect Avenue) for this free biweekly show hosted by Brooke Van Poppelen (brilliant stand-up, writer, and storyteller; TLC, blogger for trutV; for stand-up videos about overindulging at 30 and impersonating Morrisey, please click here and here) and Giulia Rozzi (Jimmy Kimmel, MTV, VH1, Playgirl Magazine, co-host of Stripped Stories): Dive Comedy
9:30 pm ($8): The worlds of "magic, mind-reading, and mutilation" are explored by Matthew Holtzclaw and Prakash Puru: Strange Things
9:30 pm ($5): Two of UCBT's in-house sketch comedy troupes, Arbuckle (which includes the unique Violet Krumbein) and Stone Cold Fox (which includes performers Fran Gillespie, Nate Smith, John Murray, and Molly Lloyd), trying out new bits at Maude Night
[FREE] 10:00 pm: Open-mic sketch, stand-up, improv, videos, and anything else quick & comedic, at The Magnet with host Leanne Linsky: Casual Sketch
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 11:00 pm: Some of the finest stand-ups in the world—who tonight include John Mulaney (one of the finest stand-ups in the country; writer/performer for Saturday Night Live; Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central Presents, VH1's Best Week Ever; for John's great bit on Weekend Update, please click here), Myq Kaplan (one of the quickest minds in comedy, and rapidly rising star; finalist on most recent Last Comic Standing; Jay Leno, Comedy Central Presents, hit comedy CD Vegan Mind Meld), and Vanessa Bayer (cast member on Saturday Night Live)—hosted by the wonderful Leo Allen (HBO, Saturday Night Live, Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central) at Whiplash
[FREE] 11:00 pm: If you're an audience member who loves stand-up, Monday at 11 should be Whiplash! night (see listing above). If you're a comic who couldn't get booked on UCBT's all-star show, though, you can opt to instead practice your skills at this stand-up open mic hosted by Michelle Wolf and the hilarious Erin Lennox (for a sample of Erin's dynamite Seriously Sports show, please click here): Fresh
NYC Comedy Picks for Tuesday 8/23/11
Jeffrey Sweet tells tales of Nichols & May, Del Close, and other
legends of comedy history
in his
fascinating one-man show You Only Shoot the
Ones You Love
Recommendations for the best in New York City comedy tonight
(in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:
[TOP PICK] [$] 5:00 pm ($18): Jeffrey Sweet, author of the seminal improv comedy book Something Wonderful Right Away, is gracing FringeNYC this year with his one-man show about Del Close, Nichols & May, Paul Sills, and other legendary comics whose work led to such comedy institutions as NYC's Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, The Pit, and The Magnet. If you have any interest in improv comedy history, this is a show not to be missed. There are only four performances left at The Studio at Cherry Lane (38 Commerce Street, near the #1 subway's Christopher Street stop), including today at 5:00 pm, of You Only Shoot the Ones You Love
[FREE] 7:00 pm: Open mic for comedy of all types (with sign-up starting at 6:00) at Queens LIC's The Creek upstairs theatre hosted by Robert Dean: The Dean's List
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Myq Kaplan (one of the quickest minds in comedy, and rapidly rising star; finalist on most recent Last Comic Standing; Jay Leno, Comedy Central Presents, hit comedy CD Vegan Mind Meld), Justin Shanes (writer for Jimmy Fallon), Tom DiMenna (current FringeNYC one-man show Who Loves You, Baby?), Clayton Fletcher (NYC comedy club host), Josh Carter, and musical guest Killy Dwyer performing at the Lolita Bar at Liam McEneaney's Tell Your Friends
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Comics fan Jon Gabrus (improvisor on UCBT troupes The Law Firm and Outlook of the Poet, and host of upcoming MTV game show The Substitute) joining super-hosts Alex Zalben, Justin Tyler, and Pete LePage in a lively & hilarious discussion about four-color pop culture, at The PIT's downstairs lounge: Comic Book Club
8:00 pm to Midnight ($5): Four full hours of improv for only five bucks—tonight featuring UCBT house troupes Very Good Kiss, Dance Break, Grandma's Ashes, American Cousin, and Airwolf—and at 11:00 pm advanced UCBT students acting weird—all at Harold Night
8:30 pm ($5): In this double-bill, each of two of The Magnet's singing improv troupes will make up a musical on the spot based on an audience suggestion: Tambourine and Rebound
9:30 pm ($5): Improvised episodes of the never-made third season of Twin Peaks at The PIT's upstairs theatre: In These Woods
[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Star storyteller Tom Shillue (Conan O'Brien, The Daily Show, Comedy Central Presents, 2011 ECNY Award for Best Storyteller), Wayne Federman, and Adam Conover performing at the PIT downstairs lounge hosted by Joe DeRosa (HBO’s Down and Dirty, Comedy Central Presents) and Jared Logan (Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central): Righteous Kill
[FREE] 10:15 pm: In this free show, audience members can join in with veteran musical improv talents to make up stories in song on the spot: Musical Magnet Mixer
[FREE] 11:00 pm: A breathtaking 40 comics are given 2 minutes each in this rapid-fire open mic stand-up show hosted with wit and energy by Jay Welch: Bring It
NYC Comedy Picks for Wednesday 8/24/11
John Mulaney (Totally J/K) and Sara Schaefer (Staycation)
Recommendations for the best in New York City comedy tonight
(in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:
[FREE] 6:00 pm to midnight: Six free hours of improvisation at The PIT's Super Free Wednesday
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 7:30 pm: Sara Schaefer (inventive, luminous comic; Emmy-nominated staff writer for Jimmy Fallon; VH1's Best Week Ever; co-host of hit podcast You Had to Be There), Jared Logan (Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, co-host of Righteous Kill), Dan St. Germain (quick-witted rising star; Jimmy Fallon, MTV, VH1; for reenactment of Dan's breakup, please click here), Joe Pera, and more performing stand-up at the Housingworks Bookstore Cafe hosted by Elihu Dietz: Staycation
[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($5): John Mulaney (one of the finest stand-ups in the country; writer/performer for Saturday Night Live; Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central Presents, VH1's Best Week Ever; for John's great bit on Weekend Update, please click here), Colin Jost (also a writer for Saturday Night Live), and Neal Stasny joining best bud hosts Noah Garfinkel & Joe Mande (author of Look At This F*cking Hipster) at Totally J/K
8:00 pm, 9:00 pm, and 10:00 pm ($5): Magnet house troupes performing improv, followed by a free show at 11:30 pm: The Magnet's Megawatt
8:00 pm ($5—which includes a free beer!): NYC stand-ups (not announced) performing at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens' Long Island City hosted by Nick Turner: Monsters
[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Mike Still (Death by Roo Roo, Diamond Lion) pulls out all the stops for a dynamic one-man show packed with comedic ideas revolving around a tyrant so evil that he machine-guns the audience (twice!), with direction by fellow Roo Roo star Neil Casey: Dictator For Life;
...and in the other half of this double-bill, Paul Welsh performs a one-man sketch play directed by the wonderful Shannon O'Neill: Men in Paintings
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 11:00 pm: As many as a dozen guests packed into 75 minutes performing stand-up, improv, sketch, and occasionally acts that defy categorization. The level of talent can vary wildly, but for some (like me), that's part of the laid-back fun; and this is often one of the most amazing comedy shows in town. Come support the experimentation, and periodic magical surprises, that this uniquely organic rollercoaster of a show makes possible—and don't forget to toss $1 in the bucket on your way out: School Night
[FREE] 11:00 pm: Open-mic stand-up running until 1:00 am, with time divided evenly between performers (up to five minutes), at The Creek downstairs lounge in Queens' Long Island City with host Rob Stern: Bucket 'O Buckets
NYC Comedy Picks for Thursday 8/25/11
Ace storyteller Kevin Allison (hosting Risk!) and ace stand-up Gilbert Gottfried (headlning at Carolines)
Recommendations for the best in New York City comedy tonight
(in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:
[FREE] 6:00 pm: Open-mic stand-up with comics drawing names from a bucket, with each chosen one receiving three minutes at The Creek's upstairs theatre in Queens' Long Island City: Corby Haas
[FREE] 6:30 pm: In this free show, audience members (signing in at 6) can join in with veteran improv talents to make up scenes on the spot: Magnet Mixer
[TOP PICK] [$] 7:30 pm ($24.50 & 2-drink min.) A one-of-a-kind comedy star headlining at the Carolines Comedy Club: Gilbert Gottfried
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Sharp sketch troupe Pangea 3000 presents its best sketches in 12 Years of Hard Work; and in the other half of this double-bill, a mini-play that pleased the college-age audience I saw it with, but that I wish wasn't written to be so calculating and by-the-numbers (e.g., the ending was dead obvious within the first few minutes)...but is probably worth seeing if only for the genuinely fresh & funny tailor scene: Brad Sacks Gets a Handjob
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Comedy veterans Laura Grey (stellar old-time radio style theatrical podcast Horrorgasm, sketch/improv duo Klepper & Grey), Jodi Lennon (Second City, Annoyance Theatre, iO, Exit 57), and Ari Voukydis (Conan O'Brien, VH1) performing an improvised play in What a Year!
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($7): Some of the Magnet Theatre's finest improvisors make up theatrical plays on the spot: Playhouse
8:00 pm ($10): "A 17-person middle school talent show created and performed by two people—Jo Firestone and Dylan Marron—who like themselves more now that they're older. A comedic tribute to the best three years of our lives, and a comedic play for anyone who ever thought it couldn't get any better than prank calls and slow-dancing:" Ridgefield Middle School Talent Nite
[FREE] 9:00ish pm: Typically terrific NYC stand-ups performing on this weekly show at the Kabin Bar and Lounge hosted by Chesley Calloway and comedy genius Sean Patton: Comedy as a Second Language
[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($10): Top comics and comedic storytellers—who tonight are Matt McCarthy, Dan Kennedy, Danny Lobell, and Dawn Fraser —joining brilliant sketch comic and storyteller Kevin Allison (The State) to share tales on tonight's theme Uncanny at one of the finest storytelling shows in the country: Risk!
[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): "Thin Skin Jonny. They had it all. They were icons, legends, anti-folk superstars. However, tragedy struck and they broke up, citing an alleged statutory charge, gay porn addiction, and Four Loko abuse. Now, two months later, they're back to do one last show—a benefit! Can they find a way to get along long enough to raise the money needed to re-animate the corpse of Bea Arthur? Maybe, with your help!" Performers include Ari Scott, with direction from Pam Murphy: Thin Skin Jonny: Farewell Reunion Tour
9:30 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): Joe DeRosa, Katina Corrao, Eric Kirchberger, and more performing stand-up at Luca Lounge (222 Avenue B off 14th Street) for Sean Crespo's & Carol Hartsell's weekly comedy show Lasers in the Jungle
9:30 pm ($5): Improvisors (not announced) make up one-act plays on the spot at The PIT's basement lounger for The Scene
[$] 9:30 pm ($35 & 2-drink min.): One of the cast members of the seminal In Living Color headlining tonight through Sunday at Carolines: Tommy Davidson
[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): Wow; as soon as Tara Copeland moved to LA, musical improv champion Diamond Lion got crushed, scoring 53 votes to challenger Improv Nerds' 103. Tonight the latter troupe defends its crown by competing with The Brothers Hines for audience laughs and votes at the raucous Cage Match
11:00 pm ($5): Magnet improv troupes Brick and Chet Watkins compete for audience laughs and votes—yes, like UCBT's Cage Match, but with a game-like challenge component—at Inspirado
NYC Comedy Picks for Friday 8/26/11
Comedy genius Kate McKinnon performs one of the best one-woman
shows of the year in Kate
McKinnon on Ice, and
comedy historian Jeffrey Sweet makes a rare NYC appearance in his FringeNYC
show You
Only Shoot the Ones You Love
Recommendations for the best in New York City comedy tonight
(in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:
[FREE] 6:00 pm: An open mic show on a lottery system (sign-ups start at 5:30 pm) at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens' Long Island City with hosts Mike Recine and Annie Lederman: The Shinebox
7:00 pm ($7): Sketch comedy from two friends who, by a wild coincidence, have the same name: We're Matt Weir
7:00 pm ($8): Award-winning improv duo Lucas Kavner and Bradford Jordan make stuff up with "a celebrity guest improvisor' at Swords, while all-gal improvisors Alexis Saarela, Brigid Boyle, Elizabeth Findlay, and Ashley Ward perform as troupe Taco Supreme
[MEGA-TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): Sketch comedy genius Kate McKinnon performing her latest one-woman show, which features "Singing! Dancing! Ice Skating! Hoarders! Conjoined Twins! Temple Grandin!" This inventive, dynamic production is among the very best to grace the UCBT stage this year. (And if you don't want to take my word alone, check out Jane Borden's Time Out New York review.) Kate is the most precious of diamonds in our NYC comedy community; come see why in Kate McKinnon on Ice ...
...and in the second half of this double-bill, Joanna Bradley performs a one-woman show about how awful people are, directed by the wonderful Becky Drysdale: Everybody's Dumb and Boring
[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($18): Jeffrey Sweet, author of the seminal improv comedy book Something Wonderful Right Away, is gracing FringeNYC this year with his one-man show about Del Close, Nichols & May, Paul Sills, and other legendary comics whose work led to such comedy institutions as NYC's Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, The Pit, and The Magnet. (For my full review, please click here.) If you have any interest in improv comedy history, this is a show not to be missed. There are only two performances left at The Studio at Cherry Lane (38 Commerce Street, near the #1 subway's Christopher Street stop), including tonight at 8:00 pm, of You Only Shoot the Ones You Love
8:00 pm ($10): An improv troupe making up a musical on the spot after a friendly greeting: Hello
[$] 8:00 pm & 10:30 pm ($35 & 2-drink min.): One of the cast members of the seminal In Living Color headlining tonight through Sunday at Carolines: Tommy Davidson
[FREE] 8:00 pm: NYC stand-ups Adam Lowitt, Amber Nelson, Sean Donnelly, Danny Solomon, and Joe Zimmerman performing at O'Hanlon's (14th Street off 1st Avenue) hosted by Mark Normand: Hot Soup
[FREE] 8:00 pm: An open mic show that's first come, first serve (sign-ups start at 7:30 pm), with each comic getting five minutes on stage at The Creek downstairs lounge in Queens' Long Island City: Mic and Cheese
[TOP PICK] 8:30 pm ($7): Improv troupe Phooka goes scripted with a sketch show about "tales of the wild and weird people, places, and events this side of Crazytown; true stories of all things that most folks only whisper about—and those who hear wish they didn't!" in Phooka: Creatures, Myths, and Urban Legends
[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): Some of the finest improv in NYC from the comedy genius members of The Stepfathers
9:30 pm ($8): "Ever wonder how you become a writer for an Emmy winning TV show? So does J. D. Durkin. Since no one has told him, here is his one-man show performing all original material to become a writer for The Colbert Report. Durkin channels Colbert live on stage to present political punditry as only The PIT could do it...and only The PIT, since he was escorted off the Comedy Central premises:" Stephen Colbert: Hire Me
10:00 pm ($7): Singing improvisors using an interview with an audience member to craft The Made-Up Musical
[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): Comedy genius Thomas Middleditch (when he's not in LA), Nate Lang, Craig Rowin, Matt Fisher, Fran Gillespie Sue Galloway, and other superb improvisors make up scenes about an audience member's legal dispute at The Law Firm: Law & Disorder
11:00 pm ($5): All-gal improv from Jennifer Bild, Christine DeNoon, Julianne Dunn, and Brandy Mitchell, plus guest stand-up and sketch gal comics: Goldie and the Hawns: Boneless! A Night of Women in Comedy
[TOP PICK] 11:30 pm ($5): A brilliant group of improvisors from Chicago and New York—spearheaded by Improv legend Joe Bill, who'll participate if he happens to be in NYC tonight—offers lightning-quick dark comedy unlike anything else in NYC. The troupe consists of Jordan Klepper (Klepper & Grey, iO, ), Jodi Lennon (Comedy Central's Exit 57), Ari Voukydis (UCB instructor, VH!'s Best Week Ever), Doug Stoley (Conan O'Brien, UCB), Rick Andrews (Magnet performer), Mark Grenier (Magnet instructor), Jen Sanders (Magnet performer), and Chet Siegel (Magnet performer)—and if Joe is there too, upgrade this to MEGA-TOP PICK: Lights Out, Shirley!
Midnight ($5): Sketch comedy troupes Hammerkatz NYU and Three Sciences compete for audience laughs and votes, with troupe Sidecar hosting, in Backyard Brawl
NYC Comedy Picks for Saturday-Sunday 8/27-28/11
Hurricane Irene
Recommendations for the best in New York City comedy tonight
are to stay home.
Because of the hurricane heading our way, Mayor Bloomberg is shutting down mass transit starting noon today and running through at least Sunday night.
FringeNYC 2011 has canceled the final two days of its wonderful festival (for details, please click here); and so have virtually all comedy shows.
Stay home and be safe.
Comedy listings will resume here on Monday.
Copyright © 2011 Hy Bender
Email: hy@hyreviews.com
