NYC Comedy Picks for Week of August 29, 2016

NYC Comedy Picks for Monday 8/29/16

For ratings & rankings of the 58 FringeNYC 2016 shows I've seen to date, please click here. For FringeNYC Encore Series info, please click here.

R. Sikoryak has drawn the entire, unedited text of the iTunes Terms and Conditions as a graphic novel in over 90 distinct comics styles. It has appeared online here. For this performance, Sikoryak will project the artwork and read from the text accompanied by live music by Brian Dewan, joined by special guest readers Paul Boocock and James Godwin: Terms and Conditions (7:30 pm, Free! but reserve your seat by clicking here, Dixon Place at 161A Chrystie Street)

More 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 downstairs lounge: Super Free Monday

[TOP PICK] [$] 7:30 pm, 9:30 pm, and 11:30 pm ($12 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Some of the finest stand-ups in the country spread among three shows at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane): Comedy Cellar Monday

[MEGA-TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5; sold out of seats, but you can probably get in if you don't mind standing): Brilliant improvisors stumble into rehearsed theatre scenes they know nothing about played by Broadway and/or TV stars directed by host Stephen Ruddy at the UCB Chelsea theatre: Gravid Water

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($5 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Wil Sylvince (Comedy Central, HBO, Showtime) hosts Ryan Hamilton, Gregg Rogell, Lenny Marcus, LIza Treyger, Sean Donnelly, and Rory Albanese trying out fresh material at The Fat Black Pussycat Lounge (130 West 3rd Street): Fresh Jokes Monday

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:30 pm ($8): Mo Fry Pasic & Tim Platt spearhead a sketch play about an orgy with superb guest performers Aaron Jackson, Betsy Kenney, and Carmen Christopher, plus an opening stand-up set from Anna Drezena , all performing at Brooklyn's Union Hall: Pasic & Platt: Orgy

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($8): Sasheer Zamata, Sean Donnelly, Courtney Fearrington, Derek Sheen, V. Lince, and Dwayne Kennedy performing stand-up at Brooklyn's Littlefield (622 Degraw Street) guest-hosted by Shane Torres: Night Train

[TOP PICK] 8:00 ($5): Sketches, stand-up, music, and more sketches spearheaded by comics from the famed Funny or Die website, all performing at the UCB East theatre: Funny Or Die Live

8:00 pm ($10): A group of actors and improvisors attempt to duplicate the success of UCBT's Gravid Water by putting improvisors in the middle of classic theatre scenes at The PIT upstairs theatre. UCBT uses top Broadway and improv talent for its show, making it extraordinary. The participants of this show aren't quite at that level, but the format is so strong that this might work anyway, despite the awful title: The Actor's Worst Nightmare

[FREE] 8:00 pm: Four improvisers form teams with comics they've never performed with before at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens' Long Island City: The Kaleidoscope

8:30 pm ($7): A one-woman autobiographical show by Lauren Hope Krass blending theatre, songs, and stand-up about "romance, sexuality, body image, and what it’s like to dress up like Fat J Lo on the Dr. Oz Show" at Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell (27-16 23rd Avenue): A Krass Act

[FREE] 9:00 pm: NYC stand-ups Dan Abraham, Jessica Stern, Boris Khaykin, Vicky Kuperman, John Field Hohensee, and Deanna Williams performing at Brooklyn's Freddy's Backroom (627 5th Avenue) hosted by Calvin S. Cato & Richard James: Ed Sullivan on Acid

9:00 pm ($5): Indie improv groups King Zebra and Snapshirt make up scenes at The PIT Loft (154 West 29th Street): Indie Takeover

9:30 ($5): House sketch groups Choir and Mama's Gotta Go try out new material at UCB Chelsea for Maude Night

9:30 pm ($5): Improv veterans Brandon Gardner, Chelsea Clarke, Phil Jackson, and/or Steve Theiss hosting & performing in a show at UCB East with guest improvisors: Improv Nerds

[FREE] 10:00 pm: Dan St. Germain (enormously likeable and rapidly rising star who has several TV shows in the works; Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central Half-Hour Special, The Electric Company, MTV, VH1), Ray DeVito, Dan Perlman, Blair Socci, Josh Johnson, KC Arora, and Kelsey Cook perform for this free weekly show at The Stand Comedy Club (239 Third Avenue, off 20th Street) hosted by Aaron Berg (TV series 24 Hour Rental, documentary A Universal Language): Frantic Mondays: Dan St. Germain and More

10:30 pm ($7): Improv is dominated by guys, so this is a rare treat—a dozen female improvisors "for an evening of comedy that will delight men, women, babies, and kittens," hosted by Megan Gray at The Magnet theatre: We Might Just Kiss

[MEGA-TOP PICK] [FREE] 11:00 pm: Some of the finest comics in the world-who aren't announced in advance, but it's usually a great lineup and often an extraordinary one—at UCB Chelsea typically hosted by Aparna Nancherla (one of the best stand-ups in the country; writer for Seth Meyers; Conan O'Brien, @Midnight, comedy album Just Putting It Out There). Reservations go quickly, but you can probably get in if you arrive early and are okay with standing: Whiplash

Monday Open Mics & Jams

4:30 pm-7:00 pm ($5 plus 1 drink min., with drinks as low as $2): Walk-in stand-up open mic with two rounds, the first providing 5-6 minutes per set and the second 2-3 minutes per set, at The Grisly Pear (107 MacDougal Street) hosted by Tuval Mor: Kickin It Open Mic

5:00 pm ($5): Two-hour open-mic for 20 stand-ups performing for 5 minutes each, with sign-up online here, at the Stand Up NY Comedy Club (236 West 78th Street): Stand Up NY Open Mic

[FREE] 6:00 pm: Open mic stand-up show that provides each performer whose name is pulled from a bucket 3 minutes on stage. Arrive at around 5:45 to sign up, or wait for the late bucket at 6:15, to perform at The Creek downstairs lounge in Queens' LIC (10-93 Jackson Avenue) hosted by Matt Anderson: First Stop Open Mic

6:00 pm & 8:00 pm (no cover, 1 drink min. for both comics and audience members): Open mic stand-up providing 5-7 minutes per comic, with each show running 1 hour and 45 minutes. Arrive 30 minutes before the show you want to be in to get on the signup sheet. This is a fine opportunity to perform at the only comedy club in the East Village: Eastville Comedy Club Open Mic

7:30 pm ($10; sign-up starts at 7:00 pm): Open mic for stand-ups, storytellers, singers, poets, actors, and more, with 5 minutes per performer and 25 slots available, at The Parkside Lounge (317 East Houston Street, off Avenue B) hosted by Nathan P., followed by a raucous afterparty with dancing & drink specials from 10:00 to midnight: Inspired Word's Open Mic Joint

[FREE] 10:30 pm: Improv veterans Brandon Gardner, Chelsea Clarke, and Phillip Jackson hosting & performing in a show at UCB East with improvisors taken from the audience...and who may include you: Improv Nerds Jam

[FREE] 11:00 pm: Open mic stand-up show that provides each performer whose name is pulled from a bucket 4 minutes on stage at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens' Long Island City hosted by Joseph Robert: PBR & Scrap Paper Open Mic Stand-Up

11:00 pm ($3): Open mic stand-up, with each comic getting 5 minutes and room for 15 comics who sign up per show, at The PIT upstairs theatre hosted by John Field: The Power Exchange

[FREE] 11:00 pm: Improv students are welcomed onto the stage at The PIT downstairs lounge for this weekly open access show hosted by Gary DeNoia & Langston Belton: Base Jam

NYC Comedy Picks for Tuesday 8/30/16

The FringeNYC 2016 Encore Series has been announced—and it's extending many of the festival's very best productions, including The Box Show,, Pucker Up and Blow, Flight, and The Secret Life of Your Third Grade Teacher. For complete details, please click here.

R.I.P. Gene Wilder

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] 7:00 pm-11:00 pm ($7 for the whole evening): In this 4-hour extravaganza, six singing & dancing improv groups at The Magnet make up musicals based on audience suggestions, followed at 10:15 pm by an improv jam open to the audience hosted by group Public Pool: Magnet Musical Megawatt

7:00 pm ($5): A showcase for two brand new shows—sketch, solo, readings, what have you—every week at The PIT downstairs lounge hosted by the wonderful Ronny Pascale: Pilot Season

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 7:30 pm: Comics creators join super-hosts Alex Zalben, Justin Tyler, and Pete LePage in a lively & hilarious discussion about four-color pop culture at The PIT Loft (154 West 29th Street), with giveaways of comics and gift certificates (and if you can't make it, watch in online here): Comic Book Club

7:30 pm ($8): A 30-minute one-man show by Jes Tom about "astrology, interracial relationships, Pokémon, gay porn, being Queer, and getting your heart broken in the age of 'Love is Love is Love' through stand up, storytelling, and uncomfortably public vulnerability," with opening stand-up sets by Patti Harrison, May Wilkerson, and host Calvin Cato, all performing at Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell (27-16 23rd Avenue): Jes Tom: Cold Brew

7:30 pm & 9:15 pm ($5 per show): House groups at UCB Chelsea perform the classic improv form The Harold at Harold Night

[TOP PICK] [DISCOUNTED] 8:00 pm ($8.45 online using discount code NORTHERN; no min.): Myq Kaplan (one of the quickest minds in comedy, and rapidly rising star; finalist on Last Comic Standing, semi-finalist on America's Got Talent; David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno, Comedy Central Presents, comedy CDs Small, Dork, and Handsome, Vegan Mind Meld, and Meat Robot), Sean Patton (one of the finest stand-ups in the country; killer sets on Jimmy Fallon and Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Half Hour, VH1, feature film Wifed Out; co-host of Esquire Network's Best Bars in America; frequent guest host of Whiplash), Jessica Kirson (Jay Leno, Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, HBO, Showtime, Bravo, VH1, Logo one-woman show My Cookie's Gone), and Pete Lee (Comedy Central Half Hour, Last Comic Standing) performing stand-up at The Stand Comedy Club (239 Third Avenue & 20th Street) hosted by Josh Carter & Ray DeVito: Northern Discomfort: Myq Kaplan, Sean Patton, Jessica Kirson, and Pete Lee

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($15 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Robert Kelly produces a show by stand-ups with children, which tonight features him, Bonnie McFarlane, Jim Florentine, and Luis J. Gomez at Village Underground (130 West 3rd Street, off Sixth Avenue) hosted by Ron Bennington: Kreeps with Kids

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): This monthly show screens the work of the UCB video division, and might also hosts live stand-up and sketch, at the UCB East theatre produced by Mehdi Barakchian and hosted by Julie Gomez & Nathan Russell: UCB Comedy Live

8:30 pm ($5): Superb improvisors and guest improv groups join host Skycopter (which includes the incredible David Carl) to make up one-act plays on the spot at The PIT downstairs lounge: Act One

[FREE] 8:30 pm (reserve your free spots by clicking here): Typically terrific stand-ups (for the line-up, usually posted by 1:00 pm, please click here) performing at The Irish Exit (978 Second Avenue, off 52nd Street, in the back room) produced every Tuesday by Mark Normand, Matt Ruby, Gary Vider, and Sachi Ezura: Hot Soup

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($5): Stand-up & storytelling springboarding off topics tackled by The Ricki Lake Show—fat friends, two-timing traitorous tramps, and so on. Tonight's theme is "I Won't Stop Cheating if You Don't Stop Eating!" with Naomi Ekperigin (dynamite rising star stand-up; writer for Comedy Central's Broad City and Hulu's Difficult People; MTV, VH1, FX), Leah Bonnema (VH1, IFC's Comedy Drop, WeTV's Cinematherapy, Logo, Opie & Anthony’s Virus Channel), Patrick Holbert, and Mark Anthony Ramirez at Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell (27-16 23rd Avenue) hosted by Matt Smith: Go Ricki!

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($5): If, like me, you miss the characters of Stars Hollow, come experience a lost episode of the classic series, made up on the spot at The PIT Loft (154 West 29th Street): Improvised Gilmore Girls

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Comics (not announced) perform stories and songs at this cabaret-style show backed by pianist Henry Koperski and friends at UCB East hosted by Brandon Scott Jones: A Lil' Night Music: Comedians Singing

9:30 pm ($5): Stand-ups Ben Asher, Becca Beberagg, and Andrew Heaton performing at The PIT upstairs theatre: Asher, Beberagg, and Heaton

[TOP PICK] 10:00 pm ($5; no min.): This super-affordable weekly club stand-up show features Dan Soder (smart, edgy rising star; 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), Rich Vos (stand-up star on two seasons of Last Comic Standing and on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn; Comedy Central Presents; Opie & Anthony radio show), Jessica Kirson (Jay Leno, Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, HBO, Showtime, Bravo, VH1, Logo one-woman show My Cookie's Gone), Bonnie McFarlane (HBO, David Letterman, Jay Leno, Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central), Pete Lee (Comedy Central Half Hour, Last Comic Standing), and Ian Lara performing stand-up at The Stand Comedy Club (239 Third Avenue, off 20th Street): $5 Funnies with Dan Soder, Rich Vos, Jessica Kirson, Bonnie McFarlane, Pete Lee, and More

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 10:00 pm: Stand-ups perform—until the audience decides they're done!—at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens' Long Island City hosted by Mark Reiss: Slaughter House Live

11:00 pm ($5): Going beyond the classic Harold, improv group Some Kid performs different types of longform at the UCB East theatre: Harold on the Run

Tuesday Open Mics & Jams

5:00 pm ($5): Two-hour open-mic for 20 stand-ups performing for 5 minutes each, with sign-up online here, at the Stand Up NY Comedy Club (236 West 78th Street): Stand Up NY Open Mic

6:00 pm (no cover, 1 drink min. for both comics and audience members): Open mic stand-up providing 5-7 minutes per comic, running 2 1/2 hours. Arrive 30 minutes before the show to get on the signup sheet. This is a fine opportunity to perform at the only comedy club in the East Village: Eastville Comedy Club Open Mic

[FREE] 6:00 pm: Open mic for comedy of all types providing 2 minutes for each performer (with sign-up starting at 6:00) at Queens LIC's The Creek upstairs theatre hosted by Tim Unkenholz: Butt Factory

[FREE] 6:30 pm: Weekly stand-up open mic, with walk-ins tossing names into a hat and set length determined by the number of comics who show up, at Bunga's Den (137 West 14th Street, between Sixth & Seventh Avenues) hosted by Jimmy LeChase and/or Justin Perez: Townies Open Mic

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:00 pm: This weekly two-hour open mic storytelling show allows each performer 8 minutes to tell a compelling and funny tale at Queens LIC's The Creek upstairs theatre hosted by Jake Hart and a guest co-host: The Dump

[FREE] 8:00 pm: Weekly open mic for any kind of act (with sign-up starting at 7:30) at Brooklyn's Goodbye Blue Monday (1087 Broadway) hosted by Joe Crow Ryan: Goodbye Blue Monday

[FREE] 10:15 pm: In this free Magnet show, audience members can join in with musical improv group Public Pool to make up stories in song on the spot: Musical Magnet Mixer

11:00 pm ($3): A breathtaking 40 comics are given 2 minutes each in this rapid-fire open-mic stand-up show at The PIT upstairs theatre hosted with wit and energy by Jay Welch: Bring It

[FREE] 11:00 pm: Weekly walk-in open mic stand-up providing 3 minutes for each comic whose name is pulled from a bucket at Queens LIC's The Creek upstairs theatre hosted by Michelle Slonim: Rapid Fire

[ALMOST FREE] 11:00 pm ($1): A chance for you to get on stage and improvise with PIT faculty at The PIT Loft (154 West 29th Street): Tuesday After Class Jam

NYC Comedy Picks for Wednesday 8/31/16

For details on the FringeNYC 2016 Encore Series, please click here.

Dan St. Germain (enormously likeable and rapidly rising star who has several TV shows in the works; Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central Half-Hour Special, The Electric Company, MTV, VH1), Phil Hanley (Seth Meyers, Comedy Central Half Hour, Craig Ferguson, former host of Chemistry), Emmy Blotnick (staff writer for Comedy Central's Not Safe with Nikki Glaser, previously writer for @midnight; MTV's Nikki and Sara Live, VH1's Best Week Ever), Meghan Hanley, and Atheer Yacoub performing stand-up hosted by Josh Gondelman (writer for HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The New Yorker): The Sensible Show (7:00 pm, $5, Brooklyn's The Annoyance Theatre at 367 Bedford Avenue; take J/M/Z to Marcy Avenue or L to Lorimer Street)

More 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-midnight: Six free hours of improvisation—including an open-to-all improv jam at 6:00 pm; group Lovers, which includes the spectacular Dana Shulman and Tracy Mull at 7:00 pm; and PIT owner Ali Farahnakian & friends at 10:25 pm—at The PIT downstairs lounge: Super Free Wednesday

7:00 pm-11:00 pm ($7 for the entire evening): Four hours of improv from eight groups—plus a free improv jam at 6:00 pm—at The Magnet theatre: Magnet Megawatt

[TOP PICK] [$] 7:30 pm, 8:00 pm, 9:30 pm, and 11:30 pm ($14, plus 2-item food/drink min.): Some of the finest stand-ups in the country spread among three shows at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) and an 8:00 pm show at Village Underground (130 West 3rd Street, off Sixth Avenue): Comedy Cellar Wednesday

7:30 pm ($5): Myka Fox (SNL freelance contributor; host of Myka Fox & Friends podcast on Keith and The Girl Network), Dan Licata, and Jon Laster performing stand-up at The PIT Loft (154 West 29th Street) with twins Adam & Todd Stone: Stone and Stone Show

7:30 pm ($5): Expanding the UCB longform improv showcased on Harold Night is this weekly show at UCB East which features three house groups making up scenes on the spot: Lloyd Night

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): At the UCB Chelsea theatre, a play directed by the wonderful Langan Kingsley, and written by & co-starring Matt Barats & John Reynolds, about "on the night when the girls ask the boys, it's finally the teacher's turn:" Sadie Hawkins Day: Love Knows No Bounds...

...and in the second half of this double-bill, a musical sketch comedy show: Pop Roulette's Amazing Earth

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($15; no min.): Sean Patton (one of the finest stand-ups in the country; killer sets on Jimmy Fallon and Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Half Hour, VH1, feature film Wifed Out; co-host of Esquire Network's Best Bars in America; frequent guest host of Whiplash), Monroe Martin (finalist on Last Comic Standing), Megan Gailey (Comedy Central's Adam Devine's House Party), Aaron Berg (TV series 24 Hour Rental, documentary A Universal Language, host of Frantic Mondays), and Paul Virzi (FOX, Spike TV) performing stand-up at The Stand Comedy Club (239 Third Avenue, off 20th Street): The Stand Wednesday: Sean Patton, Monroe Martin, and More

[TOP PICK] 8:30 pm ($5): Comedic storytellers tell tales accompanied by videos, with tonight's guests David Lawson (The Flyer Guy at Solocom 2015), Paul Murphy (Tribeca Film Festival), and Chris O'Neil performing at The PIT downstairs lounge hosted by Harmon Leon: Videotale

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 9:00 pm: Big Jay Oakerson (Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central Presents, Louie, Inside Amy Schumer, HBO, Showtime, MTV, IFC; stellar new comedy album Live at Webster Hall), Dave Smith, Luis J. Gomez, and other NYC comics "discussing the skankier sides of life, love, and stand-up comedy" for this weekly podcast taping at The Creek downstairs lounge in Queens' LIC (10-93 Jackson Avenue): Legion of Skanks

[FREE] 9:00 pm: Drew Michael, Jon Laster, Robert Dean, Alexis Guerreros Ayanna Dookie,and Brian McGuinness performing stand-up for this free weekly show at Lucky Jack's Pub (129 Orchard Street) produced by Kyle Fincham, Lance Weiss, and Brendon Fitzgibbons: Gandhi, Is That You?

9:00 pm ($5): An improv pianist plays for four improv acts—two of which are musical improv—at The PIT Loft (154 West 29th Street): The Piano Show

[TOP PICK] 9:15 pm ($5): The instructors of UCB's classes include some of the finest improvisors in the country. In this new weekly show a bunch of them get on stage at UCB East hosted by Doug Mo and/or Ben Rameaka: Hot for Teacher: The UCB Faculty Show

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Breathtakingly subtle genius improvisor John Lutz (cast member of 30 Rock; six years as staff writer for Saturday Night Live; John and Scott) and extreme improvisor Peter Grosz (Veep, Inside Amy Schumer, former writer for Seth Meyers and The Colbert Report, star of over 100 Sonic fast-food commercials) perform duo improv as 2 Square

[FREE] 10:00 pm: NYC stand-ups do sets "and then have a discussion about what's going on in the world and the mysteries of life" at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens' LIC (10-93 Jackson Avenue), hosted by Chris Laker: The Show

10:00 pm ($5): Three stand-ups (not announced) attempt to walk the tightrope between funny and "too far" at The PIT downstairs lounge: Where is the Line?

10:15 pm ($5): Randomly selected UCBT students perform with UCBT improv veterans at the UCB East theatre: The Lottery

11:00 pm ($5): Improv group Higgins performs the season finale of a long-running TV show that never actually existed based on an audience suggestion of the series title at the UCB Chelsea theatre: Season Finale

Wednesday Open Mics & Jams

5:00 pm ($5): Two-hour open mic for 20 stand-ups performing for 5 minutes each, with sign-up online here, at the Stand Up NY Comedy Club (236 West 78th Street): Stand Up NY Open Mic

[FREE] 6:00 pm: Walk-in open mic storytelling show, with each yarn-spinner (selected via names from a bucket) getting up to 8 minutes to tell a true and funny tale at Astoria Queens comedy venue QED: A Place to Show & Tell (27-16 23rd Avenue) hosted by Vincent Chang: Flynn's Mic

[FREE] 6:00 pm: Open mic stand-up show that provides each performer whose name is pulled from a bucket 5 minutes on stage at The Creek downstairs lounge in Queens' LIC (10-93 Jackson Avenue) hosted by Kaity Neagle & Irene Hartmann: Ragtag Team Open Mic Stand-Up

[FREE] 6:00 pm: Your chance to improvise on stage at The PIT upstairs theatre hosted by Anthony Velez & Parker Denton: Recess

[FREE] 6:00 pm: Sign up at 5:45 pm for the opportunity to make up scenes at The Magnet with veteran improvisors: Magnet Mixer Wednesday

[FREE] 7:00 pm: Four booked NYC stand-ups, plus one open spot for an audience member whose name is pulled from a bucket, plus drop-in spots for up to five TV-credited comics who care to walk in! Spots are at least 5 minutes each, but go up by a minute per comic for every TV-credited drop-in spot that isn't filled (e.g., if no drop-ins appear, every comic will receive up to 10 minutes per set). It all happens at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens' LIC (10-93 Jackson Avenue) hosted by Daniel Ahrens: Drop-In/The Bucket

[FREE] 7:00 pm: Open mic stand-up providing 4 minutes per comic. Email PhoningItInMic@gmail.com to sign up, or take a chance at lottery sign-up live between 6:45 and 7:45, at Brooklyn's Halyards Bar (406 Third Avenue) hosted by Lukas Kaiser: Comics Phoning It In

[FREE] 11:00 pm: Weekly walk-in open mic stand-up providing 3 minutes for each comic whose name is pulled from a bucket (but no actual punch or pie, that's just a lure to entice you to come) at Queens LIC's The Creek downstairs lounge hosted by Matthew Tenenbaum: Punch & Pie

11:00 pm ($3): Open mic stand-up show, with each comic whose name is selected from a bucket getting on stage for 3-5 minutes (depending on the number of comics) at The PIT downstairs lounge: The Camel Butt

[FREE] 11:00 pm: Your chance to perform on stage with experienced improvisors at The PIT upstairs theatre hosted by Bernard Maynore and/or Patrick Cucuta: Improdome

[FREE] 11:15 pm: Your chance to perform with veteran UCB improvisors on the UCB East stage: The Lottery Jam

NYC Comedy Picks for Thursday 9/1/16

Joe Pera (hilarious and genius deadpan stand-up; killer set on Seth Meyers; Comedy Central, Adult Swim; for a very special one-minute set at Carolines, please click here; for Joe's latest Kaufman awards submissions, please click here and here), Ophira Eisenberg (NBC's The Today Show, CBS' The Late Late Show, Comedy Central, VH1, Showtime, host of NPR's trivia/puzzle show Ask Me Another, bestselling book Screw Everyone, comedy album Bangs!), Amber Nelson (dynamic stand-up & character comic; Comedy Central, TruTV's Almost Genius; sketch group Murderfist), Chris Lamberth, and Shalewa Sharpe performing stand-up hosted by Mindy Raf (singer/songwriter; VH1, College Humor; author of YA novel The Symptoms of My Insanity) & Katie Compa: Golden Spiral Comedy (8:00 pm, Free!, HiFi Bar at 169 Avenue A)

More recommendations for the best in New York City comedy tonight
(in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:

7:00 pm & 9:00 pm ($5): All-gal stand-up, sketch, and/or improv at The PIT Loft (154 West 29th Street) hosted by Monday Theatre Co.: Yes All Women: A Night of Comedy

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($5): Myq Kaplan (one of the quickest minds in comedy, and rapidly rising star; finalist on Last Comic Standing, semi-finalist on America's Got Talent; David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno, Comedy Central Presents, comedy CDs Small, Dork, and Handsome, Vegan Mind Meld, and Meat Robot), Adam Newman (David Letterman, Comedy Central Half Hour, MTV), 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), Neel Nanda (Adam Devine's House Party), and Charlie Pickering performing at UCB East hosted by Sean Crespo, Dan Wilbur, and Katina Corrao: Lasers in the Jungle

[TOP PICK] [$] 7:30 pm, 8:00 pm, 9:30 pm, and 11:30 pm ($14 per show, plus 2-item food/drink min.): Some of the finest stand-ups in the country spread among three shows at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) and an 8:00 pm show at Village Underground (130 West 3rd Street, off Sixth Avenue): Comedy Cellar Thursday

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($5): Improvisors remake a blockbuster film or classic story (suggested by the audience) in the style of indie filmmaker Wes Anderson at The PIT downstairs lounge: Forty Minutes in the Style of Wes Anderson: Popular Tales Retold

7:30 pm ($6): All-gal stand-up, with 3 booked comics—who tonight are Kara Buller, Carolyn Bergier, and V. Lince—and 4-minute open mic spots for 13 additional female comics on a first come, first serve basis at Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell (27-16 23rd Avenue) hosted by Andrea Shapiro & Caitlin McKee: Saw Her Stand Up There

[$] 7:30 pm ($42 & 2-drink min.) A co-star of such movies as I'm Gonna Get You Sucka and White Chicks, and of TV series In Living Color and The Wayans Bros., headlining tonight through Sunday at the Carolines Comedy Club: Shawn Wayans

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Dynamite musical improvisors including Jeff Hiller, Aaron Jackson, Ashley Ward, and/or Lauren Adams make up stories with songs at the UCB Chelsea theatre: Rumpleteaser: Musical Improv...

...and in the other half of this double-bill, a mini-play "exploring everything you love about karaoke: mediocre singing, friendship, Tsing-Tao, accidental meet cutes, homicidal Korean women, and of course your favorite 90's jams!": Let's Check Out That Karaoke Spot!

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm-Midnight ($10 for the entire evening): Four veteran house improv groups, themed improv show Hear No Evil (improvisors wear earplugs preventing them from hearing what's happening on-stage), and improv competition Inspirado, all for just $10 at The Magnet theatre: The Magnet's Thursday Night Out

8:00 pm ($15; no min.): Sean Patton (one of the finest stand-ups in the country; killer sets on Jimmy Fallon and Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Half Hour, VH1, feature film Wifed Out; co-host of Esquire Network's Best Bars in America; frequent guest host of Whiplash), Aida Rodriguez, Mike Vecchione, Derek Gaines, Aaron Berg, and Yannis Pappas performing stand-up at The Stand Comedy Club (239 Third Avenue, off 20th Street): The Stand Thursday: Sean Patton and More

8:00 pm ($7): Stand-ups try to solve the world's problems, with tonight's sages Josiah Madigan, Brock Mahan, Anthony DeVito, Dina Hashem, and Jason Kantor performing at Brooklyn's Union Hall hosted by Kevin McCaffrey: Serious Matters

8:00 pm ($10): Boston comics from group Improv Asylum and from YouTube's Simply Unemployable perform sketch comedy at The PIT upstairs theatre (123 East 24th Street): The T

[FREE] 8:00 pm: NYC stand-ups perform at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens' LIC (10-93 Jackson Avenue) hosted by Gideon Hambright and/or Patrick Hastie: Jackknife Comedy

8:00 pm ($5): Two improv house groups make up scenes for an hour at Brooklyn's The Annoyance Theatre (367 Bedford Avenue; take J/M/Z to Marcy Avenue or L to Lorimer Street): Detention + Gun Club

9:00 pm ($5): Adam Newman (David Letterman, Comedy Central Half Hour, MTV), Liz Miele (David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central, Damaged), Emmy Blotnick (staff writer for Comedy Central's Not Safe with Nikki Glaser, previously writer for @midnight; MTV's Nikki and Sara Live, VH1's Best Week Ever), John Baglio (The Tonight Show), Neel Nanda (Adam Devine's House Party), and Dave Arena performing stand-up at UCB East hosted by Ashley Brooke Roberts and/or Jim Tews: Fresh Out

9:00 pm ($10): Annoyance Artistic Director Philip Markle performs sketch, cabaret, and more with friends at Brooklyn's The Annoyance Theatre (367 Bedford Avenue; take J/M/Z to Marcy Avenue or L to Lorimer Street): The Sparkle Zone

9:30 pm ($5): "Right now, you're here. Meanwhile... There's something happening in the room next door.. And in the hallway... And on the roof... And in the basement...." The audience provides the time and place, and then improvisors—including Tracy Mull and Ron Hill—make up scenes about all the different things happening then at The PIT downstairs lounge: Meanwhile...

[FREE] 9:00 pm: JC Coccoli (Last Comic Standing, Key & Peele, MTV, VH1, WB), Davey Melch, Liz Magee, and Jenny Rubin performing stand-up at Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell (27-16 23rd Avenue) hosted by Liz Simons & Jenn Wehrung: Laugh It Up, Astoria

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): The razor-sharp writers of Late Night with Seth Meyers gather on the UCB Chelsea stage to perform an all-improvised show at Seth Meyers Writers: Crate Night With Set Fires

9:30 pm ($5): Indie improv groups Big City and Gypsy 43 make up scenes at The PIT upstairs theatre: Super Indie Takeover

[FREE] 10:00 pm: NYC stand-ups (not announced) perform 15-minute opening sets and then a 30-minute headlining set at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens' LIC (10-93 Jackson Avenue) hosted by Jenn Welch & Tom Lisi: The Half-Hour Hour

[FREE] 10:30 pm: NYC stand-ups performing at Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell (27-16 23rd Avenue) hosted by Chris Gersbeck, Lauren Hope Krass, and/or Peter Bandyk: Casual Sets

[FREE] 10:30 pm: "A curated hour of eclectic comedic material written in a week with no rehearsals" at Brooklyn's The Annoyance Theatre (367 Bedford Avenue; take J/M/Z to Marcy Avenue or L to Lorimer Street): The Holy Fuck Comedy Hour

[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): Last week The Mannequin Room demolished The Stepfathers with a victory of 132-40. Tonight this chamption team faces improv group Sleuth, competing for your laughs and votes at UCB Chelsea's raucous Cage Match

11:00 pm ($5): UCB comics write & perform news-based comedy at the UCB East theatre: NY2: We're Also the News

Thursday Open Mics & Jams

5:00 pm ($5): Two-hour open-mic for 20 stand-ups performing for 5 minutes each, with sign-up online here, at the Stand Up NY Comedy Club (236 West 78th Street): Stand Up NY Open Mic

[FREE] 6:00 pm: Stand-up open mic in which 15 walk-ins whose names are drawn from a bucket get to tell jokes on stage for 4 minutes each at UCB East hosted Brandon Scott Wolf & Paul Oddo: Thursday Night Open Mic

[FREE] 6:00 pm: Open-mic stand-up with comics' names drawn from a bucket and each chosen receiving 2 minutes—and if that goes well, maybe a hug (but not actual puppies)—at The Creek's downstairs lounge in Queens' Long Island City hosted by Ross Parsons & Trey Galyon: Free Puppies

[FREE] 6:00 pm: Open mic stand-up with 4 minutes per comic (sign-up starts at 5:30 pm) at Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell (27-16 23rd Avenue) hosted by Jake Vevera & Amy Liszka: The QED Thursday Mic

[ALMOST FREE] 6:00 pm ($1): A weekly improv jam for which the number of participants on stage is determined by a roll of the dice at The PIT Loft (154 West 29th Street) hosted by Jon Monje, Glorillis Tavarez, Trumane Alston, and Julien Darmon: Chance Encounters Jam

6:30 pm ($3): If you're a gal who'd like to try stand-up but are wary of being vulnerable in a tough male-dominated room, this show may be the perfect opportunity for you—an all-female open mic, with the first 15 comics to sign up (starting at 5:50 pm) getting 3 minutes each on stage at The PIT downstairs lounge: Ladies Night Open Mic

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 7:00 pm: Open mic storytelling show, with each yarn-spinner whose name is picked from a basket receiving 5 minutes on stage, at the Astoria Bookshop (31-29 31st Street) hosted by David Lawson (The Flyer Guy at Solocom 2015): The Astoria Bookshop Storytelling Show

7:00 pm ($2, which includes a free beer or water): Open mic stand-up providing a whopping 10 minutes per comic. Email PhoningItInMic@gmail.com with subject line Phoning Thursday to sign up; or take a chance at lottery sign-up live between 6:45 and 7:45 at Brit Pack Studios (34 Pell Street, 2nd Floor) hosted by Ian Fidance: Comics Phoning It In

[FREE] 7:00 pm: A weekly improv jam hosted by group Salt at Brooklyn's The Annoyance Theatre (367 Bedford Avenue; take J/M/Z to Marcy Avenue or L to Lorimer Street): The Blender

[FREE] 7:00 pm: In this free Magnet show, audience members (signing in at 6:00) can join in with a veteran improv group to make up scenes on the spot: Magnet Mixer Thursday

[FREE] 10:00 pm: Walk-in open mic (with names selected from a bucket) to do anything you want for 5 minutes—"chat, rant, plug, tell a story, be a character, play a game, review a new religion"—for a podcast recorded at The Creek downstairs lounge in Queens' LIC (10-93 Jackson Avenue) hosted by Mike Guild & Mike Mercadal: The Open Mic Podcast

[ALMOST FREE] 10:30 pm ($1): A chance for you to get on stage and improvise with PIT faculty at The PIT Loft (154 West 29th Street): Thursdays After Class Jam

[FREE] 11:00 pm: An open-mic stand-up show that's first come, first serve, with each comic getting 3 minutes on stage at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens' LIC (10-93 Jackson Avenue) hosted by Patrick Hastie: Beer, Booze, and Bits

NYC Comedy Picks for Friday 9/2/16

World-class singing improvisors Rebecca Vigil & Evan Kaufman 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): Your Love, Our Musical (7:30 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)

More recommendations for the best in New York City comedy tonight
(in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:

[MEGA-TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($13): A glorious collection of hilarious genre film clips from super-fan Kevin Maher and friends, tonight about Satan at Brooklyn's Morbid Anatomy Museum (424-A 3rd Avenue): Kevin Geeks Out About The Devil

[TOP PICK] [$] 7:00 pm, 7:30 pm, 8:45 pm, 9:30 pm, 10:30 pm, 11:30 pm, and 12:15 am ($20-$24 per show, plus 2-item food/drink min.): Some of the finest stand-ups in the country spread among four shows at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) and the 7:30, 9:30, and 11:30 shows at Village Underground (130 West 3rd Street, off Sixth Avenue): Comedy Cellar Friday

7:00 pm ($7): Talented comics perform solo characters at The Magnet theatre hosted by Ari Miller & Elena Skopeto: Character Bash

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): At UCB Chelsea, ace improvisors Connor Ratliff, Molly Lloyd, Terry Withers, and more somehow create an improvised murder mystery on the spot—with the audience helping to commit the crime: The Terry Withers Mysteries

7:30 pm ($10): Two PIT downstairs lounge improv groups making up a musical on the spot. Dagger includes Abby Holland (VH1's Best Night Ever, musical improv groups Aquarius and Veal), and Hello includes Lorraine Cink (especially lovely singing voice; host & writer of Marvel Comics' The Watcher): Dagger and Hello

7:30 pm ($10): Improv group Bucky makes up one long scene in the same location (a winning form that's helped such teams as Death by Roo Roo win a whole lot of Cage Match victories)—and, when SNL is on break, sometimes includes star Sasheer Zamata (whenever that happens, consider this a TOP PICK)—at the UCB East theatre: Bucky: Thank F#@% It's Friday!

[$] 7:30 pm & 10:00 pm ($42 & 2-drink min.) A co-star of such movies as I'm Gonna Get You Sucka and White Chicks, and of TV series In Living Color and The Wayans Bros., headlining tonight through Sunday at the Carolines Comedy Club: Shawn Wayans

7:30 pm ($5): Seven New York comics telling stories of where they came from (one from Ireland) and the journey that led them to NYC performing at Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell (27-16 23rd Avenue) hosted by Katie Boyle & Jessica Mears: Transplants

7:30 pm ($5): All-gal variety show at The PIT Loft (154 West 29th Street) hosted by Liisa Murray & Meghan Ross: That Time of the Month

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm & 10:00 pm ($15 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Top comics (not announced) are interviewed at The Fat Black Pussycat Lounge (130 West 3rd Street): Inside Joke

8:00 pm ($10): "After five years lost in space and presumed dead, Sam bides his endless time by hosting a killer late-night show, so he’s not alone with his thoughts. With help from his robot sidekick and only friend DANA, Sam sits down for some hard-hitting interviews with the voices in his head, extraterrestrial beings, and hip, probably real celebrities," with Sam Weiss, Dana Kaplan-Angle, Jonathan Doyle, Dan Silver, and tonight's guest Mary Houlihan at Brooklyn's The Annoyance Theatre (367 Bedford Avenue; take J/M/Z to Marcy Avenue or L to Lorimer Street): Deep Space Live

8:00 pm ($10): Improvisors use clips from classic TV shows as springboards for scenes made up on the spot at The PIT upstairs theatre: TGIF-Prov: Improv Based on Classic TV

8:00 pm ($5): NYC stand-ups and musicians drink and perform at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens' LIC (10-93 Jackson Avenue) hosted by Justin Peele: Party & Bullshit

[FREE] 8:00 pm: NYC stand-ups performing at the HiFi Bar (169 Avenue A) produced by Gary Levitt & Matt Schwartzer and guest-hosted by Caitlin Peluffo: I Don't Get It Stand-Up

[TOP PICK] 8:30 pm ($10): Before this Magnet show, audience members may anonymously submit written confessions, secrets, rants, advice and opinions which will be used onstage by the improvisors—who include such talents as Sebastian Conelli (2014 Cage Match Champion The Enemy): The Friday Night Sh*w

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): Some of the finest improv in the country from brilliant comics Connor Ratliff, Silvija Ozols, Shannon O'Neill, Don Fanelli, Alexandra Dickson, and/or Michael Delaney forming a seamless and hilarious group mind at UCB Chelsea—the all-star members of The Stepfathers

9:00 pm ($10): Eight improvisors make up scenes at the UCB East theatre: An Improv Show

9:00 pm ($10): An improvised show based on the premise that "in the middle of a live news broadcast the signal goes down, leaving the anchors and crew with nothing to do but wait until it goes back up" at The PIT Loft (154 West 29th Street): The Signal Is Down

[TOP PICK] [$] 9:30 pm ($10): Sean Patton (one of the finest stand-ups in the country; killer sets on Jimmy Fallon and Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Half Hour, VH1, feature film Wifed Out; co-host of Esquire Network's Best Bars in America), Andy Sandford (Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central, Adult Swim, The Beards of Comedy), and Khalid Rahmaan performing stand-up to improvised music at Brooklyn's Union Hall hosted Yedoye Travis: Rent Party

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($8): "A love letter to beloved shows such as Pee Wee’s Playhouse and Lamb Chop’s Play-Along, comedians Joe Rumrill and Mary Houlihan invite you to a cavalcade of original costumed characters, animations, and sketches from both real humans and puppet humans" at Brooklyn's The Annoyance Theatre (367 Bedford Avenue; take J/M/Z to Marcy Avenue or L to Lorimer Street): Cartoon Monsoon

9:30 pm ($10): Social media meets improv as comics transform their innermost tweet- and blog-length thoughts into scenes inspired by an audience suggestion at The PIT upstairs theatre: Biscuit Out

[TOP PICK] 10:00 pm ($10): Musical improv group Premiere—which features the best improv piano player in the biz, Frank Spitznagel—springboards off an audience suggestion to create a complete story with song and dance at The Magnet theatre: Premiere: The Improvised Musical

10:00 pm ($5): "Food sketches, street food interviews, and live cooking" at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens' LIC (10-93 Jackson Avenue): Late Night Snack

10:30 pm ($5): Improv group Higgins performs the season finale of a long-running TV show that never actually existed based on an audience suggestion of the series title at the UCB Chelsea theatre: Season Finale

10:30 pm ($10): Adam Newman (David Letterman, Comedy Central Half Hour, MTV), Nat Towsen (VICE, College Humor, host of Downtown Variety), and Finn Straley perform stand-up, storytelling, sketch, and/or improv at UCB East hosted by Brandon Scott Jones, Justin Tyler, and/or Alden Ford: Gentrify

10:30 pm ($5): Improvisors from Sweden, Italy, and the US join forces to make up scenes at The PIT upstairs theatre: AKA Anders and Kevin Attack! w/Zeno Cavalla

10:30 pm ($5): A monthly anthology series of speculative fiction in the vein of The Twilight Zone at The PIT Loft (154 West 29th Street): Lucid State

10:30 pm ($5): A rotating pool of improvisors perform in groups of five at Brooklyn's The Annoyance Theatre (367 Bedford Avenue; take J/M/Z to Marcy Avenue or L to Lorimer Street): Singles Motel

11:30 pm ($7): Veteran house improv group Hello Laser makes up scenes with music at the Magnet theatre: Hello Laser

[TOP PICK] [FREE] Midnight: Comics perform stand-up sets and then go on dates with each other as part of the live show at Queens LIC's The Creek upstairs theatre hosted by Rob Harper & Rachel Coleman: We're Getting Laid

[TOP PICK] Midnight ($5): Ira Glass (host of This American Life) and Achilles Stamatelaky (staff writer for Broad City) "join filmmaker George Lucas (Radioland Murders) as he embarks upon an exciting new career as a comedian and talk show host! He'll be joined by his hilarious talk show sidekick, Jar-Jar Binks, as they revolutionize the talk show format the same way Lucas once revolutionized cinema" at the UCB East theatre hosted by brilliant improvisor Connor Ratliff (The Stepfathers) & Shaun Diston: The George Lucas Talk Show

[TOP PICK] Midnight ($5): A raucous laboratory for wacky ideas, in which comics Michael Wolf, Dan Glaser, and Cory Palmer (Jo Firestone is out of town this week) create absurd game shows that they try out using audience members. "After we've attempted to create all the game shows, the audience votes on which idea gets to go straight to TV (not really)" at the UCB Chelsea theatre: The Incredible Game Show Showcase

Friday Open Mics & Jams

[FREE] 5:00 pm: Walk-in open mic (signup at 4:30 pm), with 5 minutes per comic, storyteller, poet, or singer, at Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell (27-16 23rd Avenue) hosted by Davey Melch & Sydney Beveridge: Queens Free Mic Fridays

5:00 pm ($5): Two-hour open-mic for 20 stand-ups performing for 5 minutes each, with sign-up online here, at the Stand Up NY Comedy Club (236 West 78th Street): Stand Up NY Open Mic

5:45 pm (no cover, 1 drink min. for both comics and audience members): Open mic stand-up providing 5-7 minutes per comic, running 1 hour. Arrive 30 minutes before the show to get on the signup sheet. This is a fine opportunity to perform at the only comedy club in the East Village: Eastville Comedy Club Open Mic

[ALMOST FREE] 6:00 pm ($1): Walk-in open mic that allows everyone to get on stage at The PIT Loft (154 West 29th Street): $1 Mic

[FREE] 6:00 pm: An open-mic show on a lottery system (sign-ups happen at 5:45-6:00 pm) at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens' Long Island City hosted by Shalewa Sharpe & Courtney Fearrington: Thug Passion

[ALMOST FREE] 6:30 pm ($1): PIT improv veterans mix with improv novices on-stage at the downstairs lounge for Happy Hour

[FREE] 7:00 pm: Show up at 6:45 pm to place your name in a dog bowl for the chance to get called up on stage and jam with veteran improvisors at Brooklyn's The Annoyance Theatre (367 Bedford Avenue; take J/M/Z to Marcy Avenue or L to Lorimer Street): Dog Fight

[FREE] 8:00 pm: An open-mic show that's first come, first serve (sign-up starts at 7:30 pm), with each comic getting 5 minutes on stage at The Creek downstairs lounge in Queens' LIC (10-93 Jackson Avenue) hosted by Seena Jon: Mic and Cheese

NYC Comedy Picks for Saturday 9/3/16

Four funny people tell amazing stories. Three of the tales are absolutely true...but one of them is a pack of lies. The audience then asks questions to try and identify the fibber—and everyone who chooses correctly gets a free t-shirt! This evening's yarn-spinners are Rich Greene (author of Walt Disney biography 30 Years: Inside the Dream), Marie Faustin (The Today Show), Andy Ross (Mad Magazine; Onion News Network), and Rory Scholl (The PIT, BTK Band). These talented storytellers and guest host Leslie Goshko (above; delightful & razor-sharp storyteller/comic/pianist; WNYC, Sirius XM, Huffington Post, Internet Action Force, host of Sideshow Goshko) attempt to mislead you at The Liar Show (6:00 pm, $10 cover plus $10 drink min.; reservations highly recommended by calling 212.989.9319 because this show usually sells out; West Village's Cornelia Street Cafe at 29 Cornelia Street)

More 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: Emily Winter, Patrick Hastie, Jared Dryden, and Mike Mercadal each perform a different 10-minute stand-up every Saturday in February at The Creek's upstairs theatre in Queens' LIC (10-93 Jackson Avenue) hosted by Grant Lindahl: The 8

7:00 pm ($5): Two improv groups performing at Brooklyn's The Annoyance Theatre (367 Bedford Avenue; take J/M/Z to Marcy Avenue or L to Lorimer Street): All Aboard The Butter Cruise + m/marc/k

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): "Created in 1995 at the iO Theater in Chicago, The Armando Diaz Experience is the longest running improv show ever. A guest monologist—who tonight is Akbar Shahzad—takes a suggestion from the audience and shares true personal tales. These stories are then brought to life by a rotating cast of improv all-stars—and occasionally Armando himself" at The Magnet theatre: The Armando Diaz Experience

[TOP PICK] [$] 7:00 pm, 7:15 pm, 8:45 pm, 9:15 pm, 10:30 pm, 11:15 pm, and 12:15 am ($20-$24 per show, plus 2-item food/drink min.): Some of the finest stand-ups in the country spread among four shows at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) and the 7:15, 9:15, and 11:15 shows at Village Underground (130 West 3rd Street, off Sixth Avenue): Comedy Cellar Saturday

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($10): An all-gal group of improvisors—typically Keisha Zollar, Glenn Boozan, Joanna Bradley, Laura Wilcox, Caroline Colter, and/or Nicole Drespel—make up scenes about failed relationships at the UCB East theatre: The Breakup

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($10): Improv group Big Black Car 2, plus improv group The Quitters, make up scenes at The PIT upstairs theatre: BBC2 and The Quitters

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): Improv powerhouses Charlie Todd, Jeff Hiller, Jim Santangeli, Natasha Rothwell, Brandon Gardner, Chelsea Clarke, Kevin Hines, Erik Tanouye, and John Timothy at UCB Chelsea interview an audience member about where he or she grew up and then "turn that town's tourist attractions, landmarks, hangouts, local celebrities, urban legends, and more into a hilarious show made up on the spot:" The Curfew: Not From Around Here

7:30 pm ($5): Short form improv (vs. long forms such as The Harold) at The PIT downstairs lounge hosted by improv group Good Stuff: Short Form Saturday

7:30 pm ($5): Comics not affiliated with any particular comedy theatre perform solo characters at The PIT Loft (154 West 29th Street): Super Indie Takeover: Characters

7:30 pm ($8): NYC stand-ups performing at Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell (27-16 23rd Avenue) hosted by Charles McBee: Nerd is the New Black

8:00 pm ($10): A non-verbal duo sketch show by Rachel Kaly & Charlie Bardey at Brooklyn's The Annoyance Theatre (367 Bedford Avenue; take J/M/Z to Marcy Avenue or L to Lorimer Street): Ugly x Crying

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($8): "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 Amber Nelson, Aaron Jackson, Patti Harrison, Cory Palmer, and Cole Escola at Brooklyn's Union Hall hosted by Colin O'Brien & Michael Wolf: Literati: A Comedy Show About the Greatest American Novels Never Written

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($10): Improv groups Gypsy Danger (which includes brilliant comics Katie Hartman and Evan Kaufman, and which will make up a feature film on the spot) and The Baldwins (which includes brilliant comics Micah Sherman and Sarah Nowak) make stuff up at The PIT upstairs theatre: Gypsy Danger: The Improvised Movie and The Baldwins

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm & 10:00 pm ($15 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Top comics (not announced) are interviewed at The Fat Black Pussycat Lounge (130 West 3rd Street): Inside Joke

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): In this acclaimed monthly show, NYC stand-ups "risk getting slapped by Satan himself. Actually, he hosts only bringer shows, but join Matt Wayne and 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? Come see for yourself in this monthly showcase" at Queens LIC's The Creek upstairs theatre hosted by Matt Wayne & Doug Smith: See You in Hell

[TOP PICK] 8:30 pm ($10): Improv group Airwolf—with big talents Molly Lloyd, Tim Martin, Achilles Stamatelaky, Eddie Dunn, Ben Rameaka, and Adam Fruccie—make up scenes about terrible audience experiences related to a home at UCB East: Airwolf: Let's Go Back to Your Place

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): A freestyle rapping long-form improv group that includes such talents as Evan Kaufman (Your Love Our Musical) takes the stage for nearly an hour at The PIT downstairs lounge: North Coast

9:00 ($10): Long form improv known as The Harold from group Women & Men based on tales from audience members on the times they had to hurry the most at the UCB Chelsea theatre: Women & Men: Rush Hour

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): Sharp improvisors Alex Marino & Louis Kornfeld make up scenes at The Magnet as comedy duo Evil Trike: Murder Most Foul

[FREE] 9:00 pm: Neel Nanda (Adam Devine's House Party, IFC, Oxygen), Joe Zimmerman (Comedy Central Half Hour, Conan O'Brien, John Oliver, Last Comic Standing), Subhah Agarwal (PBS' Modern Comedian, TruTV), Freddy Sheffield, Nina Tarr, and Kyle Turner performing stand-up at Brooklyn's Art Cafe & Bar (884-886 Pacific Street) hosted by Ben Totushek & Koshin Egal: The Human Citizen Comedy Show

9:30 pm ($10): A variety of comics (not announced) performing at The PIT upstairs theatre hosted by Will Cheng: Wildcard Comedy Hour

9:30 pm ($5): Long-form improv with a playful title directed by Conner O'Malley at Brooklyn's The Annoyance Theatre (367 Bedford Avenue; take J/M/Z to Marcy Avenue or L to Lorimer Street): Michael Jordan Steakhouse

9:30 pm ($10): Annie Lederman, Carolyn Castiglia, Jason Burke, Rebecca Rush, and Kerryn Feehan performing stand-up featuring "the dirtiest, most unsafe for prime-time jokes, bits, and riffs" at Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell (27-16 23rd Avenue) produced by Ben Conrad & Lucas Connolly: The Dirty Show

[TOP PICK] 10:00 pm ($10): A powerhouse group of improvisors—Zhubin Parang (writer for The Daily Show), Michael Kayne (Baby Wants Candy, Diamond Lion), Langan Kingsley (rising star; sketch group Beige, one-woman show The Dicewoman Cometh), Aaron Jackson (Fuck That Shit, Newsadoozies), Natasha Vaynblat (one-woman show United Federation of Teachers), and Nate Dern (News Editor for Funny or Die)—springboard scenes off interviewing an audience member about his or her love life at the UCB East theatre: What I Did For Love

[TOP PICK] 10:00 pm ($5): Comics perform their darkest, saddest, and most traumatically funny bits for this monthly catharsis machine at Queens LIC's The Creek upstairs theatre (10-93 Jackson Avenue) hosted by Shane Torres, Nate Fridson, and Alison Zeidman: Dark Spots

[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): At UCB Chelsea, improv group Grandma's Ashes—which includes stellar talents Ryan Karels, Morgan Grace Jarrett, Brandon Scott Jones, and more—takes your written secrets and turns them into very funny improv scenes: Grandma's Ashes: We Won't Tell

[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): Long form improv about the behavior of a theatrical troupe both on-stage and off-stage, revolving around a different show biz theme each week—which tonight is End of Summer—at The Magnet theatre: The Cast: End of Summer Edition

10:30 pm ($5): A comedic play by Caitlin Dullea & Thomas Fricilone at Brooklyn's The Annoyance Theatre (367 Bedford Avenue; take J/M/Z to Marcy Avenue or L to Lorimer Street): Labor

10:30 pm ($5): An improvised show based on the premise that "in the middle of a live news broadcast the signal goes down, leaving the anchors and crew with nothing to do but wait until it goes back up" at The PIT Loft (154 West 29th Street): The Signal Is Down

[FREE] 11:00 pm: Stand-ups performing at Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell (27-16 23rd Avenue) hosted by Freddy Goldstein: Last Stop Laughs

[TOP PICK] 11:30 ($5): An enormously fun freestyle rap contest at UCB East with NYC comics (not announced), plus a volunteer from the audience!, hosted by superstar human beatbox Chris "Shockwave" Sullivan (The Daily Show, The Electric Company, Freestyle Love Supreme) and Victor Varnado (Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Comedy Central): Battlicious

[TOP PICK] [DISCOUNTED] Midnight ($8.45 online using discount code LABOR; no min.): Sean Patton (one of the finest stand-ups in the country; killer sets on Jimmy Fallon and Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Half Hour, VH1, feature film Wifed Out; co-host of Esquire Network's Best Bars in America; frequent guest host of Whiplash), Pete Lee (Comedy Central Half Hour, Last Comic Standing), Aaron Berg (TV series 24 Hour Rental, documentary A Universal Language, host of Frantic Mondays), Vladimir Caamano (WB), Subhah Agarwal (TruTV, Fusion), and Luis J. Gomez performing stand-up at The Stand Comedy Club (239 Third Avenue & 20th Street): The Stamd Saturday: Sean Patton, Pete Lee, and More

Midnight ($5): Indie improv groups Affirmative Action, Seyonce, and PartyDads make up scenes at UCB Chelsea hosted by indie group The St. Louis Rams: Indie Improv Showcase

Saturday Open Mics and Jams

[FREE] 4:00 pm: An unusually early weekly open mic stand-up show, with names drawn out of a bucket, at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens' LIC (10-93 Jackson Avenue) hosted by Rachel Coleman: Let's Be Friends

4:00 pm ($5; your ticket provides $3 off a drink at nearby Pioneers Bar): Walk-in lottery style open mic (sign-up starting at 3:45 pm) at The PIT Loft (154 West 29th Street): Swing Riders Open Mic

[FREE] 5:00 pm: Walk-in comedy open mic (lottery system, with sign-up starting at 4:30 pm) providing each selected comic 4 minutes on stage at Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell (27-16 23rd Avenue) hosted by Chris Gersbeck & Veronica Garza: Murray Povich Mic

[FREE] 6:00 pm: Put your name in a bucket for this open mic for stand-up, sketch, music, or anything else you want to work out on stage at Brooklyn's The Annoyance Theatre (367 Bedford Avenue; take J/M/Z to Marcy Avenue or L to Lorimer Street) hosted by Josh Bates & Brian Pisano: Make Out Party: An Open Mic

[FREE] 9:00 pm: Walk-in open mic for character bits, stand-up, etc. at Queens LIC's The Creek downstairs lounge hosted by Elise Edwards: Discount Disco

NYC Comedy Picks for Sunday 9/4/16

Rebecca Vigil (rising star powerhouse improv singer; Your Love Our Musical, The Vigilante), Canedy Knowles (co-star of Bravo's Odd Mom Out), Jasmine Pierce (Reductress), and Kambri Crews (author of Burn Down the Ground, co-owner of QED) "expose their bleeding-heart adolescent artifacts (journal entries, poetry, original songs, and art), then laugh at and with their own flaws" to host <: The Bitch Seat (8:00 pm, $10, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)

More recommendations for the best in New York City comedy tonight
(in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:

5:30 pm ($5): Improvisors who cut across all regions and schools come together for one evening at The PIT Loft (154 West 29th Street): Supernova

6:00 pm ($7): Duo improv from teams Hot Fuzz, Where Are My Keys?, Christopher Nolan, Sand,and host The Friendship Club (Eleanor Lewis & Peter Appleby) at The Magnet theatre: The Duo Show

6:30 pm ($5): Three NYC improv groups that are independent (i.e., not a house team of any particular improv school/theatre) compete for audience member laughs and votes at UCB East hosted by superb improvisors Amey Goerlich & Ryan Karels (half of revered improv group Krompf): Indie Cage Match

7:00 pm ($5): Three scripted shows—Infinite Jets, Phat Camp, and My Name Is Dom Hanks—for the price of one at Brooklyn's The Annoyance Theatre (367 Bedford Avenue; take J/M/Z to Marcy Avenue or L to Lorimer Street): Triple Feature

[FREE] 7:00 pm: Nine-person improv group The Internet Disagrees makes stuff up at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens' LIC (10-93 Jackson Avenue): The Internet Disagrees

7:00 pm ($5): Improv group Separate Checks and friends make up scenes at The PIT Loft (154 West 29th Street): Separate Checks

[TOP PICK] [$] 7:00 pm, 7:15 pm, 8:45 pm, 9:15 pm, 10:30 pm, 11:15 pm, and 12:15 am ($24 per Labor Day Weekend show, plus 2-item food/drink min.): Some of the finest stand-ups in the country spread among seven shows, with four shows at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane), and the 7:15 pm, 9:15 pm, and 11:15 pm shows at Village Underground (130 West 3rd Street, off Sixth Avenue): Comedy Cellar Sunday

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10) and 9:30 pm [FREE]: UCB Chelsea's signature improv comedy extravaganza, which typically includes superstars in the improv world such as Shannon O'Neill and Anthony Atamanuik, and sometimes network TV & movie stars such as Amy Poehler and Horatio Sanz: ASSSSCAT 3000

[TOP PICK] [DISCOUNTED] 7:30 pm & 9:30 pm ($8.45 online using discount code LABOR; no min.): Sean Patton (one of the finest stand-ups in the country; killer sets on Jimmy Fallon and Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Half Hour, VH1, feature film Wifed Out; co-host of Esquire Network's Best Bars in America; frequent guest host of Whiplash), Christian Finnegan (co-star of A&E's Black and White; Conan O'Brien; three Comedy Central specials, Netflix special The Fun Part; TBS, VH1, MSNBC, Chappelle's Show, The Today Show), Chris Distefano (David Letterman, Comedy Central, MTV2's Guy Code), Vladimir Caamano (WB), and more performing stand-up at The Stand Comedy Club (239 Third Avenue, off 20th Street): The Stand Sunday: Sean Patton, Chrisitan Finnegan, and More

7:30 pm ($7): A four-person group that describes itself as performing "pop-punk cabaret" hosts some of its favorite musicians at The Magnet theatre: My Dark Little Corner: Quad Fest

7:30 pm ($5): Dana Shulman and friends are improv group Student Driver, which hosts two indie improv troupes making up scenes and then performs itself, all at The PIT downstairs lounge: Student Driver Indie Road

[$] 7:30 pm ($42 & 2-drink min.) A co-star of such movies as I'm Gonna Get You Sucka and White Chicks, and of TV series In Living Color and The Wayans Bros., headlining one last night at the Carolines Comedy Club: Shawn Wayans

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm & 10:00 pm ($15 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Top comics (not announced) are interviewed at The Fat Black Pussycat Lounge (130 West 3rd Street): Inside Joke

8:00 pm ($5): Anna Drezen (superb stand-up who blends jokes with characters, movement, and sketch; author of How May We Hate You; Editor-at-Large for Reductress), Gary Vider (America's Got Talent 2015 finalist; for great Conan O'Brien set, please click here; for more jokes, please click here), Neel Nanda (Adam Devine's House Party, VICE, IFC, Oxygen), Mike Cannon (VH1, MTV), Emily Galati (Conan O'Brien, Last Comic Standing), Finn Straley, and Mike Albanese performing stand-up at UCB East guest-hosted by Joe Zimmerman (Conan O'Brien, John Oliver, Comedy Central Half Hour, Last Comic Standing): If You Build It

[FREE] 8:00 pm Stand-ups Tim Dillon, Corinne Fisher, Ryan Beck, and Sarah Tollemache performing at Queens LIC's The Standing Room (4738 Vernon Blvd.) hosted by Christi Chiello (Comedy Central's Roast Battle, Last Comic Standing, MTV's Girl Code, TruTV) & Petey DeAbreu (host of Petey's World): White Chocolate Sundaes

8:00 pm ($5): An improvised poker game springboarding off an audience suggestion at The PIT upstairs theatre: Poker Night

8:30 pm ($5): A group of 18 improvisors is divided into two 9-person teams—who then fiercely compete for your laughs, with prizes awarded at the end. Come judge them at Brooklyn's The Annoyance Theatre (367 Bedford Avenue; take J/M/Z to Marcy Avenue or L to Lorimer Street): The Annoyance Presents Improv: Goons

8:30 pm ($10): Social media meets improv as comics transform their innermost tweet- and blog-length thoughts into scenes inspired by an audience suggestion at The PIT downstairs lounge: Biscuit Out

9:00 pm ($7): Typically solid stand-ups perform at Brooklyn's Knitting Factory (361 Metropolitan Avenue) hosted by Will Miles, Clark Jones, and/or Kenny DeForest: Comedy Night at the Knit

9:00 pm ($7): Puppets and other objects are integrated into improv scenes at The Magnet theatre: Object Work

9:00 pm ($5): Indie improv groups make up scenes at The PIT Loft (154 West 29th Street) hosted by Ian Herrin: The Ian Herrin Improv Hour

9:30 pm ($5): Storytellers each share a tale of up to eight minutes about his or her family at Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell (27-16 23rd Avenue) hosted by by Jenny Young & Ryan Bard: Fam-Jam Storytelling

[ALMOST FREE] 10:30 pm ($1): This improv show is based on a Mullaney Chain (pioneered by Kevin Mullaney) in which the host invites a guest to improvise with him or her, then the guest independently invites a third person, who then invites a fourth person, and so on, creating a one-time-only lineup that will be a surprise to everyone involved at The PIT Loft (154 West 29th Street) hosted by Kurt Guenther: The Telephone Show

Sunday Open Mics & Open Stages

[FREE] 4:00 pm: An unusually early walk-in open-mic stand-up show (put your name in the bucket, drawings every half hour), providing 4 minutes per comic at The Creek downstairs lounge in Queens' LIC (10-93 Jackson Avenue): Intestinal Fortitude

[FREE] 5:00 pm: Walk-in stand-up lottery style open mic that provides 4 minutes per comic at Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell (27-16 23rd Avenue) hosted by Andrea Shapiro & Chris Gersbeck: Bunk Bed Time Open Mic

5:30ish pm (no cover, 1 drink min.): Weekly open mic stand-up, with comics selected from names tossed into a bucket starting at 5:00ish pm, at Brooklyn's Legion Bar (790 Metropolitan Avenue): Sunday Open Mic

[ALMOST FREE] 5:00 pm ($1): Sign up at 4:30 pm to do improv with experienced PIT performers at The PIT downstairs lounge hosted by Sasha Capelli, Eitan Levine, and Shaina Stigler: 10K Jam Jam

[FREE] 10:00 pm: An open-mic stand-up show (sign up is at 9:45 pm) providing 5 minutes for each comic whose name is pulled from the bucket at The Creek downstairs lounge in Queens' LIC (10-93 Jackson Avenue) hosted by Ian Kitchen: The Grandstand

9:30 pm ($3): Open-mic comedy, with 3-5 minutes per walk-in performer who signs up (first come, first serve) at The PIT downstairs lounge, hosted by Will Neville: Amateur Night At The Gemini

[FREE] 10:00 pm: The only open-stage show for entire groups of improvisors and sketch comics, running weekly at UCB East hosted by Austin Rodrigues: Bring Your Own Team: Improv/Sketch Team Jam

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