NYC Comedy Picks for Monday 2/7/11
Mamrie Hart (BoF: It's Pronounced 'Boaf'!) and Adam Cayton-Holland (Hot Tub Variety and 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: Kevin Allison (legendary MTV sketch series The State, HBO, Comedy Central, VH1, host of award-winning storytelling show Risk!) hosts this free open mic show for storytellers, in which you can put your name in a hat for the chance to tell a five-minute true story...and if it's a good one, possibly be included in Kevin's popular podcasts on the Web: Risk! Storyslam
6:30 pm & 9:00 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): The perfect show for short attention spans—open mic stand-up with 4½ minutes per set and 25 comics crammed into 2½ hours—with an early show hosted by Sean Donnelly & Blaine Perry at 6:30 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
7:00 pm ($5): Jenny Dunne and Rick Andrews improvise a single moment in two characters' lives again and again, exploring three parallel realities, and the difference that a look or tone can make; and duo improv by Dustin Drury and Andrew Yurman-Glaser, in the double-bill The Cascade and Upstate New York
[FREE] 7:30 pm: Dan St. Germain (Comedy Central, MTV, They Hated Each Other), Erin Judge (Comedy Central; for hilarious stand-up bit about being bisexual, please click here), Jessimae Peluso (Last Comic Standing, The Tyra Banks Show), J-L Cauvin (Craig Ferguson), and Greg Collett performing at a free weekly show in the Manchester Pub hosted by Phoebe Robinson: Case of the Mondays Comedy
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): The unsinkable Mamrie Hart and her comedy partner Stephen Soroka are Best of Friends, and their new sketch show educates you about how to effectively promote it when you tell all your friends to see it: BoF: It's Pronounced 'Boaf'!; and in the other half of this double-bill, Lennon Parham demonstrates her comedy genius by utterly stealing this show with just a few minutes of performance time—via Skype video from LA!—while other talented performers on stage struggle with a sadly underdeveloped script...though Marcy Jarreau somehow manages to rise above the material, and is the other standout to look for (in the scene with the mirror...): Oh My God, I Heard You're Dying!
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($6.50 online or $8 at the door): Corn Mo (superb comedic musician), Free Love Supreme (wonderful rap improv troupe), Brent Sullivan (Comedy Central), and Adam Cayton-Holland (award-winning stand-up comic who writes weekly humor column for Denver alt newspaper Westword; also writes online pieces—for example, a 9/3/08 entry chided a young political celeb's blog for calling the First Lady poised and elegant, commenting "Laura Bush 'poised'? Pshaw! The woman has the wild-eyed look of a feral, cornered rabbit, like she’s either going to dart the f*ck away or go straight for your jugular, Bunnicula-style...And she looks about as elegant as a Texas whore who one day dreams of singing alongside the piany;" for a video sample, please click here) performing at Brooklyn's Littlefield (622 Degraw Street) with sketches and more from NYC comedy royalty Kristen Schaal and Kurt Braunohler: Hot Tub Variety
8:00 pm ($5): Improv based on headlines from the amazing New York Post: Headless Body in Topless Bar
9:30 pm ($5): Two of UCBT's fine house sketch comedy troupes, Dweeb and Thunder Gulch, trying out new bits at Maude Night
9:30 pm ($5): A one-man show from Julie Ann Dulude about being raised by strict Catholic parents: Bless This Mess
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 11:00 pm: Some of the finest comics in the world—who tonight include Brooke Van Poppelen (brilliant stand-up, writer, and storyteller; blogger for trutV; TLC; Maxim and Cosmo Radio; for stand-up videos about overindulging at 30 and impersonating Morrisey, please click here and here), Jay Pharoah (cast member of Saturday Night Live), Roger Hailes (Comedy Central, VH1), and Adam Cayton-Holland (award-winning stand-up comic who writes weekly humor column for Denver alt newspaper Westword; also writes online pieces—for example, a 9/3/08 entry chided a young political celeb's blog for calling the First Lady poised and elegant, commenting "Laura Bush 'poised'? Pshaw! The woman has the wild-eyed look of a feral, cornered rabbit, like she’s either going to dart the f*ck away or go straight for your jugular, Bunnicula-style...And she looks about as elegant as a Texas whore who one day dreams of singing alongside the piany;" for a video sample, please click here)—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 2/8/11
TBS star Christian Finnegan (Tell Your Friends) and Comedy Central star Nick Swardson (Sweet)
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 ($5): Six improvisors play themselves on stage (similar to Naked in a Fishbowl) in Self Image ; and in the second half of this double-bill, eight improvisors trace the storylines of characters at a single event suggested by an audience member in Hell Buffalo
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Kurt Braunohler (Comedy Central Presents, Penelope, Hot Tub Variety), Andrea Rosen (HBO, Comedy Central), award-winning sketch troup Murderfist, M. Dickson (MTV), and Brad Howe performing at Brooklyn's Union Hall for Tyler Fischer's and Sharron Paul's Cheap Date Comedy Show
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5):Christian Finnegan (co-star of TBS' Are We There Yet?; three Comedy Central specials; commentator on MNBC's Countdown with Keith Oberman and VH1's Best Week Ever; Chappelle's Show, The Today Show), Eric Ledgin (writer for Jimmy Fallon), Rob Paravonian (Comedy Central, YouTube star), Chris DeLuca, and a secret musical guest who's "fronted a big rock band and has made multiple TV appearances" performing at the Lolita Bar at Liam McEneaney's Tell Your Friends
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Superb veteran improvisors—including Tara Copeland, Matt Higgins, and Matt Oberg—performing as new troupe HugeTown
8:00 pm to Midnight ($5): Four full hours of improv for only five bucks—tonight featuring UCBT house troupes Standard Oil, Dybbuk, Sandino, Grandma's Ashes, or Badman; and at 11:00 pm an improv show that begins and ends with the same scene—all at Harold Night
[FREE] 8:00 pm: NYC stand-ups Sean Lynch (Comedy Central, Moon Over Oniontown), Mark Anthony Ramirez (Comedy Central, Howard Stern), Andy Kleiman (Black People Have The Darndest Names), Stephanie Holmes, and Matt Nagin performing at Cellar 58 (58 Second Avenue) hosted by comedic rapper Andrew Singer and the delightful Abbi Crutchfield: Positively Awesome
[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($5): Nick Swardson (star of Comedy Central's Pretend Time), John Gemberling (genius improvisor and fearless sketch comic on his way to stardom; Adult Swim, Death by Roo Roo), Rory Scovel (rising star; Jimmy Fallon), and more performing at Ella (9 Avenue A) hosted by the wonderful Seth Herzog (Jimmy Fallon, VH1): Sweet
9:00 pm ($5): NYC stand-ups Claudia Cogan, DC Benny, Brian Jian, Jeff Wesselschmidt, and more performing at the Ace of Clubs (9 Great Jones Street, underneath Acme Bar & Grill) hosted by Joe DeRosa (HBO’s Down and Dirty, Comedy Central Presents) and Jared Logan (Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central): Righteous Kill
9:30 pm ($5): "Have you ever wanted to hear three of our dopest Founding Fathers trading savage rhymes over the beat to Paul Revere? Or see the events of World War I through the prism of World Wrestling Entertainment?" History-based sketch comedy.
[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 2/9/11
30 Rock stars Scott Adsit & John Lutz are one of the hottest tickets at UCBT as razor-sharp improv duo John & Scott
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
[MEGA-TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Pamela Murphy's autobiographical show is the best-scripted one-act to grace UCBT in the past year, performed with wit, grace, and pitch-perfect comedic timing (for video samples of Pam's work, please click here). Don't miss Jane Borden of Time Out New York's pick for Best Solo Show of 2010: Pamela Murphy: The C Word
...and for the other half of this A-List double-bill, a delightful tale of heartbreak by Leslie Meisel—who manages the impressive feat of being adorable, sexy, and hilarious all at the same time, and is a sharp comedic talent very much worth keeping an eye on—quite ably abetted by co-writer Megan Neuringer in one of the smartest theatrical shows to grace UCBT: Love Can Suck a Dick...and So Can I
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Ray Devito, Carmen Lynch, Ophira Eisenberg, John Knefel, Charlie Kasov, and more performing at Brooklyn's Hank's Rootin' Tootin' Saloon (46 Third Avenue at Atlantic) for this free weekly 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 (VH1, Playgirl Magazine, co-host of Stripped Stories): Dive Comedy
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:00 pm:Leslie Goshko (delightful storyteller/stand-up; Sirius XM, host of Sideshow Goshko), John Flynn (stellar storyteller of The Nights of Our Lives), Aaron Glaser (Jimmy Fallon), Rob Crean, and Pat Galante performing at this free weekly show at Luca Bar (119 St. Marks Place) hosted by Sharon Spell: Shrink
[FREE] 8:30 pm: Typically fine NYC stand-ups (not yet announced) performing at the East Village's Angels and Kings for this free weekly show hosted by delightful dark humor comic Jena Friedman: Entertaining the Bartender
9:00 pm ($5 with password Derek Walcott, otherwise $8): Sketch troupes Chris & Paul, American Candy, By the Numbers, and Jay Franklin Films, plus stand-up Calvin Cato, performing at UNDER St. Marks with host Naomi Ekperigin: Sketch Block
[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Scott Adsit (cast member of 30 Rock, and co-director & cast member of Adult Swim's awesome & Emmy-winning Moral Orel) teaming up with fellow 30 Rock actor John Lutz (who previously spent six years as a staff writer for Saturday Night Live) to form a super-smart and hilarious new improv duo who should not be missed: John & Scott
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 11:00 pm: Host Justin Purnell (The Colbert Report) providing 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
NYC Comedy Picks for Thursday 2/10/11
Patrick Cassels & Jeff Rubin explore the worst game-based films of all time in Bad Videogame Movies: The Definitive History...
...and improv geniuses Neil Casey & Anthony Atamanuik perform The Two-Man Movie on a double-bill with fresh new troupe Doppelganger
Recommendations for the best in New York City comedy tonight
(in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $12 marked with $) include:
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[$] 7:30 pm & 10:00 pm ($53 & 2-drink min.) Stars of In Living Color, Scary Movie, and much more headlining tonight through Saturday at Carolines: The Wayans Brothers: Marlon and Shawn
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): A double-bill of vibrant improv troupes: Neil Casey & Anthony Atamanuik make up an entire feature film as The Two-Man Movie; and Nicole Byer, Sasheer Zamata, and Keisha Zollar form a surprise breakout hit as all-gal troupe Doppelganger
8:00 pm ($5): Young comic Cass Bugge performing a self-conscious one-woman show with the hopeful self-fulfilling title I Remember Edwina DeBooveman's One Woman Show
8:00 pm ($5): John O'Donnell and friends improvise up a musical before your very eyes in The Traveling Musical Medicine Show
9:00 pm ($12): Terrific NYC stand-ups Eddie Brill, Carolyn Castiglia, Seth Herzog, Victor Varnado, and Liam McEneaney performing at Comedy Below Canal
[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 (throughout February) by the wonderful Brooke Van Poppelen: Comedy as a Second Language
[MEGA-TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Patrick Cassels and Jeff Rubin, who write for College Humor and co-host the online video game talk show Bleep Bloop, explore the worst game-based movies of all time, with clips from Super Mario Bros, Mortal Kombat, and many more, for an unforgettably hilarious journey into the deliciously awful that's non-stop laughs—and one of my favorite comedy shows of all time: Bad Videogame Movies: The Definitive History
[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($12): Top comics and comedic storytellers—who tonight include a blowout lineup of Michael Showalter, Heather Lawless, Ali Wong, Matt Oberg, and Todd Hanson—joining brilliant sketch comic and storyteller Kevin Allison (The State) to share tales on tonight's theme "Eureka!" at one of the finest storytelling shows in the country: Risk!
[$] 10:30 pm ($15 & 2-item min.) Rough, uncensored laughs from Mike DeStefano, Big Jay Oakerson, Joe DeRosa, Russ Meneve, Bobby Kelly, and more for one night only at the elegant Comix Comedy Club: The Nasty Show
[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): Genius improv troupe Outlook of the Poet (Jon Gabrus, Ben Rodgers, and Gavin Speiller) competes with improv troupe Grandma's Ashes for audience laughs and votes at the raucous Cage Match
NYC Comedy Picks for Friday 2/11/11
Every Friday night this month you can see the production Show
Business Weekly described as
"standout
music
and a genuine absurdity not to be missed:" Grease
3: Threase...
...and you can see Pete Correale (headling at Gotham) or Dan St. Germain (They Hated Each Other)
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 ($8): Award-winning improv duo Lucas Kavner and Bradford Jordan make stuff up with "a celebrity guest improvisor' at Swords
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($10): The thoroughly wonderful comics of sketch troupe Fearsome—Shayna Ferm, Katherine Bryant Flaherty, Alex Goldberg, and Chris O'Connor—are joined by such other immense talents as Livia Scott and Amy Heidt to perform a new comedic musical that's very, very loosely based on a classic Travolta/Newton John vehicle: Grease 3: Threase
8:00 pm ($10): Two male sketch duos performing on a double-bill: Two Fun Men, who reportedly are all of those thingsl; and very smart and somewhat nerdy comics Dan St. Germain (MTV; quick-witted rising star) and Jared Logan (Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, co-host of Righteous Kill) doing a show about history's most infamous rivalries in They Hated Each Other
[FREE] 8:00 pm: NYC stand-ups—not announced this week—performing at O'Hanlon's (14th Street off 1st Avenue) hosted by someone also not announced this week: Hot Soup
[$] 8:30 pm & 10:30 pm ($25 & 2-drink min.) A stand-up who's starred in his own Comedy Central hour-long special The Things We Do For Love, and performed on David Letterman and Jay Leno, headlining tonight and Saturday at the Gotham Comedy Club: Pete Correale
[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): Some of the finest improv in NYC from the comedy genius members of The Stepfathers
10:00 pm ($7): Singing improvisors who use an interview with an audience member to craft The Made-Up Musical
10:30 pm ($10): Jonathan Gabrus, Sue Galloway, and other fine improvisors make up scenes about an audience member's legal dispute at The Law Firm: Law & Disorder
[TOP PICK] Midnight ($5): Charlie Todd (Improv Everywhere), Geoff Garlock, Alex Scordelis, and Doug Stoley are among tonight's guests joining "opinionated audiophile John Frusciante hosting a revolving panel of music-loving comedians, writers, and musicians for a live monthly discussion about the state of music past and present, what you should and shouldn't be listening to, and why KISS sucks so much. It is a guarantee that your favorite band will at some point be brought up, dissected, and either praised to the rafters or dismissed with the wave of a hand that knows how to properly handle vinyl:" Break Up Your Band
NYC Comedy Picks for Saturday 2/12/11
Unique sketch troupe Murderfist (Late and Dirty) and Pete Correale (headling at Gotham)
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] 7:30 pm ($10): Genius improvisors Anthony King, Christina Gausas, Ed Herbstman, Becky Drysdale, and more—plus a rotating cast of stellar visitors who've included writers & performers from 30 Rock, The Colbert Report, and The Daily Show—all joyously declaring Let's Have a Ball
7:30 pm ($5): Improv veterans Mark Grenier, Louis Kornfeld, and Charlie Whitcroft making up a play on the spot in Theory of Everything
[$] 8:00 pm & 10:00 pm ($25 & 2-drink min.) A stand-up who's starred in his own Comedy Central hour-long special The Things We Do For Love, and performed on David Letterman and Jay Leno, headlining tonight and Sunday at the Gotham Comedy Club: Pete Correale
[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): One of the gutsiest and most hilarious troupes in comedy history—and the Cage Match Champion for three years in a row!—genius improvisors Death by Roo Roo
9:00 pm ($7): Organic & energetic improv by the four guys of 4 Track!
9:30 pm ($10): "A cabaret of darkly funny songs and topical sketch comedy about culture and politics," following sold out shows at Joe's Pub: Political Subversities
[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 10:00 pm ($15 both online and at the door using discount code SBWC, otherwise $20): This top musical improv troupe has wowed audiences around the world with its skill at making up an hour-long musical moment by moment. The plot and characters, the musical accompaniment, even the song lyrics and the "choreography" are invented on the spot, with no pre-planned structure. Come see why BWC won a FringeNYC Award last year for Outstanding Unique Theatrical Event by catching tonight's edition of Baby Wants Candy
[TOP PICK] [$] 10:00 pm ($15): Ted Greenberg (Emmy-winning David Letterman writer) performing a fun, fast-paced theatrical comedy show—complete with audience interaction and audience rides home!—at The Complete Performer
[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): An all-star improv troupe led by brilliant UCBT artistic director Anthony King: Reuben Williams
10:30 pm ($5): Vibrant improv from Nick Kanellis & Peter McNerney (Statues of Liberty) and Leslie Korein as comedy trio Trike
[TOP PICK] 11:00 ($8): NYC's heavy metal version of a sketch troupe, which doesn't always ht the mark but provides odd, unsettling, and fearless dark comedy—and won last year's ECNY Award for Best Sketch Group: Murderfist: Late and Dirty
NYC Comedy Picks for Sunday 2/13/11
UK sketch comedy duo The Pajama Men visit NYC this week and perform tonight at Pretty Good Friends
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] 7:00 pm: Wonderful comedy film shorts team Matt McCarthy & Oren Brimer (and Pete Holmes, in LA, with them in spirit); and stand-ups Rob Cantrell, Jesse Popp, and more performing at this free LES stand-up show at Pianos hosted by Adam Lowitt (producer at The Daily Show): It Is It
[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10) and 9:30 pm [FREE]: UCBT's signature improv comedy extravaganza, which typically includes stars in the improv world, and sometimes even TV & movie stars such as Amy Poehler and Horatio Sanz: ASSSCAT 3000
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($7): Todd Barry (HBO, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Presents, The Sarah Silverman Program, Adult Swim, feature films The Wrestler and Pete Smalls is Dead), The Pajama Men (UK sketch comedy duo visiting NYC for a four-night run starting Wednesday 2/16 at Brooklyn's St. Ann's Warehouse), and more performing at Brooklyn's Union Hall hosted by comedy giant Eugene Mirman: Pretty Good Friends
[FREE] 8:00 pm: Dan St. Germain (quick-witted rising star; Jimmy Fallon, MTV; for reenactment of Dan's breakup, please click here), Keith Alberstadt (David Letterman), Sean Donnelly (host of Lil' Seany Boy), Kara Klenk, and Harry Terjanian performing at RG Daniels' free weekly show at the Three of Cups East Village lounge: Sunday Night Stand-Up
8:00 pm ($5): Improv from duo Andrew Cornelius and Andrew Fafoutakis as The Andrew Sisters, and from troupe Accelerate
[$] 8:30 pm pm ($20 & 2-drink min.) A stand-up who's starred in his own Comedy Central hour-long special The Things We Do For Love, and performed on David Letterman and Jay Leno, headlining at the Gotham Comedy Club: Pete Correale
[FREE] 9:00 pm: Veronica Mosey, Seaton Smith, Yamaneika Saunders, and DJ Roofeeo performing at Brooklyn's Knitting Factory (361 Metropolitan Avenue) hosted by the wonderful Hannibal Buress (staff writer for 30 Rock, Saturday Night Live; David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, Louie, Comedy Central): Comedy Night
[FREE] 9:00 pm: Kara Klenk, Luke Cunningham, George Gordon, and JL Cauvin performing in the East Village's Beauty Bar at Vince Averill's & Jesse Popp's free weekly show Beauty Bar Comedy
9:30 pm ($5): Two improv groups competing for audience laughs and votes—yes, like UCBT's Cage Match, but with less well-known troupes and an escalating challenge component—at Magnet Inferno
[FREE] 10:00 pm: NYC stand-ups Allison Castillo, Adam Lehman, and Frank Liotti performing at this free weekly gay-themed show at Therapy hosted by Brad Loekle: Electro Shock Therapy Comedy Hour
Copyright © 2011 Hy Bender
Email: hy@hyreviews.com
