Please note that these listings are updated frequently. The best way to be instantly notified about new show postings is to subscribe to my BestNewYorkComedy.com blog and allow for email notifications, and/or to follow me on Twitter (@hybender) or Instagram (@hybenderny).
In addition, you can use the links below to explore the schedules of all the major comedy venues in NYC; and you can find excellent live comedy recommendations weekly via The New York Times.
That said, my top NYC comedy recommendations for June 2018 include:
Friday 6/1: Brilliant improvisor & character comic Connor Ratliff (right; TruTV's The Chris Gethard Show; The Stepfathers) transforms into "filmmaker George Lucas (Radioland Murders) as he embarks upon an exciting new career as a comedian and talk show host!" He's joined by talk show sidekick Griffin Newman (left; brilliant character/improv comic; Arthur on Amazon's The Tick, Jared Kushner on Showtime's Our Cartoon President, HBO, CBS, MTV, TBS; feature films Draft Day, Fort Tilden, Night Moves), plus guests Lauren Duca (The New Yorker, Teen Vogue), Joe Pera (Conan O'Brien, Seth Meyers, Comedy Central, Adult Swim), Chelsea Davison (staff writer for The Opposition with Jordan Klepper; @midnight, MADtv), and Brett White (Producer/Reporter for Decider; MTV, Marvel), "as they revolutionize the talk show format the same way Lucas once revolutionized cinema:" The George Lucas Talk Show (9:00 pm, $12, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)
Saturday 6/2: Kerry Coddett (above; writer for HBO's Wyatt Cenac: Problem Areas; HBO's Crashing, BET's The Rundown, Comedy Central's The Nightly Show, MTV's Joking Off; host of Brooklyn, Stand Up!), Katie Hannigan (MTV’s Inside Joke, TruTV, Oxygen), Anthony Kapfer (FOX, Sirus XM), and Kunal C. Arora perform stand-up featuring "the dirtiest, most unsafe for prime-time jokes, bits, and riffs" hosted by Lucas Connolly (Comedy Central's South Beach, host of The Secret Loft Show): The Dirty Show (9:30 pm, $10, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Saturday 6/2: Ophira Eisenberg, Liz Miele, Charles McBee, and Menuhin Hart perform stand-up at 3:15 pm, and many others perform music before and after, for this four-hour show honoring the memory of Jeannine Liebert, who passed away earlier this year: Celebrating Neen: Jeannine Liebert (2:00 pm music, 3:15 pm stand-up, and 4:30 pm more music; $10 suggested donation; Otto's Shrunken Head at 538 East 14th Street, between Avenues A and B)
Saturday 6/2: Comics share tales of the times they didn't make it the bathroom, with tonight's survivors The Reformed Whores (raunchy comedic singing duo Marie Cecile Anderson & Katy Frame; CBS, IFC; have opened for Weird Al Yankovic, Alice Cooper, and Lynyrd Skynyrd; albums Ladies Don't Spit and Don't Beat Around the Bush), Omar Nieve Capra (Spider-Man: Homecoming, 30 Rock), Adam Wade (two-time Moth GrandSlam Storytelling Champion (2006 & 2009) and record-breaking 20-time StorySlam Champion; albums The Human Comedy and Live at the Magnet Theater; for a sampling of Adam's award-winning tales, please click here), Hann Cowger, and Sherm Jacobs hosted by Chris Calogero: Uh Oh: Stories From People Who Pooped Their Pants (8:00 pm, Free!, Brooklyn's Pine Box Rock Shop at 12 Graham Street; take the L subway to Morgan Avenue)
Sunday 6/3: Adrienne Iapalucci (David Letterman, Last Comic Standing, Artie Lange, VH1) records her first comedy album, with the aid of your laughter, 7:00 pm and 9:15 pm. Help Adrienne make a great CD by getting your vocal joy immortalized at Adrienne Iapalucci's Album Taping (7:00 pm & 9:15 pm; $13.26 online using discount code PUPPIES [otherwise $30.90], plus two-drink min.; New York Comedy Club at 241 East 24th Street between Second & Third Avenues)
Sunday 6/3: A great scheduled stand-up lineup of the wonderful Ophira Eisenberg (one of the finest comedic storytellers and stand-ups in the country; host of weekly NPR/WNYC show Ask Me Another, author of bestselling book Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy, comedy album Bangs!; NBC, CBS, Comedy Central, VH1, Showtime), Julio Torres (marvelously nuanced, outside-the-box stand-up; staff writer for Saturday Night Live; Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Billy on the Street, HBO's High Maintenance, Louis C.K.’s Horace and Pete), Hari Kondabolu (David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Presents; fascinating TruTV documentary The Problem with Apu), Sarah Tollemache (Adam Devine's House Party), Nate Fridson (host of Dark Spots, comedy album Best Guy So Far), Tyler RIchardson, and Kwasi Mensah: If You Build It (7:30 pm, $9, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)
Sunday 6/3: Aasif Mandvi (HBO's The Brink, Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events, numerous films; former correspondent for The Daily Show), Nore Davis (HBO's Last Week Tonight, Comedy Central's Inside Amy Schumer and Russell Simmons Presents The Ruckus, Showtime's Boardwalk Empire, MTV; album You Guys Are Dope), Erica Spera (host of 20 Minutes of Fire podcast), and Greg Stone (staff writer for The Break with Michelle Wolf; America's Got Talent, TruTV's Friends of the People) try out new stand-up material hosted by Nat Towsen (VICE, College Humor, host of Downtown Variety): New Material Night (8:00 pm, $10, The PIT Underground at 123 East 24th Street)
Monday 4/16: Morgan Miller (above left; host of Dirty Laundry tonight at 11:00) performs stand-up for hosts Jo Firestone (staff writer for Jimmy Fallon, co-author of #1 bestselling Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers) and Maeve Higgins (Maeve in America, co-host of Nat Geo's Star Talk), as do Todd Barry (Netflix special Spicy Honey, star of delightful documentary The Crowd Work Tour; David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Presents, FX's Louie, HBO's Flight of the Conchords and Bored to Death, feature film The Wrestler), Hari Kondabolu (David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Presents; fascinating TruTV documentary The Problem with Apu), Kenny DeForest (co-host of Comedy Night at the Knit), Subhah Agarwal (writer for Comedy Central's The Jim Jefferies Show; TruTV, Fusion),and Kwasi Mensah: Butterboy with Jo, Aparna, and Maeve (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Monday 6/4: Comics share their observations, fears, dreams, and insanities growing up by reading from their childhood diaries, featuring Gara Lonning, Kyle Gordon, Caitlin Ruppert, Dan Yang, Cathy Humes, Cameron Lee Conlan, Allie Nelson, and Hattie Hayes and host Maggie Lalley: Dear Diary: Comics Read Their Weird Childhood Journals (8:30 pm, $8, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Monday 6/4: Frank Conniff (TV's Frank on Mystery Science Theater 3000; Cinematic Titanic), Roy Wood Jr. (correspondent for Comedy Central's The Daily Show and host of This is Not Happening), The Reformed Whores (raunchy comedic singing duo Marie Cecile Anderson & Katy Frame; CBS, IFC; have opened for Weird Al Yankovic, Alice Cooper, and Lynyrd Skynyrd; albums Ladies Don't Spit and Don't Beat Around the Bush), Joe Pera (star of Adult Swim's Joe Pera Talks With You; Conan O'Brien, Seth Meyers, Comedy Central), Emma Willmann (Stephen Colbert, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, @midnight), and Annie Bernstein (PBS) perform stand-up for this free weekly show hosted by the multi-talented Morgan Miller (sharp improvisor, sketch comic, and stand-up): Dirty Laundry (11:00 pm, Free! (make reservation here), UCB Hell's Kitchen at 555 West 42nd Street)
Tuesday 6/5: A wild monthly pun competition hosted by Fred Firestone (co-author with Jo Firestone of #1 bestselling Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers), with 18 audience members fiercely competing for wordplay dominance—and the chance to become an instant star based on verbal cleverness, and the ability to drum up the most applause from a packed and loudly cheering crowd: Punderdome 3000 (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street—take R subway to Union Street; show up early (doors open at 7:00) to nab a seat, or plan on standing)
Tuesday 6/5: Dulcé Sloan (powerhouse comic and correspondent for The Daily Show; Conan O'Brien, @midnight), Mark Normand (one of the very finest stand-ups in the country; Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, HBO's 2 Dope Queens, stellar Comedy Central special Don't Be Yourself; Comedy Central Half Hour, Inside Amy Schumer, @midnight, Last Comic Standing, VH1's Best Week Ever; comedy album Still Got It; tours with Amy Schumer), Myq Kaplan (one of the quickest minds in comedy; finalist on Last Comic Standing, semi-finalist on America's Got Talent; David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Seth Meyers, Jay Leno, Comedy Central Presents; comedy albums No Kidding, Small, Dork, and Handsome, Vegan Mind Meld, and Meat Robot; podcast Hang Out With Me), Frank Conniff (TV's Frank on Mystery Science Theater 3000; Cinematic Titanic), Subhah Agarwal (writer for Comedy Central's The Jim Jefferies Show; TruTV, Fusion), Lucas Connolly (Comedy Central's South Beach, host of Ambush Comedy and The Secret Loft Show), and more perform for host Seth Herzog's (long-time staff comic for Jimmy Fallon; 30 Rock, @midnight, CBS, VH1) seminal weekly stand-up & variety show: Sweet (9:00 pm, $10, The Slipper Room at 167 Orchard Street)
Wednesday 6/6: Comics and/or audience members play old video games while hosts Brian McGuinness (Playable Characters Podcast) & TJ Del Reno (Unlimited Lives Radio) and guests provide live commentary: Retro Bits (7:30 pm, $10, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Wednesday 6/6: Myq Kaplan (one of the quickest minds in comedy; finalist on Last Comic Standing, semi-finalist on America's Got Talent; David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Seth Meyers, Jay Leno, Comedy Central Presents; comedy albums No Kidding, Small, Dork, and Handsome, Vegan Mind Meld, and Meat Robot; podcast Hang Out With Me), Subhah Agarwal (writer for Comedy Central's The Jim Jefferies Show; TruTV, Fusion), Selena Coppock (Amazon's Red Oaks, VH1, author of book The New Rules for Blondes, stand-up album Seen Better Days), Brendan Fitzgibbons (MTV's Guy Code, The Onion, co-host of Gandhi, Is That You?), and Wanjiko Eke perform stand-up for this free weekly LES show produced by Luisa Díez, and hosted by Samantha Ruddy, Luke Touma, JP McDade, Jordan Temple, and/or Dina Hashem: Too Many Cooks (9:00 pm, Free!, Lucky Jack's Pub at 129 Orchard Street between Rivington & Delancey Streets)
Wednesday 6/6: Rebekah Sebastian hosts this crime trivia show that challenges your knowledge of serial killers, unsolved mysteries, the legal system, OJ, and much more: Yellow Tape (9:00 pm, $7, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Thursday 6/7: A cartoonist for The New Yorker and Mad Magazine uses live drawing, animation, and storytelling to tell the tale of his becoming Australia's most widely syndicated cartoonist and then moving here to make it in NYC: Stand-Up Comic Strip Live with Jason Chatfield (7:30 pm, $7, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Thursday 6/7: Stand-ups try to solve the world's problems—with this month's theme the host's new album Nice and Drunk—using PowerPoint, video, and/or more, featuring tonight's sages Mark Normand, Christi Chiello, Matt Wayne, Asterios Kokkinos, Josiah Madigan, and Brock Mahan hosted by Kevin McCaffrey: Serious Matters: Nice and Drunk (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Thursday 6/7: Myq Kaplan (one of the quickest minds in comedy; finalist on Last Comic Standing, semi-finalist on America's Got Talent; David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Seth Meyers, Jay Leno, Comedy Central Presents; comedy albums No Kidding, Small, Dork, and Handsome, Vegan Mind Meld, and Meat Robot; podcast Hang Out With Me), Dan St. Germain (above left; enormously likeable rising star; Jimmy Fallon, Conan O'Brien, John Oliver, Comedy Central Half Hour, Crashing, @midnight, This is Not Happening, The Electric Company, MTV, VH1; currently writing for Netflix's The Break with Michelle Wolf, previously staff writer for CBS' Superior Donuts and TruTV's Ten Things), Doug Smith (Conan O'Brien, co-host of See You In Hell), and more perform stand-up hosted by (above) rising stars Ashley Brooke Roberts (energetic, enormously likeable rising star stand-up, sketch comic, and actress; former writer for NatGeo Explorer and MTV's Guy Code; UCB Maude sketch groups The Prom and Absolutely) and/or Jim Tews (Louie, Last Comic Standing; host of Homeschooled; New York Times bestselling author of Felines of New York; comedy album I Was in Band): Fresh Out (9:00 pm, $9, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)
Friday 6/8: Comics John Thibodeaux (staff writer for Stephen Colbert), Rachel Joravsky (Above Average, Reductress), and Jennifer Mills give funny lectures on the scientific topic Contraception hosted by the brilliant & delightful Blythe Roberson (The New Yorker, The Onion, McSweeney's) & Madelyn Freed (ace improvisor & computer programmer): The Scientists: Contraception (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Friday 6/8: Talented comics Sarah Nowak, Parker Denton, Meghan O'Malley, Josh Krebs, Jenifer Bloodsworth, and Jonathan Desley perform this monthly sketch show directed by Holden McNeely (Murderfist): National Scandal (7:30 pm, $10, The PIT Underground at 123 East 24th Street)
Friday 6/8: Rebecca Vigil (rising star powerhouse improv singer; Your Love Our Musical, The Vigilante, Kick It!), Jacob Willams (Stephen Colbert, Adam Devine's House Party, America's Got Talent), and Bill Santiago (Comedy Central Presents, Showtime, CNN; author of Pardon My Spanglish) perform songs or stand-up with guest host Matt Fishman: QED Presents (7:30 pm, $10, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Saturday 6/9: One of the very finest series in TV history was first a bunch of extraordinary books. Tonight both versions of Game of Thrones will be riffed on by Josh Gondelman (Emmy & Peabody Award-winning writer/producer for HBO's phenom Last Week Tonight with John Oliver; Conan O'Brien, The New Yorker; stand-up comedy album Physical Whisper), Sage Boggs (staff writer for Jimmy Fallon), Eliza Cossio (staff writer for HBO's Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas; previously a correspondent for The Daily Show), and Julia Claire, as well as by hosts Blythe Roberson (The New Yorker, The Onion, McSweeney's) & Colin Stokes (Associate Cartoon Editor at The New Yorker; The Onion, GQ): Book Club—A Comedy Show: Game of Thrones (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Sunday 6/10: Enjoy this free live screening of the 72nd Annual Tony Awards, with comics & actors providing snarky commentary, trivia and drinking games, and live musical performances during the commercial breaks hosted by Larry Owens (Larry's Musical Breakdown): A Tony Awards Party (7:30 pm, Free!, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Sunday 6/10: Stand-up from Jo Firestone (one of the most relentlessly inventive comics in the biz; staff writer for Jimmy Fallon; star of Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents special; HBO's Crashing, Comedy Central's Broad City; radio host of WFMU's Dr. Gameshow, live-on-stage co-host of Butterball; co-author of #1 bestselling Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers), Rob Cantrell (Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, HBO, VHI, FX's Totally Biased, documentary Metaphysical Graffiti, High Times, comedy album Pure Uncut Joy), Nore Davis (HBO's Last Week Tonight, Comedy Central's Inside Amy Schumer and Russell Simmons Presents The Ruckus, Showtime's Boardwalk Empire, MTV; album You Guys Are Dope), Kevin McCaffrey (former warm-up comic for David Letterman; TruTV), Dina Hashem (Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central's Roast Battle), and David Angelo hosted by Alison Leiby (writer for The Opposition with Jordan Klepper, previously writer for The President Show; VICE, Triumph The Insult Comic Dog; host of It's a Long Story): If You Build It (7:30 pm, $9, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)
Monday 6/11: This delightful debate show usually tackles such burning issues as "Cake vs. Pie." This month has some gravitas to it, though, asking comics to argue the merits of "Wired vs Unplugged." The debaters are famed iPhone user Lane Moore (above; host of smash hit show Tinder Live; HBO's Girls; author of How to Be Alone; Sex & Relationship Editor of Cosmo; writer for The Onion, McSweeney's), Josh Gondelman (one of the sharpest comics in the country; Emmy & Peabody Award-winning writer/producer for HBO's phenom Last Week Tonight with John Oliver; Conan O'Brien, The New Yorker; stand-up album Physical Whisper), Judy Gold (HBO, Showtime's I'm Dying Up Here, Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno, Comedy Central, VH1, The View), Matt Koff (staff writer for The Daily Show), Ziwe Fumudoh (writer for The Rundown with Robin Thede; host of hilarious webseries Baited with Ziwe), and Mehran Khaghani, all hosted by the loveable Matthew Love: Uptown Showdown: Wired vs. Unplugged (7:30 pm, $16, Symphony Space at 2537 Broadway, off 95th Street)
Monday 6/11: In this acclaimed monthly show, stand-ups Chris Gethard (comedy genius, darkly above; star of HBO 90-minute special Career Suicide; star of TruTV's & Fusion's The Chris Gethard Show; co-star of Mike Birbiglia film Don't Think Twice; host of Webby-winning podcast Beautiful Stories From Anonymous People; The Office, Comedy Central, IFC; author of A Bad Idea I'm About to Do and Weird New York), Joe Pera (star of Adult Swim's Joe Pera Talks With You; Conan O'Brien, Seth Meyers, Comedy Central), Katie Hannigan (MTV’s Inside Joke, TruTV, Oxygen), and Chanel Ali each perform a 10-minute set while they "risk getting slapped by Satan himself. Actually, he hosts only bringer shows, but join Matt Wayne & Doug Smith as they step into the Big Man's shoes and put NYC's finest through comedy purgatory. Hula-hoops, celebrity impressions, unwanted audience participation, all incorporated into each performance! Will they triumph or will the nether world eat their souls?f" For a sample torture set with the delightful Christi Chiello, please click here; and if you'd then like more, Matt & Doug will See You in Hell (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Monday 6/11: Ed Helms (star of 2017's Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie; Andy Bernard on The Office; former correspondent for The Daily Show) is tonight's guest of this NPR weekly comedy trivia show taped live in Brooklyn and hosted by the wonderful Ophira Eisenberg (one of the finest comedic storytellers and stand-ups in the country; author of bestselling book Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy, comedy album Bangs!; NBC, CBS, Comedy Central, VH1, Showtime): Ask Me Another (7:30 pm, $20, The Bell House at 149 7th Street; take R subway to 9th Street or F/G to Fourth Avenue)
Monday 6/11: Stellar stand-up Myq Kaplan (one of the quickest minds in comedy; finalist on Last Comic Standing, semi-finalist on America's Got Talent; David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Seth Meyers, Jay Leno, Comedy Central Presents; comedy albums No Kidding, Small, Dork, and Handsome, Vegan Mind Meld, and Meat Robot; podcast Hang Out With Me) hosts phenom musical improvisors above Chris "Shockwave" Sullivan (amazing human beatbox; The Daily Show, The Electric Company, Freestyle Love Supreme, co-host of Battlicious) and Rebecca Vigil (rising star powerhouse improv singer; Your Love Our Musical, The Vigilante, Kick It!), plus stand-ups Kate Willett (Comedy Central's The Jim Jeffries Show and This Is Not Happening; VICE's Flophouse; comedy album Glass Gutter) and Sara Hennessey (comedy album Trouble in Saradise): The Myq Kaplan Show (8:30 pm, $6, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Monday 6/11: Singer/songwriter/musician Julian Velard (pianist for NPR's Ask Me Another; albums include Fancy Words For Failure) has had a lifelong dream is to be a Late Night Talk Show Sidekick. The problem is he doesn't have a host. So every Monday this June, "Julian will play Paul Shaffer to a different David Letterman in the hopes of finding his soulmate," with tonight's guests Sean Patton (one of the very finest stand-ups in the country; killer sets on Jimmy Fallon and Conan O'Brien; Comedy Central's Half Hour, Inside Amy Schumer, @midnight, This Is Not Happening, and The Meltdown; VH1, TruTV, IFC, Viceland; feature film Wifed Out; former co-host of Esquire Network's Best Bars in America), Matteo Lane (Seth Meyers, Comedy Central, MTV's Guy Code & Girl Code, co-host of Battle of the Divas), Michael Cruz Kayne (HBO's Crashing, The Chris Gethard Show; ace musical improv groups Baby Wants Candy and Diamond Lion, UCB Saturday night improv group What I Did For Love), and Tori Scott (singer/comic/cabaret performer; HBO, Sesame Street; album Plan B!): Sidekickin’ It with Julian Velard (8:30 pm, $12, Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 3 at 196 Allen Street, near the F subway's Second Avenue stop)
Monday 6/11: Dulcé Sloan (powerhouse comic and correspondent for The Daily Show; Conan O'Brien, @midnight), Liza Treyger (fresh, fierce, fearless stand-up; Seth Meyers, Comedy Central Half Hour, Horace and Pete, Chelsea Lately), Jim Tews (rising star; Louie, Last Comic Standing; host of Homeschooled and co-host of Fresh Out; New York Times bestselling author of Felines of New York; comedy album I Was in Band), Joe Pera (star of Adult Swim's Joe Pera Talks With You; Conan O'Brien, Seth Meyers, Comedy Central), Anya Volz, and Leclerc Darguin perform for hosts Jo Firestone (staff writer for Jimmy Fallon, co-author of #1 bestselling Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers) and Maeve Higgins (Maeve in America, co-host of Nat Geo's Star Talk): Butterboy with Jo, Aparna, and Maeve (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Monday 6/11: Mike Drucker (hilarious stand-up and staff writer for TBS' Full Frontal with Samantha Bee; previously staff writer for Comedy Central's The President Show and nearly 400 episodes of NBC's Jimmy Fallon, and contributing writer for Saturday Night Live), Roy Wood Jr. (correspondent for Comedy Central's The Daily Show and host of This is Not Happening), Hari Kondabolu (fresh, sharp, rising star stand-up; David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Presents; fascinating TruTV documentary The Problem with Apu; Netflix special Warn Your Relatives; co-host of Kondabolu Brothers podcast), Ana Fabrega (Portlandia, The Jim Gaffigan Show, The Chris Gethard Show, host of Sundays with Ana), Lauren Duca (The New Yorker, Teen Vogue), and Carmen Lagala (Stephen Colbert; sketch group All Female Reboot) perform stand-up hosted by the multi-talented Morgan Miller (sharp improvisor, sketch comic, stand-up, and filmmaker): Dirty Laundry (11:00 pm, Free! (make reservation here), UCB Hell's Kitchen at 555 West 42nd Street)
Tuesday 6/12: Gary Gulman (razor-sharp wordsmith who's one of the best stand-ups in the country, currently touring with show Must Be Nice; David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, Jay Leno; finalist on Last Comic Standing; comedy specials include Boyish Man, In This Economy, and It's About Time), Nikki Glaser (host of You Up on SiriusXM Comedy Central Radio; star of former Comedy Central series Not Safe; films Trainwreck and I Feel Pretty; hour-long special Perfect; Jimmy Fallon, Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central Half Hour, Inside Amy Schumer, @midnight; NBC's America Ninja Warrior: Celebrity Edition; podcast You Had to Be There), Krystyna Hutchinson (with comedy partner Corinne Fisher, host of popular Guys We Fucked podcast and author of F*CKED: Being Sexually Explorative and Self-Confident in a World That’s Screwed), Nore Davis (HBO, Showtime, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Netflix; album You Guys Are Dope), Carmen Lagala (Stephen Colbert; sketch group All Female Reboot), and more perform for host Seth Herzog's (long-time staff comic for Jimmy Fallon; 30 Rock, @midnight, CBS, VH1) seminal weekly stand-up & variety show: Sweet (9:00 pm, $10, The Slipper Room at 167 Orchard Street)
Tuesday 6/12: Natasha Vaynblat (Funny or Die, McSweeney's, Reductress; improv group What I Did For Love, sketch group Absolutely, one-woman show United Federation of Teachers) performs stand-up and sketches at Carolines with the help of fellow comics Ashley Brooke Roberts (energetic, enormously likeable rising star stand-up, sketch comic, and actress; stellar host of Fresh Out; former writer for NatGeo Explorer and MTV's Guy Code; UCB Maude sketch groups The Prom and Absolutely), CJ Hunt (Field Producer for The Rundown with Robin Thede), Eric Gersen, and Mary Cella: Natasha Vaynblat Does Characters and Stand-Up (7:30 pm; $11 online using code RUSSIAN LADY [otherwise $18], plus 2-drink min., Carolines Comedy Club at 1626 Broadway)
Wednesday 6/13: Marina Franklin (HBO, Trainwreck, Louie, Jay Leno, Last Comic Standing, Chappelle's Show) performs an hour of stand-up, with opening sets from Erik Bransteen (FOX, Sirius X) and more: Marina Franklin: Single Black Female (8:30 pm, $8 plus 2-item food/drink min., The Fat Black Pussycat Lounge at 130 West 3rd Street)
Wednesday 6/13: Matt Barats (HBO's High Maintenance, Seth Meyers, The New Yorker) and Dan Licata (wriiter for Adult Swim's Joe Pera Talks With You;The Chris Gethard Show) perform together what's likely some odd blend of sketch, improv, and/or stand-up, aided by host Jo Firestone (one of the most relentlessly inventive comics in the biz; staff writer for Jimmy Fallon; star of Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents special, co-star of Adult Swim's JPTWY; HBO's Crashing, Comedy Central's Broad City; radio host of WFMU's Dr. Gameshow, live-on-stage co-host of Butterball; co-author of #1 bestselling Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers): An Evening with Matt Barats & Dan Licata (and Jo Firestone) (8:30 pm, $8, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Tuesday 6/12: Stand-ups Shalewa Sharpe (above; Keith and the Girl; comedy album Stay Eating Cookies), Gracie Canaan, Jarret Berenstein, Angela Cobb, and Steve Whalen are challenged to make up self-important lectures based on topics provided to them on the spot—e.g., "If McDonalds can serve breakfast all day, then shouldn't I be able to own a gun?" and "‘Do iPhones fool the elderly into thinking they're living in the future?" hosted by Ryan Stanisz: Stand-Ups Improvise TED Talks (9:00 pm, $7, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Wednesday 6/13: The greatest science fiction anthology radio show of all time was X Minus One. Improvisors who know their genre history created this 1940s-era radio show in which they make up scenes of awe, mystery, and wonder starring the highly talented and appealing Rachel Scherer (above). In all honesty, while Rachel is a gem, her cast rotates and isn't as consistent. But if you'd care to roll the dice, you'll at minimum enjoy Ms. Scherer...and if you're lucky, will be transported to other worlds: X Plus One (9:30 pm, $16.89 in advance online or $15 at the door; LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Wednesday 6/13: Roy Wood Jr. (correspondent for Comedy Central's The Daily Show and host of This is Not Happening) hones stand-up material for his upcoming taping of an hour-long special: Roy Wood Jr.: Bad Opinions (11:00 pm, $5 plus 2-item food/drink min., The Fat Black Pussycat Lounge at 130 West 3rd Street)
Thursday 6/14-Saturday 6/16: An Emmy-winning star cast member of Saturday Night Live, and force-of-nature voiceover artist who's performed characters for Family Guy, Scooby Doo, and many other shows, headlines for three nights at Carolines: Melissa Villaseñor (7:30 pm Thursday, 7:30 pm & 10:00 pm Friday & Saturday; $32.75 plus 2-drink min., Carolines Comedy Club at 1626 Broadway)
Thursday 6/14: Clare O'Kane (Amazon's Budding Prospects, Viceland's Flophouse, webseries Semi-Famous; former writer for SpongeBob SquarePants), Josh Johnson (writer for Jimmy Fallon; Comedy Central Half Hour, Kevin Hart's Hart of the City), Sonia Denis (HBO's High Maintenance, Emmy-nominated webseries Brown Girls), and Nathan Macintosh (Stephen Colbert, Conan O'Brien) perform stand-up for this weekly show produced by Jamie Rabinovitch and hosted by Jane Harrison, Albert Kirchner, and/or Evan Morrison: Casual Town (7:00 pm, $5, Sing Sing Ave. A at 81 Avenue A, near the F subway's Second Avenue stop)
Thursday 6/14: Enjoy a comic excavation of teen angst artifacts (journals, letters, poems, lyrics, home movies, stories, and more) shared by their original authors before total strangers at this popular monthly show—which is now also a six-part series titled The Mortified Guide on Netflix!: Mortified (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Thursday 6/14: Stand-ups TBA perform for stellar hosts (above) Ashley Brooke Roberts (energetic, enormously likeable rising star stand-up, sketch comic, and actress; former writer for NatGeo Explorer and MTV's Guy Code; UCB Maude sketch groups The Prom and Absolutely) and/or Jim Tews (Louie, Last Comic Standing; host of Homeschooled; New York Times bestselling author of Felines of New York; comedy album I Was in Band): Fresh Out (9:00 pm, $9, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)
Friday 6/15: Ashley Brooke Roberts (energetic, enormously likeable rising star stand-up, sketch comic, and actress; stellar host of Fresh Out; former writer for NatGeo Explorer and MTV's Guy Code; UCB Maude sketch groups The Prom and Absolutely), Moody McCarthy (David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, Conan O'Brien, Last Comic Standing), Jeff Simmermon (NPR's This American Life, Moth GrandSlam Champion, comedy album & show And I Am Not Lying), and James Scott Patterson (Comedy Central) perform stand-up or storytelling guest-hosted by Selena Coppock (Amazon's Red Oaks, VH1, author of book The New Rules for Blondes): QED Presents (7:30 pm, $10, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Friday 6/15: Comics TBA share cringe-worthy experiences from their pasts hosted by Brendan Busee & Ron Raganella: Shame!: The Not-So-Honorable Comedy Show (9:30 pm, $8, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Friday 6/15: One of the worst films of all time, Birdemic: Shock and Terror is a shameless 2010 ripoff of The Birds made for under $10,000 that's so laughably awful it tends to create a drug-like state of disassociation. "Enjoy" this screening with comics John Fugelsang (former host of America's Funniest Home Videos), Kat Burdick (Moth Grandslam champion; webseries KCK), Freddy G (NPR), and Carolina Hidalgo making cruel comments throughout hosted by Chris Gersbeck (co-host of Everythign Is Dumbn, and Bunk Bed and Murray Povich open mics): Movies R Dumb: Birdemic (11:00 pm, $10, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Saturday 6/16: A show celebrating the app that redefined online dating, with the lovely and quick-witted Lane Moore (above; HBO's Girls; Sex & Relationship Editor of Cosmo; writer for The Onion, McSweeney's; author of upcoming book How to be Alone) going on a live Tinder safari for guys while a packed audience watches her every choice with fascination. Offering comments and suggestions are guests Julie Klausner (razor-sharp comic & storyteller; host of How Was Your Week podcast; creator and co-star of Hulu's Difficult People; author of I Don't Care About Your Band) and Alan Aisenberg (Baxter 'Gerber' Bayley on Orange is the New Black). Please note this month's edition isn't in Brooklyn but at Manhattan's Gramercy Theatre: This show ususally sells out, so I recommend nabbing tickets in advance online or at the box office for Tinder Live (8:00 pm, $15-$35, Gramercy Theatre at 127 East 23rd Street off Park Avenue South)
Saturday 6/16: An Emmy-winning star cast member of Saturday Night Live, and force-of-nature voiceover artist who's performed characters for Family Guy, Scooby Doo, and many other shows, headlines for two more nights at Carolines: Melissa Villaseñor (7:30 pm & 10:00 pm; $32.75 plus 2-drink min., Carolines Comedy Club at 1626 Broadway)
Saturday 6/16: In this unique show, animators spontaneously bring the jokes of guest stand-ups to visual life with lightning speed & wit. Part of the fun is that the comics don’t know what the animators will draw and the animators don’t know how the comics will react. Tonight's stand-up & character lineup consists of Liza Treyger, Murray Hill, Joe Pera, Alex English, Dave Mizzoni, and Jay McBride, with animators including Bryan Brinkman, Dan Pinto, produced by Sam Varela & Brandie Posey and hosted by Ian Fidance: Picture This! (7:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Saturday 6/16: World-class singing improvisors Evan Kaufman & Rebecca Vigil interview an audience couple about their love life and then turn it into a musical—with breathtaking skill (see my review of their award-winning FringeNYC 2015 shows here). I highly recommend the phenomenal Your Love, Our Musical (7:00 pm; $16.89 in advance online or $20 at the door; LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Saturday 6/16: A game show that describes itself as follows: "Ever talk to a straight guy and think, 'Jesus Christ you're boring!' Join gay-ass hosts Matt Rogers & Dave Mizzoni as they gay up the straights"—comics TBA. Life lines include "one woke woman and a wise queer"—also TBA. "Come witness the ultimate test of who Is honorarily Gay As Fuck:" GAYme Show (9:30 pm, $10, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Sunday 6/17: Comics Emmy Blotnick (brilliant rising star stand-up who's performed on Stephen Colbert and stars in an upcoming Comedy Central Half Hour; writer for Stephen Colbert; Head Writer for Comedy Central's The President Show; former writer for Comedy Central's @midnight, Roast of Rob Lowe, and Not Safe with Nikki Glaser; MTV, VH1), Dillon Stevenson (staff writer for HBO's Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas), and Maeve Higgins (David Letterman, Last Comic Standing, co-host of NatGeo's Star Talk, host of Maeve in America, co-host of Butterboy) demonstrate their quick wits by hilariously answering questions about what a guest scientist's job entails at this live taping of the wonderful Chris Duffy's superb podcast: You're the Expert (7:00 pm, $16.89 in advance online or $20 at the door, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Sunday 6/17: A show about the Fear Of Missing Out on some cool experience mentioned via social media, with a strong lineup of Jo Firestone (one of the most relentlessly inventive comics in the biz; staff writer for Jimmy Fallon; star of Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents special; HBO's Crashing, Comedy Central's Broad City; radio host of WFMU's Dr. Gameshow, live-on-stage co-host of Butterball; co-author of #1 bestselling Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers), Anna Drezen (writer for Saturday Night Live; superb stand-up who blends jokes with characters, movement, and sketch; author of How May We Hate You), Gary Richardson (writer for Saturday Night Live; brilliant improvisor; Comedy Central), and Keisha Zollar (HBO's Divorce, Orange Is the New Black, MTV; writer for The Opposition with Jordan Klepper; ace improv trio Doppelganger, sketch group Astronomy Club), Michael Cruz Kayne (HBO's Crashing, The Chris Gethard Show; ace musical improv group Baby Wants Candy, UCB Saturday night improv group What I Did For Love, co-host of monthly comedy show The Exhibition), Brian McElhaney (writer for 2016-2017 season of Saturday Night LIve), and Jason Gore (Hulu's Difficult People, sketch group Bridge & Tunnel) hosted by Kristen Bartlett (writer for Saturday Night Live): FOMO Live with Kristen Bartlett (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Sunday 6/17: Aasif Mandvi (HBO's The Brink, Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events, numerous films; former correspondent for The Daily Show; author of No Man's Land), Ashley Brooke Roberts (energetic, enormously likeable rising star stand-up, sketch comic, and actress; stellar host of Fresh Out; former writer for NatGeo Explorer and MTV's Guy Code; UCB Maude sketch groups The Prom and Absolutely), Saurin Choksi (host of Fuse's White Guy Talk Show), and Ryan Beck (Comedy Central, MTV) try out new stand-up material hosted by Nat Towsen (VICE, College Humor, host of Downtown Variety): New Material Night (8:00 pm, $10, The PIT Underground at 123 East 24th Street)
Monday 6/18: Singer/songwriter/musician Julian Velard (pianist for NPR's Ask Me Another; albums include Fancy Words For Failure) fulfills his lifelong dream is to be a Late Night Talk Show Sidekick, "playing Paul Shaffer to different David Lettermans in the hopes of finding his soulmate," with tonight's guests the wonderful Ophira Eisenberg (one of the finest comedic storytellers and stand-ups in the country; host of weekly NPR/WNYC show Ask Me Another, author of bestselling book Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy, comedy album Bangs!; NBC, CBS, Comedy Central, VH1, Showtime), Seth Herzog (long-time staff comic for Jimmy Fallon; 30 Rock, @midnight, CBS, VH1; host of seminal weekly LES comedy/variety show Sweet), Michael Rapaport (author of This Book Has Balls), Michael Cruz Kayne (HBO's Crashing, The Chris Gethard Show; ace musical improv group Baby Wants Candy, UCB Saturday night improv group What I Did For Love, co-host of monthly comedy show The Exhibition), and more: Sidekickin’ It with Julian Velard (8:30 pm, $12, Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 3 at 196 Allen Street, near the F subway's Second Avenue stop)
Monday 6/18: Five storytellers share the fascinating secret pasts of NYC locations you may walk by every day. Four of the stories are entirely true...and one is a pack of lies. Can you spot the fibber? Aiming to fool you comics TBA whose tales include "the wildest and weirdest rent-control story in the history of New York City" and "a manhole cover in Brooklyn that leads to an underground world if you're daring enough to pick it up:" hosted by Christa Avampato (author of YA novel Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters). If you spot the liar, you'll be in the running to win a pair of tickets to a secret NYC event: New York City’s Secrets and Lies (7:00 pm; $13.71 in advance online or $15 at the door; LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Monday 6/18: Roy Wood Jr. (above; correspondent for Comedy Central's The Daily Show and host of This is Not Happening), Sean Patton (one of the very finest stand-ups in the country; killer sets on Jimmy Fallon and Conan O'Brien; Comedy Central's Half Hour, Inside Amy Schumer, @midnight, This Is Not Happening, and The Meltdown; VH1, TruTV, IFC, Viceland; feature film Wifed Out; former co-host of Esquire Network's Best Bars in America), Casey James Salengo (Jimmy Kimmel, Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents), Natasha Vaynblat (Funny or Die, McSweeney's, Reductress;, improv group What I Did For Love, sketch group Absolutely, one-woman show United Federation of Teachers), and Samantha Ruddy (College Humor, Reductress, Someecards) are scheduled to perform stand-up for this free weekly show hosted by the multi-talented Morgan Miller (above; sharp improvisor, sketch comic, and stand-up): Dirty Laundry (11:00 pm, Free! (make reservation here), UCB Hell's Kitchen at 555 West 42nd Street)
Tuesday 6/19: Michael Showalter (director of movies Big Sick and Hello My Name Is Doris; co-creator, co-writer, and producer of TBS' Search Party and CW's upcoming The Dark; co-star & co-writer of film Wet Hot American Summer and TV spin-off on Netflix; previously MTV seminal sketch show The State and comedy troupe Stella), Michelle Collins (host of E!'s Daily Pop, People Mag TV's Search History, and SiriusXM's The Michelle Collins Show; former co-host of ABC's The View and Bachelor in Paradise: After Paradise), Jamie Lee (co-star of & writer for HBO's Crashing; TruTV, Conan O'Brien, MTV's Girl Code, The Pete Holmes Show), Clark Jones (co-host of Comedy Night at the Knit), and more perform for this seminal weekly stand-up & variety show hosted by Seth Herzog (long-time staff comic for Jimmy Fallon; 30 Rock, @midnight, CBS, VH1): Sweet (9:00 pm, $10, The Slipper Room at 167 Orchard Street)
Tuesday 6/19: Rebecca Vigil (rising star improv singer; Your Love Our Musical, The Vigilante) sings powerhouse songs she makes up on the spot, backed by a superb improv band headed by keyboardist Dan Reitz. Plus she's joined by the wonderful Ophira Eisenberg (one of the finest comedic storytellers and stand-ups in the country; host of weekly NPR/WNYC show Ask Me Another, author of bestselling book Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy, comedy album Bangs!; NBC, CBS, Comedy Central, VH1, Showtime), Matt Rogers & Bowen Yang (hosts of the acclaimed Las Culturistas podcast and live show), Katie Hartman (brilliant, fearless dark comedy writer/performer; HBO's High Maintenance, Netflix's The Week Of; sketch groups Skinny Bitch Jesus Meeting and Hartman & Carl, ace improv group Straight to Video), Sydnee Washington (MTV2's Vidiots, co-host of podcast The Unofficial Expert), and Eman El Husseini (opens for Patton Oswalt): Kick It! with Rebecca Vigil (7:30 pm; $11 online using code KICKIT [otherwise $18], plus 2-drink min.; Carolines Comedy Club at 1626 Broadway)
Tuesday 6/19: The unsinkable Becca Beberaggi (above; emcee of Comedy Night at Paste Magazine) hosts an evening about "our flaws, our fears, and our issues," featurina a great lineup of Josh Gondelman (one of the sharpest comics in the country; Emmy & Peabody Award-winning writer/producer for HBO's phenom Last Week Tonight with John Oliver; Conan O'Brien, The New Yorker; stand-up album Physical Whisper), Jena Friedman (wry dark political stand-up; Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, @midnight, The New Yorker, Adult Swim, Netflix mockumentary Undecided; former staff writer for David Letterman and Roseanne; former producer for The Daily Show), Marie Faustin (co-host of 99.5 FM's Tall Tales in the Big City and podcast The Unofficial Expert; former host of Oxygen's Very Real Talk; VH1, TruTV, MTV's Girl Code and Vidiots), Dan Perlman, Ariel Elias, Gracie Canaan, and Matt Hunziker: So Many Problems (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Wednesday 6/20: Jean Grae (famed hip hop artist, actress, and comic) & John Hodgman (TV star, bestselling author, and PC in Mac ads) have written topics on a carnival wheel. They spin the wheel and then chat about whatever subject they land on, along with a surprise guest. I'll be attending this show for the first time tonight; come and join me in enjoying Jean and John (8:00 pm, $15, The Bell House at 149 7th Street—take R subway to 9th Street or F/G to Fourth Avenue)
Yesterday: On behalf of myself and the audience at Bell House last night, huge thanks to John Hodgman & Jean Grae for giving us an extra special treat—their surprise guest was Sir Patrick Stewart!!! It was an amazing show, and a wonderful way to cap the One Year Anniversary of Jean and John. The duo are taking the summer off, but will be back with new types of shows, individually and together, in the Fall.
Thursday 6/21: From 6:00 pm to 12:30 am, The PIT Mainstage and The PIT Underground host 10 shows devoted to LGBTQ-themed comedy of all forms—stand-up, storytelling, sketch, improv, musical, drag, and more. Most individual shows cost $11. Alternatively, you might be able to buy an all-you-can see pass at the box office (as I write this, the online purchase option for the festival pass isn't available). Enjoy this diverse selection of queer comedy while knowing a dollar from each ticket goes to the It Gets Better Project: LolGBTQ Mini-Festival (6:00 pm to 12:30 am, $11 per show, The PIT Mainstage (Striker) and The PIT Underground at 123 East 24th Street)
Thursday 6/21: Myq Kaplan (one of the quickest minds in comedy; finalist on Last Comic Standing, semi-finalist on America's Got Talent; David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Seth Meyers, Jay Leno, Comedy Central Presents; comedy albums No Kidding, Small, Dork, and Handsome, Vegan Mind Meld, and Meat Robot; podcast Hang Out With Me), Dan St. Germain (enormously likeable rising star; Jimmy Fallon, Conan O'Brien, John Oliver, Comedy Central Half Hour, Crashing, @midnight, This is Not Happening, The Electric Company, MTV, VH1; currently writing for Netflix's The Break with Michelle Wolf, previously staff writer for CBS' Superior Donuts and TruTV's Ten Things), Doug Smith (Conan O'Brien, co-host of See You In Hell), and more perform stand-up for stellar hosts (above) Ashley Brooke Roberts (energetic, enormously likeable rising star stand-up, sketch comic, and actress; former writer for NatGeo Explorer and MTV's Guy Code; UCB Maude sketch groups The Prom and Absolutely) and/or Jim Tews (Louie, Last Comic Standing; host of Homeschooled; New York Times bestselling author of Felines of New York; comedy album I Was in Band): Fresh Out (9:00 pm, $9, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)
Friday 6/22: Comics & game nerds Jo Firestone, Samantha Ruddy, Eli Yudin, Alex Navarro, and Robert Dean play and make merciless fun of some of the worst video games of all time (e.g., Shaq-Fu) hosted by Mike Drucker (hilarious stand-up, staff writer for TBS' Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, and writer for Marvel Comics' Spider-Man; previously staff writer for Comedy Central's The President Show and nearly 400 episodes of NBC's Jimmy Fallon, and contributing writer for Saturday Night Live): Shit Arcade (10:30 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Friday 6/22: Highly talented hip-hop improv group North Coast attempts to create a Hamilton on the spot by making up a musical based on an audience suggestion of a famous historical figure: Anybody: An Improvised Historical Hip-Hopera (9:30 pm, $16.89 online or $20 at the door, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Saturday 6/23: The co-star & co-writer of HBO's stellar series Crashing, which is a wonderfully honest and accurate depiction of NYC's comedy scene (and returning for its third season in January), headlines with a deliciously long stand-up set at Carolines: Jamie Lee (7:30 pm & 10:00 pm, $27.25 plus 2-drink min., Carolines Comedy Club at 1626 Broadway)
Saturday 6/23: Julia Johns (member of sketch group All Female Reboot; former writer for MTV's Girl Code) and Mads Jensen (RookieMag.com) perform stand-up, characters, and/or more, then enthusiastically endorse some product they love...which will be handed out to lucky members of the audience! Hosted by the wonderful Chris Duffy (staff writer for NatGeo Explorer, host of You're the Expert), who makes this promise for one audience member per show: You Get A Spoon (4:00 pm; $13.71 online, $15 at the door; LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Saturday 6/23: Seven comics—including Lucie Pohl (Germany), Jon Fisch (Massachusetts), Leah Bonnema (Maine), and Sean Finnerty (Ireland)—perform stand-up that might include material about where they originally came from and the journey that led them to NYC, all hosted by the charming Katie Boyle (above; from Ireland): Transplants (7:30 pm, $7, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Sunday 6/24: NYLaugh.org's free summer stand-up shows, which happen Sundays 2:00-4:00 pm at parks all over the city, kicks off its 2018 series today at Staten Island's Wolfe's Pond Park with Jon Fisch, Moody McCarthy, Tammy Pescatelli, and Leonard Outzs. All subsequent shows will take place in Manhattan—specifically, The Battery (on Castle Clinton Lawn, in front of the National Monument) July 1st and 15th, Washington Square Park (at Garibaldi Plaza, on the east side of the Fountain) July 8th, and Tompkins Square Park (on the Old Bandshell Lawn) July 22nd, with lineups TBA: Laughter in the Park (2:00 pm-4:00 pm, Free!, Staten Island's Wolfe's Pond Park at 420 Cornelia Avenue)
Sunday 6/24: Stand-up from Jamie Lee, Matt Goldich, Jon Fisch, Alingon Mitra, Kendra Cunningham, Louis Katz, and Paul Oddo hosted by Robert Dean: If You Build It (7:30 pm, $9, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)
Monday 6/25: Some of the most brilliant improvisors alive—Scott Adsit, Becky Drysdale, Brian Stack, and Michael Delaney—stumble into theatre scenes of plays they've never seen performed by superb Broadway, TV, and/or film stars Nina O'Keefe, Zoey Mastinson,and Julie Sharbutt (above left)—and make up their dialogue while the actors commit to staying in character and on book. The result is amazingly fun, hosted by actor/director Stephen Ruddy: Gravid Water (8:00 pm, $9, UCB Hell's Kitchen at 555 West 42nd Street)
Monday 6/25: Singer/songwriter/musician Julian Velard (pianist for NPR's Ask Me Another; albums include Fancy Words For Failure) fulfills his lifelong dream is to be a Late Night Talk Show Sidekick, "playing Paul Shaffer to different David Lettermans in the hopes of finding his soulmate," with tonight's stellar guests Wyatt Cenac (star of TBS' Friends of Earth; former star correspondent for The Daily Show; writer for South Park; albums Comedy Person, Brooklyn, and Furry Dumb Fighter; host of Night Train), Nikki Glaser (host of You Up on Sirius XM Comedy Central Radio; star of former Comedy Central series Not Safe; films Trainwreck and I Feel Pretty; hour-long special Perfect; Jimmy Fallon, Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central Half Hour, Inside Amy Schumer, @midnight; NBC's America Ninja Warrior: Celebrity Edition; podcast You Had to Be There), Brooke Van Poppelen (co-host of TruTV's Hack My Life; The View, @midnight, HBO, CBS, VH1), Giulia Rozzi (Comedy Central's This Is Not Happening and The Jim Gaffigan Show, Chelsea Lately, writer for MTV's Girl Code, VH1, TruTV, Playgirl Magazine, host of First Set, comedy album True Love), Michael Cruz Kayne (HBO's Crashing, The Chris Gethard Show; ace musical improv group Baby Wants Candy, UCB Saturday night improv group What I Did For Love, co-host of monthly comedy show The Exhibition), and more: Sidekickin’ It with Julian Velard (8:30 pm, $12, Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 3 at 196 Allen Street, near the F subway's Second Avenue stop)
Monday 6/25: This showcase of immigrant comics has taken on special weight given recent events. Stand-ups slated to perform include the lovely Katie Boyle (Ireland; host of Transplants), Juan Nicolon (Uruguay), Jocelyn Chia (Singapore), Dominic Fogarty (UK), and Jess Salomon (Canada), hosted by Felipe Torres Medina (Colombia) and Orli Matlow (Canada): Aliens of Extraordinary Ability: A Comedy Hour to Support RAICES and Immigrant Families (9:30 pm, $10, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Monday 6/25: Leah Bonnema (above; based on what I saw this weekend, probably performing an entertaing tale of getting an MRI), Roy Wood Jr. (correspondent for Comedy Central's The Daily Show and host of This is Not Happening), Jim Tews (rising star; Louie, Last Comic Standing; host of Homeschooled and co-host of Fresh Out; New York Times bestselling author of Felines of New York; comedy album I Was in Band), and more are scheduled to perform stand-up for this free weekly show hosted by the multi-talented Morgan Miller (sharp improvisor, sketch comic, stand-up, and juggler): Dirty Laundry (11:00 pm, Free! (make reservation here), UCB Hell's Kitchen at 555 West 42nd Street)
Tuesday 6/26: John Viener (writer and producer for Family Guy, and voiceover actor who's done numerous characters for such aninmated series as Family Guy [see above], American Dad, The Cleveland Show, Scooby-Doo, and Showtime's Our Cartoon President), Aasif Mandvi (HBO's The Brink, Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events, numerous films; former correspondent for The Daily Show; author of No Man's Land), Giulia Rozzi (Comedy Central's This Is Not Happening and The Jim Gaffigan Show, Chelsea Lately, writer for MTV's Girl Code, VH1, TruTV, Playgirl Magazine, host of Feelings, comedy album True Love), Dana Alexander (visiting Canadian/UK comic), and more peform for this seminal weekly stand-up & variety show hosted by Seth Herzog (long-time staff comic for Jimmy Fallon; 30 Rock, @midnight, CBS, VH1): Sweet (9:00 pm, $10, The Slipper Room at 167 Orchard Street)
Wednesday 6/27: Giulia Rozzi (Comedy Central's This Is Not Happening and The Jim Gaffigan Show, Chelsea Lately, writer for MTV's Girl Code, VH1, TruTV, Playgirl Magazine, host of First Set, comedy album True Love) and her sister Elena Pellegrino (a.k.a. DJ Therap-E) select a different feeling each month for comics to joke about via interviews, stand-up, sketch, and/or music, with tonight featuring Phoebe Robinson (co-star of HBO's 2 Dope Queens; host of podcast Sooo Many White Guys; Seth Meyers, Conan O'Brien, Broad City, MTV’s Girl Code; author of You Can't Touch My Hair and Other Things I Still Have to Explain), Rob Cantrell (Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, HBO, VHI, FX's Totally Biased, documentary Metaphysical Graffiti, High Times, comedy album Pure Uncut Joy), Amber Rae (famed writer; founder of The Bold Academy), Petey Deabreu (host of Petey's World and co-host of White Chocolate), and John Robinson: Feelings: A Talk Show with Giulia Rozzi (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Wednesday 6/27: Storytellers Cassie Grimaldi, Tim Barnes, Robin Gelfenbien, Rocky Goldstein, and Pat Byrne share tales about how faith has affected their lives hosted by Ian Goldstein: All Is Forgiven: A Non-Religious Comedy Show About Religion (7:30 pm, $10, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Wednesday 6/27: A guest comic, two audience members selected on the spot, and hosts Glen & Wade play a game of Dungeons & Dragons "as a multimedia epic, with music, visual guides, drinking games, and a stand-up comedy set that will be woven into the story:" Q.E.D&D (9:00 pm, $8, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Thursday 6/28: A glorious collection of hilarious film & TV clips and lectures by mass media experts hosted by super-fan Kevin Maher (Emmy-nominated writer whose work has appeared on HBO, Comedy Central, and AMC; former host of AMC's The Sci-Fi Dept.) and guest co-host Kate Wilkinson (Wig Wurq website "judging pop culture's wigs from lace fronts to split ends"), this month focusing on dance (for a trailer, please click here; and for more proof of how fun this theme is, please click here), with scheduled guests Tallie Medel (immensely talented comedic dancer/actress and rising star who's a member of the fabulous Cocoon Central Dance Team), Rob Paravonian (Comedy Central, VH1; to watch his hit video Pachelbel Rant, which has been viewed by over 13 million people on YouTube, please click here), Wendy Mays (host of the Pet Cinematary podcast), and Cristina Cacioppo (cinema programmer for Alamo Drafthouse): Kevin Geeks Out About Dance (7:30 pm; $15—buying in advance is recommended, as this show crammed with rich imagery and fascinating ideas often sells out; Brooklyn's Alamo Drafthouse Cinema at 445 Albee Square West—take the 2/3 subway to Hoyt Street)
Thursday 6/28: Married couple Brad Lawrence (above; Moth GrandSlam Champion) & Cyndi Freeman (The Colbert Report, Moth StorySlam champion, two-time FringeNYC award winner, star burlesque performer), Gail Thomas (Beavis & Butthead Do America), and Drew Prochaska (two-time Moth StorySlam winner) perform for this free and gloriously oddball monthly storytelling show at the East Village's KGB Bar, featuring such treats as a trivia contest with alcoholic prizes, hosted by the wonderful Leslie Goshko (above right; delightful & razor-sharp storyteller/comic/pianist; WNYC, Sirius XM, Huffington Post, Internet Action Force, star of The Real Housewives of Columbo): Sideshow Goshko (7:00 pm, Free!, KGB Bar at 85 East 4th Street off Second Avenue)
Thursday 6/28: Learn the early history of the MTA via fun lectures, sketches, and more at the second of this comedic history series about NYC transit, with guests TBA, hosted by Meg Pierson (TEDx, Alchemy Comedy) and Justin Williams (Comedy Central; host of Death Comedy Jam): Why Your Train is F*cked: A Love/Hate Show About the History of the MTA (7:00 pm; $16.89 online, $18 at the door; LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Friday 6/29-Sunday 7/1: The 20th Annual Del Close Marathon, which is the undisputed king of improv festivals, will run continuously from 4:00 pm on Friday June 29th, 2018 until 11:30 pm on Sunday July 1st. Improv groups from all around the US and Canada—and a few places further away—will perform over 750 shows, typically in 15- or 30-minute blocks, for around 55 hours. As in past years, the only down side is way more patrons than available space, which will cause long waits to get into UCB Hell's Kitchen (555 West 42nd Street, off 11th Avenue), which seats 160. However, the congestion will be somewhat eased by 10 additional venues: UCB East, The Magnet, Theater for the New City (4 theatres), All Stars Project (3 theatres), and The Griffin; for details, please click here. For the complete schedule, please click here. To view shows organized by performer, please click here. To buy a festival pass, please click here. To buy premium tickets, please click here. (Please note that if any premium show doesn't sell out and you have a marathon pass, you can receive a remaining seat free of charge on a first come, first serve basis.) Quite simply, this is the greatest improv festival in the world: 20th Annual Del Close Marathon (DCM20) (4:00 pm Friday-11:30 pm Sunday, $45 for festival pass plus $12-$25 each for premium shows, 11 venues around the NYC theatre district and the East Village)
Friday 6/29: Fifty comics—Josh Gondelman, Julio Torres, Myka Fox, Janelle James, Kevin Allison, Rebecca Vigil, Jay Malsky, and many more—gather to each share a minute's worth of observations about a bit of pop culture with which he or she can’t be bothered, with hosts Matt Rogers & Bowen Yang (above; hosts of the acclaimed Las Culturistas podcast): Las Culturistas Live: I Don't Think So, Honey (8:00 pm, $20, Brooklyn's The Bell House (149 7th Street; take R subway to 9th Street or F/G to Fourth Avenue)
Friday 6/29: A one-woman show by Sydnee Washington (MTV2's Vidiots, co-host of podcast The Unofficial Expert) about her decade as a high-earning cocktail waitress and why, after 10 years of working in NYC nightlife, she decided to hang up her server dress forever: Death of a Bottle Girl (9:00 pm; $12, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Friday 6/29: Hosts Chris Gersbeck & Jenn Wehrung screen a "cheesy" porn movie for them and comics Kat Burdick, Matt Smith McCormick, and Calvin Cato to riff on MST3K-style: Soft Core! (11:00 pm, $15, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Friday 6/29: Storytellers share tales of relationships in front of a panel of comics and therapy experts, who then give advice, with tonight's guests Emily Winter (writer for Fusion’s Come Here and Say That, TVLand, and The New Yorker; co-host of The BackFatlorette, Backfat Variety, and Side Ponytail) and more TBA hosted by Lynn Bixenspan & Morgan Pielli: Relationshit (9:00 pm, $10, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Saturday 6/30: Award-winning vaudeville-style sketch duo Chris O'Neill (Elder Arnold Cunningham in Broadway's Book of Mormon) & Paul Valenti perform their favorite bits for this special show: The Best of The Chris and Paul Show (8:00 pm, $15, The PIT Mainstage (Striker) at 123 East 24th Street)
Copyright © 2018 Hy Bender
Email: hy@hyreviews.com
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