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).
That said, my top NYC comedy recommendations for June 2019 included the following:
Thursday 6/6: Storytellers 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), Nore Davis (HBO's Last Week Tonight, Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central's Inside Amy Schumer and Russell Simmons Presents The Ruckus, Showtime's Boardwalk Empire, MTV; album You Guys Are Dope), Mike Albo, Rosebud Baker, and Dodai Stewart tell tales about managing to successfully reside in the Big Apple, hosted by Blaise Allysen Kearsley: How I Learned to Live in New York (9:30 pm, $7.45 in advance online or $10 at the door; LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Thursday 6/6: Josh Gondelman (one of the sharpest comics in the country; writer/producer for Showtime's Desus & Mero; previously Emmy & Peabody Award-winning writer/producer for HBO's phenom Last Week Tonight with John Oliver; Conan O'Brien, The New Yorker; stand-up albums Dancing On a Weeknight and Physical Whisper), Kate Willett (Comedy Central's The Jim Jeffries Show and This Is Not Happening; VICE's Flophouse, Netflix's Comedy Lineup; comedy album Glass Gutter), Subhah Agarwal (writer for Comedy Central's The Jim Jefferies Show; TruTV, Fusion), Mike Recine (Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Half Hour), Xazmin Garza, J.P. McDade, and Chanel Ali perform stand-up for this free weekly LES show hosted tonight by Jordan Temple: Too Many Cooks (9:00 pm, Free!, Lucky Jack's Pub at 129 Orchard Street between Rivington & Delancey Streets)
Thursday 6/6: Open mic storytelling show, with each yarn-spinner whose name is picked from a basket receiving 5 minutes on stage, hosted by David Lawson (fresh, sharp, edgy storyteller; The Flyer Guy): The Astoria Bookshop Storytelling Show (7:00 pm, Free!, Astoria Bookshop at 31-29 31st Street)
Friday 6/7: A show celebrating the app that redefined online dating, with the lovely and quick-witted Lane Moore (above middle; author of superb bestselling book How to Be Alone; HBO's Girls; Sex & Relationship Editor of Cosmo; writer for The Onion, McSweeney's) going on a live Tinder safari for guys while a packed audience watches her every choice with fascination. Offering comments and suggestions are guest comics Akilah Hughes (above left; HBO's Pod Save America, MTV, VH1, Fusion; upcoming book Obviously), Jes Tom (above right; Reductress), and Mychal Denzel Smith (author of 2016 book Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education). This show usually sells out, so I recommend nabbing tickets in advance online for Tinder Live (8:30 pm, $15, Brooklyn's Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Wednesday 6/12: Two exceptionally appealing comics, 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, comedy album Bangs!) and Adira Amram (spectacular comedic singer & dancer; HBO, Funny or Die; album Hot Jams for Teens), perform and host Josh Gondelman (one of the sharpest comics in the country; writer/producer for Showtime's Desus & Mero; previously Emmy & Peabody Award-winning writer/producer for HBO's phenom Last Week Tonight with John Oliver; Conan O'Brien, The New Yorker; stand-up albums Dancing On a Weeknight and Physical Whisper), Kendra Cunningham (SNL, Jimmy Fallon, The Tyra Banks Show, Law & Order), and Matthew Holtzclaw (magician who Rolling Stone called "unforgettable"): Ophira & Adira (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Wednesday 6/12: Comedic hosts Sarah Burton (showrunner for HuffPost's ICYMI on Apple TV and YouTube), Clara Morris (writer for TruTV's Impractical Jokers, Funny or Die, College Humor, Above Average, Reductress), Johnna Scrabis (writer for College Humor, Reductress, BRIC TV; host of UCBT's Teacher Feature), and Sabrina Jordan (improv group Frog Basket; co-host of Star Trek Trek podcast) do their best to destroy a highly popular book in this live-on-stage taping of their podcast, with this month's victim the feel-good classic How to win Friends and Influence People: Mean Book Club Live (9:30 pm, $12, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Thursday 6/13: The delightful Erin Hall has for years been one of the finest comedic musicians in NYC under the name Erin and Her Cello, performing silly, sly songs while nestling a large instrument between her legs. Tonight Erin celebrates the release of her third studio album, this time of mostly serious songs (though I bet there's lots of playful wit throughout) titled Great Blue. Opening for Erin will be the Lars Jacobsen Trio, who are part of her band. Listen to one of Erin's catchy new songs, titled "Taxi," via YouTube by clicking here (and the live pre-album version here), and then nab tickets for Erin Hall's Album Release Show (7:00 pm; $20, plus 1-drink min. if you sit on a bar stool or stand, or 2-drink min. if you sit at a table; Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 2 at 196 Allen Street, near the F subway's Second Avenue stop)
Thursday 6/13: 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; podcasts Broccoli and Ice Cream), 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), Liz Miele (David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central, animated webseries Damaged, comedy album Mind Over Melee), Joanna Briley (Lifetime), and Ashley Gavin (MTV) perform stand-up hosted by Brian Parise & Kenice Mobley: The Pasta Show (7:30 pm for the free Cacio e Pepe pasta, 8:00 pm for the show; $10; Frank's Cocktail Lounge at Brooklyn's 660 Fulton Street, near the G subway's Fulton Street stop or A/C Lafayette Avenue stop)
Thursday 6/13: 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: Mortified (7:00 pm, $12, Brooklyn's Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Friday 6/14: If you missed Erin Hall's wonderful album release show last night, you still have the opportunity to experience Erin's playfully deep songs that will both touch and tickle you. Simply go to ErinHall.bandcamp.com/album/great-blue, where you can listen for free to such winners as "Detoxin," "Taxi," and "Cicada Song," or buy the entire MP3 album for a mere $7. Treat yourself, and support a rising star who's one of NYC's best: Erin Hall: Great Blue
Friday 6/14: 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, $17 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 6/15: The fab Killy Dwyer hosts a show that, unfortunately, couldn't be much more timely—female comics & storytellers share their tales of abortion, with Youngmi Mayer, Bricken Sparacino, Courtney Antonioli, Janet Hyde, Sriya Sarkar, Mimi Fischer, Tess Henry, and duo Carolyn Gage & Barbara Kahn: My Abortion (7:00 pm, $20, Under St. Marks at 94 St. Marks Place, off First Avenue)
Saturday 6/15: 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). Don't miss tonight's FIfth Year Anniversary event! I highly recommend the phenomenal Your Love, Our Musical (7:00 pm; $22.32 in advance online; LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Saturday 6/15: Scientific lectures and/or stand-up from Aparna Nancherla (one of the very finest stand-ups in the country; co-star of Super Bowl 2019 commercial, Comedy Central's Corporate, and HBO's Crashing; also performed on HBO's 2 Dope Queens, Netflix's Master of None and The Standups, TBS' Conan O'Brien, and Comedy Central's @Midnight and Half Hour; former writer for Seth Meyers; comedy album Just Putting It Out There), Josh Sharp (superb sketch writer/performer; HBO's 2 Dope Queens, CBS' Two Broke Girls, Comedy Central's The Opposition, IFC's How Shit Works, MTV; co-host of Cool Shit/Weird Shit), John Thibodeaux (writer for Stephen Colbert), Zach Zimmerman (The New Yorker, McSweeney's; comedy album Clean Comedy), and Anne Cunninham hosted by Madelyn Freed (ace improvisor & computer programmer): The Scientists (10:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Sunday 6/16: Rachel Feinstein (HBO's Crashing, Amazon's Red Oaks, Netflix's The Standups, Comedy Central special Only Whores Wear Purple; finalist on Last Comic Standing; Jimmy Fallon, Conan O'Brien, Inside Amy Schumer, The View; films include Trainwreck and Top Five) performs a long set in an intimate setting about her marrying an FDNY captain in September and other life milestones, with several other talented stand-ups as openers: Rachel Feinstein: On Fire (7:00 pm, $10 plus 2-item food/drink min., The Fat Black Pussycat Lounge at 130 West 3rd Street)
Sunday 6/16: Tales of humiliating failure from comedic storytellers Christian Finnegan (creator & co-host of A&E's Black and White; co-star of TBS' Are We There Yet?; Conan O'Brien; three Comedy Central specials, Netflix special The Fun Part; TBS, VH1, MSNBC, Chappelle's Show; new album 60% Joking), Prachi Gupta (senior reporter and former co-host for Jezebel; CNBC, WNYC, Cosmopolitan.com), David Arroyo, and Michele Carlo hosted by Ritija Rice Gupta: Mistakes Were Made: Storytelling About Failure (7:00 pm; $17 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 6/16: Josh Sharp (superb sketch writer/performer; HBO's 2 Dope Queens, CBS' Two Broke Girls, Comedy Central's The Opposition, IFC's How Shit Works, MTV) performs a new hour of comedy that involves PowerPoint, aided by Bowen Yang (Comedy Central's Broad City, HBO's High Maintenance; co-host of popular podcast & stage show Las Culturistas): Josh Sharp: Psychobabble (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Monday 6/17: Christi Chiello is a delightful rising star stand-up, writer, and actress with an infectiousness enthusiasm and a unique voice who's appeared on Comedy Central's Roast Battle, MTV's Girl Code, TruTV, and PBSKids, and is co-host of superb monthly comedy shows Battle of the Divas and White Chocolate. Tonight Christi performs a solo production that demonstrates she's one of the funniest and most talented comics in NYC. Kudos also go to directors Randy Blair and Giulia Rozzi for helping Christi show off what a powerhouse she is at her confident best. I gladly paid $18 twice to see this, so tonight's $12 tickets are real bargains. If you like fun, I happily recommend you come enjoy Christi Chiello: It's Christi, B*tch! (7:30 pm, $12, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Monday 6/17: Stellar writers of late-night comedy TV shows perform stand-up, with Josh Gondelman (one of the sharpest comics in the country; writer/producer for Showtime's Desus & Mero; previously Emmy & Peabody Award-winning writer/producer for HBO's phenom Last Week Tonight with John Oliver; Conan O'Brien, The New Yorker; stand-up albums Dancing On a Weeknight and Physical Whisper), Ziwe Fumudoh (writer for Showtime's Desus & Mero; previously writer for The Rundown with Robin Thede; host of hilarious webseries Baited with Ziwe; host of Pop Show), Django Gold (writer for Stephen Colbert), and Jordan Carlos (HBO, Netflix; former writer for The Nightly Show) hosted by Matt Goldich (staff writer for Seth Meyers; Comedy Central, VH1): The Writers' Room: A Stand-Up Show (8:00 pm, $13 at the door or $16.87 in advance online, Brooklyn's Eastville Comedy Club at 487 Atlantic Avenue; take 2/3/4/5/B/D/N/Q/R subway to Atlantic Avenue)
Tuesday 6/18: The talented and petite Becca Beberaggi (Paste Magazine) describes herself as "a Brooklyn-based bicoastal Ecuadorian-American writer, comedian, and tiny brown human." Tonight she debuts a comedic solo show about depression: "Mental illnesses lie to you and make you believe things that aren't real. But for Becca, it's just made her really bad at parties. Come join her as she tells some of her favorite stories about how parties are bad, why parties are bad, and how she was probably the reason why:" Party Animal (9:30 pm; $12, The Tank at 312 West 36th Street between Eighth & Ninth Avenues)
Tuesday 6/18: Fifteen comics each make a case for US reparations for slavery, hosted by Marcela Onyango and guest co-host Andrea Coleman: Profiled: The Case for Reparations (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Wednesday 6/19: Joe Machi (Jimmy Fallon; breakout star of 2014 Last Comic Standing; This Week at the Comedy Cellar) has a way fun outside-of-the-box perspective that's produced some of my favorite lines in comedy. Come see Joe perform a long set in an intimate setting, with several other talented stand-ups as openers: Joe Machi Helps You See It Differently (7:00 pm, $10 plus 2-item food/drink min., The Fat Black Pussycat Lounge at 130 West 3rd Street)
If you missed famed playwright Terrence McNally's Lifetime Achievement speech at the June 9th Tony Awards—because CBS chose to broadcast commercials in its place—please consider taking five minutes to watch it online. Although McNally is speaking about theatre, his comments apply to all arts, very much including comedy. Here are some of the highlights:
The 80-year-old playwright of such classics as Master Class and Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune came out with breathing tubes in his nose, and began, "Lifetime Achievement? Not a moment too soon..."
He then shared that after his first play "crashed and burned," John Steinbeck told him "to get right back on the horse. If you ain't been throwed, you ain't rode."
McNally said writing plays are important because “Theatre changes hearts. That secret place where we all truly live.”
He related that his parents' lives were changed by Death of a Salesman. After seeing it, "my father quit his job at General Foods and struck out on his own."
He also expressed pride when "something I wrote softened the hearts of parents who had banished their son or daughter from their lives when they came out to them as gay or lesbian."
And he said of the writing profession, "It's a club with open admissions. The only dues are your heart, your soul, your mind, and your guts. All of you."
McNally added, "What we do matters. The world needs artists more than ever to remind us what kindness, truth, and beauty are."
You can watch the entire speech at https://youtube.com/watch?v=EE8YRnGauYw.
And also keep an eye out for Terrence McNally: Every Act of Life, a superb documentary that recently started airing on PBS stations as part of the American Masters series.
Thursday 6/20: 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; podcasts Broccoli and Ice Cream), Christi Chiello (Comedy Central's Roast Battle, MTV's Girl Code, TruTV, PBSKids, stellar solo show It's Christi, B*tch!, co-host of Battle of the Divas and White Chocolate), and more perform stand-up for this free weekly LES show hosted tonight by J.P. McDade: Too Many Cooks (9:00 pm, Free!, Lucky Jack's Pub at 129 Orchard Street between Rivington & Delancey Streets)
Friday 6/21: Decades before every Marvel movie was an instant classic came 1986 box office and critical disaster Howard the Duck, executive produced by no less than George Lucas. Costing $37 million, the movie made just $15 million domestically; plus it won four Golden Raspberry awards, for Worst Screenplay, Worst New Star, Worst Visual Effects, and Worst Picture. Tonight it'll be screened and mercilessly skewered by comics Kat Burdick (Moth Grandslam champion; host of Let's Say You're Right; webseries KCK), Laura Merli (host of How to be Less Awkward podcast), and Colin Fitzgerald (Cosmic Castoff). Their cruelty will be contrasted by exceptionally kind host Chris Gersbeck (co-host of Soft Core!, which is essentially a porn version of this show, Casual Sets, and Bunk Bed Time Open Mic): Movies R Dumb: Howard the Duck (11:00 pm; $8 if you use code MOVIESRDUMB when buying online, otherwise $10; Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Saturday 6/22: This solo production, which debuted at last year's FringeNYC and is now enjoying a monthly revival at LES' Caveat, starts out pretending to be a scientific lecture about and demonstration of chaos theory.
But it's really a highly interactive show that uses comedy and thoughtfully structured game-play for nudging audiences to explore their wishes and desires, push past boundaries, connect with everyone around them, and be open to anything.
It's all courtesy of writer/performer Jessica Ellen Creane, who cycles between faux-shyly giving illustrated talks about such things as fractals, love, and velociraptors, making herself fearlessly vulnerable, and improvising quick-witted responses to audience choices. For example, when Creane asked me to name a goal, I replied, "writing and selling a movie." She immediately gave me the best pep talk I've ever had, stating beyond doubt that I'd succeed. In gratitude, I added, "I'll cast you in it." Without missing a beat, and fully committing to her scientist character (wearing thick black-frame glasses with no lenses), Creane tossed off, "I'm not good at acting" before moving on to help someone else. That she even thought of that line demonstrates what a superb actress Creane is...and how completely she performs in the moment.
Because this show relies so deeply on interaction, each edition will be different based on the decisions made by you and your fellow audience members. Along the same lines, how much you enjoy it, and genuinely get out of it, will depend heavily on what you bring to it.
For me, it was a **** (out of 4) show. If you come experience this—and you should—I hope you have a wonderful time too; and that it moves you closer to your dreams.
Chaos Theory (9:30, $27.63 in advance online or $30 at the door, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Sunday 6/23: Exceptionally sharp, inventive, and funny stand-up Raanan Hershberg (HBO's Crashing, TruTV; superb FringeNYC 2018 solo show Off the Grid) records his second comedy album, with the aid of your laughter, 7:00 pm and 9:15 pm. Help Raanan create a great show and get your vocal joy immortalized at Raanan Hershberg's Album Recording (7:00 pm & 9:15 pm; $13.26 online using discount code RAANAN [otherwise $30.90], plus two-drink min.; New York Comedy Club at 241 East 24th Street between Second & Third Avenues)
Sunday 6/23: "Part comedy special and part rock concert" from Tessa Skara (Pop Roulette) and her band, which Tessa describes as "kind of like if a stand-up special was made by Stevie Nicks, if Stevie Nicks was a messy queer millennial," featuring Marcia Belsky (band Free the Mind): Tessa Skara: Rock Goddess (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Sunday 6/23: Two men have been watching 2008's Sex and the City: The Movie twice a week for six months. See them review it live at The Worst Idea of All Time: Endlessly Sex and the City—The Movie (7:30 pm, $20, Brooklyn's Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Tuesday 6/25: Liza Treyger (fresh, fierce, fearless stand-up; Seth Meyers, Comedy Central Half Hour, This Is Not Happening, @midnight, Horace and Pete, Chelsea Lately) performs a long set in an intimate setting, with several other talented stand-ups as openers: Liza Treger Tells It Like It Is (7:00 pm, $10 plus 2-item food/drink min., The Fat Black Pussycat Lounge at 130 West 3rd Street)
Tuesday 6/25: Stellar lineup of Chris Gethard (HBO, The Chris Gethard Show, Beautiful Anonymous hit podcast), Dan Soder (Mafee on Billions; co-host of The Bonfire on Sirius XM), Myq Kaplan (one of the quickest minds in comedy; albums No Kidding, Small, Dork, and Handsome, Vegan Mind Meld, and Meat Robot), Julian Velard (singer/songwriter; pianist for NPR's Ask Me Another; albums include Fancy Words For Failure), Corinne Fisher (with comedy partner Krystyna Hutchinson, host of popular Guys We Fucked podcast and author of F*CKED: Being Sexually Explorative and Self-Confident in a World That’s Screwed), Jade Catta-Preta (ABC, NBC, CBS, Showtime, MTV), Nate Craig (Netflix, Comedy Central, TruTV), and more perform stand-up for host Seth Herzog (long-time staff comic for Jimmy Fallon; 30 Rock, @midnight, CBS, VH1): Sweet (9:00 pm, $14.30 in advance or $13 at the door, Chelsea Music Hall at 407 West 15th Street)
Wednesday 6/26: Friends Who Folk—i.e., delightful singing duo Rachel Wenitsky (freelance writer for SNL; Deputy Editor of Reductress; co-host of Mouth Time! podcast; Head Writer of The Story Pirates podcast) & Ned Riseley; TheNewYorker.com—host this show, with scheduled guests Franchesca Ramsey (YouTube star with over 29 million views; host of MTV's Decoded; The Nightly Show), Rachel Joravsky (member of The Story Pirates; founder of sketch production company Damn Lady Laugh), Rachel Kaly (host of Ellen Degenerous is the Only Ally), and Eva Victor: Friends Who Folk & Friends (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Thursday 6/27: Anthony Jeselnik is one of the greatest stand-ups of all time, with a special gift for crafting dark and shocking short jokes, and a lightning-quick mind that allows him to play with any audience in the moment. This genius Emmy-nominated comic starred in Comedy Central's The Jeselnik Offensive, is a former writer/performer for Jimmy Fallon, and has also performed on Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, HBO, a Comedy Central Presents half-hour special, his great comedy albums Shakespeare and Caligula, and his Netflix specials Thoughts and Prayers and Fire in the Maternity Ward. Tonight Anthony is being interviewed by another comedy icon, movie/TV/Broadway star Colin Quinn, for an event so cool I bought a ticket myself (have already set my recorder for the second night of Dem debates; highlights of the first night were Elizabeth Warren showing why she's a star, and Lawrence O'Donnell yelling at Donny Deutsch on MSNBC...): Anthony Jeselnik in Conversation with Colin Quinn (7:30 pm, $35 at the door or $40 online, 92nd Street Y's Buttenwieser Hall at 1395 Lexington Avenue, between 91st and 92nd Streets)
Thursday 6/27: Eight performers from the Ten Bones Theatre Company attempt to recreate the 1992 classic baseball movie A League of Their Own, with each comic using only what he or she can remember from seeing the movie just once the previous week. To add to the fun are a few rules: "Performers must incorporate lines written by the audience; performers must incorporate any sound effect played by the tech booth; one lucky audience member will be given a bell that they can ring three times—once rung, the actors must create a scene that has no business being in A League of Their Own but makes perfect sense given where they are in the story:" A League of Their Own...Entirely From Memory (8:00 pm, $12, Brooklyn's Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Friday 6/28: Scores of comics deemed "diverse"—including Jay Malsky, North Coast, the New York Neo-Futurists, Off Top!, and RoboPop!—perform in this cool two-day mini-fest, with each two-hour block of comics a mere $10, or an all-you-can-see pass $40: Diverse as Fuck Comedy Festival (8:00 pm-Midnight Friday and 6:00 pm-Midnight Saturday, $10 per 2-hour block or $40 for fest pass, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Saturday 6/29: Real-life ER doctors Andrés Mallipudi and Darien Sutton host "chronically over-sharing comics" Violet Gray, Rachel McCartney, D. Lo, and David Piccolomini to tell stories of their weirdest diagnoses, and then "break down the insane history of how the medical community has treated that condition, why that condition has been stigmatized, and the real facts you should know when dealing with the condition yourself;" plus you can ask the doctors "your own embarrassing medical questions:" Doctors Without Boundaries: Pride, Sex and Medicine (4:00 pm, $12, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Saturday 6/29: Scores of comics deemed "diverse"—including the New York Neo-Futurists, Off Top!, and RoboPop!—perform in the second and final day of this cool mini-fest, with each two-hour block of comics a mere $10: Diverse as Fuck Comedy Festival (6:00 pm-Midnight Saturday, $10 per 2-hour block, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Sunday 6/30: Experts and comics have a frank and taboo-free discussion of drugs, this month focused on the psychedelic DMT, hosted by Sarah Rose Siskind (comedy writer for NatGeo's StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson): Drug Test: DMT (7:00 pm, $17 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 6/30: Comics who are parents vent by telling mean stories about their children (and guest comics who aren't revel in their freedom), with tonight's cruel jokesters Beth Newell (co-founder and editor of Reductress; written for The New Yorker, The Onion, McSweeney's; host of We Knows Parenting podcast), Kate Tellers (staff host and writer for The Moth; host of I'm Still Here podcast about making art after having children), Seth Herzog (long-time staff comic for Jimmy Fallon; 30 Rock, @midnight, CBS, VH1; host of Sweet), Abby Sher (author of Amen, Amen, Amen: Memoir of a Girl Who Couldn't Stop Praying (Among Other Things) and Breaking Free: True Stories of Girls Who Escaped Modern Slavery; The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Elle), Hollie Harper (playwright & filmmaker; solo show American Candy), and Raquel D'Apice (Bust Magazine) hosted 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) and Emily Flake (star cartoonist for The New Yorker, The New York Times, Time, Forbes, etc.; author of books Mama Tried, Lulu Eightball, and These Things Ain't Gonna Smoke Themselves): Shitshow (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Sunday 6/30: 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) and Nat Towsen (Esquire, VICE, College Humor, host of Downtown Variety) try out jokes and shoot the breeze at this special edition of Nat's popular weekly show that lets comics test out their latest stuff: New Material Night (9:00 pm, $12, The PIT Underground at 123 East 24th Street)
Copyright © 2019 Hy Bender
Email: hy@hyreviews.com
