NYC Comedy Picks for Monday 6/26/17
Rich Vos (finalist for two seasons of Last Comic Standing, regular on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, Comedy Central Presents special, Opie & Anthony radio show, co-host of My Wife Hates Me podcast) is roasted by fellow stand-up stars Colin Quinn, Jim Norton, Robert Kelly, Judy Gold, Jim Florentine, Keith Robinson, and "special guests" in the West Village hosted by Rich's wife Bonnie McFarlane (HBO, David Letterman, Jay Leno, Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central Presents special; co-host of My Wife Hates Me podcast): Roast of Rich Vos (8:00 pm, $25 plus 2-drink min.; SOLD OUT, but email owner@fbpc.com to be placed on a waiting list.; Village Underground at 130 West 3rd Street)...
...and author Joe Berkowitz celebrates the release of his book about the world of pun competitions, Away With Words, by sharing funny stories about working on the book; hosting stand-ups Myq Kaplan (above; one of the quickest minds in comedy, rapidly rising star...and professional linguist!) and Christian Finnegan (co-star of A&E's Black and White; Conan O'Brien; three Comedy Central specials, Netflix special The Fun Part); and hosting Punderdome champions for a live pun competition: Away With Words Book Release Show (8:30 pm; $10, Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
[TOP PICK] 8:30 pm ($10): Author Joe Berkowitz celebrates the release of his book about the world of pun competitions, Away With Worlds, by sharing funny stories about working on the book; hosting stand-ups Myq Kaplan (one of the quickest minds in comedy,rapidly rising star...and professional linguist!) and Christian Finnegan (co-star of A&E's Black and White; Conan O'Brien; three Comedy Central specials, Netflix special The Fun Part); and hosting Punderdome champions for a live pun competition, all at Astoria Queens' QED: A Place to Show & Tell (27-16 23rd Avenue): Away With Words Book Release Show
NYC Comedy Picks for Tuesday 6/27/17
The lovely and delightful Carmen Lynch (David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, Inside Amy Schumer, Last Comic Standing finalist) performs an hour-long solo stand-up show tonight and tomorrow that Carmen will reprise at this August's Edinburgh Fringe Festival: Lynched (8:30 pm, $5 plus 2-item food/drink min., The Fat Black Pussycat Lounge at 130 West 3rd Street)...
...and master storyteller Ophira Eisenberg (Comedy Central, VH1, Showtime, The Today Show, host of NPR's trivia/puzzle show Ask Me Another, bestselling book Screw Everyone, comedy album Bangs!; for a sampling of Ophira's remarkably deep comedic tales, please click here) and Adam Wade (two-time Moth GrandSlam Storytelling Champion (2006 & 2009) and record-breaking 20-time StorySlam Champion; host of The Adam Wade Show; album The Human Comedy; for a sampling of Adam's award-winning yarns, please click here) team up to tell tales of pain and healing in Brooklyn: Ophira's and Adam's Scar Tissue: A Night of Hilarious, Heartfelt Stories (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
...or marvel at world-class singing improvisors Evan Kaufman & Rebecca Vigil interviewing an audience couple about their love life and then turning 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 (8:00 pm; $10, which is super cheap—;this show has regularly sold out at $18 at other venues; The PIT Mainstage at 123 East 24th Street)
NYC Comedy Pick for Wednesday 6/28/17
Live taping of a new comedic podcast that aims to provide "a fresh perspective on politics through an examination of the big-time dicks behind the policies affecting our lives," with guests Aparna Nancherla (one of the very finest stand-ups in the country; co-star of HBO's Crashing and Netflix's Master of None; former writer for Seth Meyers; Conan O'Brien, @Midnight, Comedy Central Half Hour, comedy album Just Putting It Out There; opens for Tig Notaro; hosts top weekly NYC stand-up show Whiplash), Amy Goodman (Host/Executive Producer of Democracy Now!, a daily award-winning news program airing on over 1,400 public TV & and radio stations worldwide; author of six New York Times Bestsellers), and Erika Andiola (former Press Secretary for Latino Outreach for Bernie 2016 and current Political Director for the campaign's successor organization Our Revolution) sponsored by Jezebel, and hosted by Joanna Rothkopf & Prachi Gupta: Six Months Deep with Big-Time Dicks (7:30 pm, Free! if you RSVP, Brooklyn's The Bell House at 149 7th Street; take R subway to 9th Street or F/G to Fourth Avenue)...
...and if you missed her debut last night, this is your second chance to enjoy the lovely and delightful Carmen Lynch (David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, Inside Amy Schumer, Last Comic Standing finalist) performing an hour-long solo stand-up show in the West Village that Carmen will reprise at this August's Edinburgh Fringe Festival: Lynched (8:30 pm, $5 plus 2-item food/drink min., The Fat Black Pussycat Lounge at 130 West 3rd Street)
NYC Comedy Picks for Thursday 6/29/17
Stand-up from Aparna Nancherla (one of the very finest stand-ups in the country; co-star of HBO's Crashing and Netflix's Master of None; former writer for Seth Meyers; Conan O'Brien, @Midnight, Comedy Central Half Hour, comedy album Just Putting It Out There; opens for Tig Notaro; hosts top weekly NYC stand-up show Whiplash), Jo Firestone (one of the most relentlessly inventive and adventurous comics alive; staff writer for Jimmy Fallon; star of Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents special; radio host of WFMU's Dr. Gameshow, live-on-stage host of The Unexpectashow and The Incredible Game Show Showcase, co-author of #1 bestselling Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers), Joel Kim Booster (Conan O'Brien, Billy on the Street), Casey James Salengo (Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents), Langston Kerman (cast member of HBO's Insecure; Adam DeVine’s House Party; written for Chris Rock's hosting of the Oscars and Comedy Central's Problematic), and Samantha Ruddy (College Humor, Someecards), plus improv from UCB East Gentrify hosts Brandon Scott Jones, Alden Ford, and Justin Tyler, produced by Cassie Grimaldi and hosted by Kelsey Caine, Martin Urbano, and Jack Comstock, all performing at a wandering show that takes place at a different venue each month: Wanderfest (8:00 pm; $10; Brooklyn's Littlefield at 622 Degraw Street, take R subway to Union Street)...
...or catch Kate Berlant (Netflix's The Characters, MTV, IFC, CNN), 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), Janelle James (@midnight, SeeSo's Night Train with Wyatt Cenac), and Blair Socci (MTV's Girl Code and Ladylike) perform stand-up hosted by Nicole Silverberg and sponsored by a famed magazine focused on female comedy: Reductress Wet (8:00 pm, $20, The Bell House at 149 7th Street; take R subway to 9th Street or F/G to Fourth Avenue)
NYC Comedy Picks for Friday 6/30/17
Invaluable PIT Associate Artistic Director Ronny Pascale has been instrumental in keeping hundreds of PIT shows and festivals running smoothly and brilliantly. A sensitive artist and exceptionally hard worker who cares about every detail, Ronny Pascale has been a golden asset to The Peoples Improv Theater and to the NYC comedy community in general. Unfortunately, we're about to lose him to Southern California. This show is part roast and part tribute as Ronny's friends—Dana Shulman, Amelia Bienstock, Mehdi Barakchian, Kent Wilhelm, and more—bid him adieu in various comedic ways, produced by Jen Clark, musically directed by Mark Erenstoft (Broadway's Avenue Q), and hosted by Will Purpura: The Memorial Remembrance of Ronny Pascale (7:00 pm; $10, The PIT Mainstage at 123 East 24th Street)...
...and while you're at The PIT, experience brilliant improvisors Adrian Sexton (superb Unauthorized: The Musical series, improv group Poor Melissa) and Jason Specland (public access TV show The Enchanged Wardrobe, improv group Regina) make up a guilt & stress-filled evening as Edward Albee's characters George & Martha (famously played by Richard Burton & Elizabeth Taylor)—and If you're not careful, you might find yourself participating in their "fun and games:" George/Martha: An Improvised Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (9:00 pm; $10, The PIT Underground at 123 East 24th Street)...
...or come see the lovely Natalie Wall host the best sexy storytelling show in NYC—tonight celebrating Pride Month—with comics Sydnee Washington, Patti Harrison, and more telling tales of erotic encounters gone awry: Awkward Sex...and the City (8:00 pm $20—which includes free beer and wine—at The Pleasure Chest at 1150 Second Avenue, between 60th & 61st Streets)
NYC Comedy Picks for Saturday 7/1/17
Four funny people tell amazing stories. Three of the tales are absolutely true...but one of them is a pack of lies. The audience then asks questions to try and identify the fibber—and everyone who chooses correctly gets a free t-shirt! This evening's yarn-spinners are Leslie Goshko (delightful & razor-sharp storyteller/comic/pianist; WNYC, Sirius XM, Huffington Post, Internet Action Force, star of Sideshow Goshko and The Real Housewives of Columbo), Brad Lawrence (Moth GrandSlam Champion, co-host of popular Hotsy Totsy Tribute series), Marie Faustin (radio host at 99.5 FM, co-host of The Unofficial Expert podcast), and host Andy Christie (The New York Times, NPR, Moth GrandSlam champion, exceptionally nice guy), all attempting to mislead you at this 11th Anniversary edition of The Liar Show (6:00 pm; $10 cover plus $10 drink min.; reservations highly recommended by calling 212.989.9319; West Village's Cornelia Street Cafe at 29 Cornelia Street)...
...or experience Gary DeNoia playing movie icon Nicolas Cage delivering a lecture about physical intimacy: Nic Cage Teaches Sex to Adults (7:00 pm; $7, The PIT Underground at 123 East 24th Street)
NYC Comedy Picks for Sunday 7/2/17
Some of the finest stand-ups in the country—tonight including Judah Friedlander (one of the quickest minds in comedy; 30 Rock, Meet the Parents, Along Came Polly, author of bestselling cartoon book If the Raindrops United), Rachel Feinstein (finalist on Last Comic Standing; Inside Amy Schumer, HBO, The Apprentice, Comedy Central special Only Whores Wear Purple, opens for Sarah Silverman on tour), and Ryan Hamilton (consistently fresh ideas and great crafting of language; Stephen Colbert, Conan O'Brien, Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, Showtime)—are spread among six shows, with four shows at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane), and the 8:00 pm & 10:00 pm shows at Village Underground (130 West 3rd Street, off Sixth Avenue): Comedy Cellar Sunday (1:30 pm, 7:30 pm, 8:00 pm, 9:30 pm, 10:00 pm, and 11:30 pm; $14 per show, plus 2-item food/drink min.; West Village near A/B/C/D/E/F subway stop at West Fourth Street)...
...and you may remember Danny Tamberelli & Mike Maronna playing sharp-tongued brothers in Nickelodeon’s The Adventures of Pete & Pete. Now grown up, they host a podcast—which they'll be taping live on stage tonight in Brooklyn: The Adventures of Danny & Mike Podcast: Nostalgia Personified (7:30 pm, $8, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Copyright © 2017 Hy Bender
Email: hy@hyreviews.com
