For more, please visit HyReviews.com.
For a review of Anthony Jeselnik’s new DVD Caligula, please click here.
Two of the most hilarious comedic actresses you’ll see this year, Allison Goldberg…
…and Wendy Joy, are part of a stellar cast that turns verbatim Web text into laugh-packed scenes: “Blogologues Health & Fitness: Kale In Me Softly”
Tonight’s recommendations for the best in New York City comedy (in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:
[FREE] 6:00 pm: An open-mic show on a lottery system (sign-ups happen at 5:45-6:00 pm) at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City with hosts Erin Lennox and Eli Sairs: The Orphanage
[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($7): A legion of super-storytellers: Ophira Eisenberg (brilliant storyteller with notable bangs; Comedy Central, VH1, Showtime, host of NPR’s trivia/puzzle show Ask Me Another), Jim O’Grady (The New York Times, WNYC Radio, Moth GrandSlam Champion), Brad Lawrence (Moth GrandSlam Champion, FringeNYC, co-host of The Standard Issues), Peter Aguero (Conan O’Brien, Moth GrandSlam Champion, The BTK Band), and Ed Gavagan telling comedic tales at The Magnet with host Adam Wade (two-time Moth GrandSlam Storytelling Champion (2006 & 2009) and record-breaking 18-time StorySlam Champion; The New York Times Magazine; host of hilarious monthly storytelling extravaganzas The Adam Wade Show, Tales of the Cosmos, and Whatever Happened to the Nerds?; for a sampling of Adam’s award-winning tales, please click here): Super Stories
[TOP PICK] [$] 7:00 pm ($20 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Darrell Hammond (famed long-time cast member of Saturday Night Live), Tom Papa (host of Jerry Seinfeld-produced NBC comedy The Marriage Ref; numerous appearances on David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno; three Comedy Central specials), Adam Ferrara (cast member on FX’s Rescue Me and ABC’s The Job; co-host of History Channel’s Top Gear; Comedy Central Presents), Gregg Rogell (Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, Louie, Comedy Central), Lenny Marcus (David Letterman, MTV), and Tony Woods (David Letterman) performing stand-up at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) hosted by Keith Robinson (HBO, Comedy Central, Wanda Sykes Show): Darrell Hammond, Tom Papa, Adam Ferrara, and More
7:00 pm ($8): Improv that flows from moment to moment, with no sweeps or tag outs—”each exit starts a new scene, while performers use devices ranging from monologues to in-scene questions to break into characters and relationships quicker and deeper” at The PIT downstairs lounge: Scoresby
[FREE] 7:00 pm: Open-mic stand-up, with 3 minutes per comic (unless not many folks show up, in which case there’ll be more time), with names drawn out of a bucket at UCB East in the bar area (“Hot Chicks Room”) hosted by Nate Dern and Paul Oddo: The Friday Night Hot Chicks Mic
[TOP PICK] 7:30 ($10): Comedy club headliner depth for just $10: Joe DeRosa (razor-sharp rising star stand-up; HBO’s Bored to Death and Down and Dirty, Comedy Central Presents, comedy CD The Depression Auction), plus “a special guest,” each perform 30-minute sets at UCB East hosted by Adam Newman (Comedy Central, College Humor). Barring a last-minute snag, I’ll be attending this: Big Long Sets
[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): Stone Cold Fox is the only sketch troupe (vs. improv troupe) to ever be honored with an ongoing spot on the prestigious UCB Chelsea weekend schedule. It’s earned this slot because its cast is one of the finest in comedy, with each performer strong enough for potential stardom. I haven’t yet seen this latest all-new sketch show, but have heard good things about the script spearheaded and directed by the superb Michael Trapp: Stone Cold Fox: All Keyed Up
[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($19.62 in advance online, $18 at the door): A top-notch theatrical troupe that’s equally fine at compelling acting and split-second comedy uses actual material on the Web, performed verbatim, to craft laugh-out-loud scenes. While I’d never seen the show before last night, this run is the 11th in the prolific series (begun in 2011), and—appropriately for New Year’s resolutions—this month focuses on diet, health, and fitness. While everyone in the cast is exceptional, standouts such as Wendy Joy and Allison Goldberg are worth the trip all by themselves. For a video sample (a pale shadow of the live show), please click here. Another reviewer called this “like Forbidden Broadway for the Internet,” and that’s pretty close to the mark. There are only two more performances, tonight and Saturday at 8:00, so grab tickets in advance before it sells out, and then enjoy this production at Under St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place): Blogologues Health & Fitness: Kale In Me Softly
[$] 8:00 pm & 10:30 pm ($38.25 & 2-drink min.) An energetic regular on Chelsea Lately who’s also appeared on Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel, VH1, and his own Comedy Central special headlining tonight through Sunday at the Carolines Comedy Club: Jo Koy
8:00 pm ($8): A house sketch troupe performs at The PIT upstairs theatre: National Scandal
[FREE] 8:00 pm: Stand-up, sketch, videos, and more at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre with Jeffrey Joseph and hosts Ron Krasnow & Joel Walkowski: The Short Bus
[FREE] 8:00 pm: An open-mic show that’s first come, first serve (sign-ups start at 7:30 pm), with each comic getting five minutes on stage at The Creek downstairs lounge in Queens’ Long Island City: Mic and Cheese
[TOP PICK] 8:30 pm ($7): Magnet improvisors play a fun game in which they all stay on stage at all times, and alternate between speaking roles and playing inanimate objects: Medusa
[$] 8:45 pm ($24 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Tom Papa (host of Jerry Seinfeld-produced NBC comedy The Marriage Ref; numerous appearances on David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno; three Comedy Central specials), Adam Ferrara (cast member on FX’s Rescue Me and ABC’s The Job; co-host of History Channel’s Top Gear; Comedy Central Presents), Lenny Marcus (David Letterman, MTV), Michael Che (David Letterman, Comedy Central), and Tony Woods (David Letterman) performing stand-up at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) hosted by Keith Robinson (HBO, Comedy Central, Wanda Sykes Show): Tom Papa, Adam Ferrara, and More
[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): Some of the finest improv in NYC from comedy geniuses Chris Gethard and Shannon O’Neill, plus stellar comics Silvija Ozols, Zach Woods, Michael Delaney, Will Hines, and Connor Ratliff, performing at UCB Chelsea—the all-star members of The Stepfathers
[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): A gathering of comedic musicians, who tonight are delightful duo Mel & El, the multitalented Sharon Spell (stand-up, improv illustrator, host of The Big Shrink), and more performing at UCB East hosted by superb musical group Summer & Eve (for samples, please click here): Earworm Funny Music Party Show
[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($5): One of my favorite people, Julie Sharbutt—who’s performed with some of the greatest improvisors alive at UCBT’s Gravid Water—goes for improv gold herself with comedy partner Cathleen Carr (Birds, The Scene, Dos Experimentos) as they “hope to establish themselves as the leading voices in contemporary South Boston crime noir improv comedy. Watch them, along with tonight’s guests Erick Hellwig, Bob Kulhan, and Chris Roberti, unspool a suspenseful, heavily-accented mystery thrilla” at The PIT downstairs lounge: Mystic Improv
[$] [DISCOUNTED] 9:00 pm (FREE TICKETS if you reserve in advance by calling (212) 260-2445 and mention HyReviews.com, but there’s still a 2-drink min. per person): Gary Gulman (David Letterman, Jay Leno, Last Comic Standing, Tourgasm, Comedy Central hour-long special), Mike Yard (Comedy Central, Def Comedy Jam), Aaron Berg, and more performing at the only comedy club in the East Village: Eastville Comedy Club
9:30 pm ($10): A PIT improv troupe making up a musical on the spot after a friendly greeting: Hello
[TOP PICK] 10:00 pm ($7): Singing improvisors —tonight including guest Tom Shillue (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, The Daily Show, Comedy Central Presents, 2011 ECNY Award for Best Storyteller, host of Funny Story, albums Better Stronger Faster and Big Room)—at The Magnet using an interview with an audience member to craft The Made-Up Musical
10:00 pm ($5): At this PIT downstairs lounge double-bill, Dan Hodapp & Natasha Rothwell “bring more than five years of improv collaboration to stage for an evening of bold, committed characters and probably a fart joke for good measure” as Hodapp & Rothwell, and then all-gal improvisors Alexis Saarela, Brigid Boyle, Elizabeth Findlay, and Ashley Ward perform as troupe Taco Supreme
[FREE] 10:00 pm: Veteran improvisors reunite, new improvisors perform, and then old and new merge to create a one-nigh-only team at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre hosted by Nick Arret: Old New Borrowed and Blue
[TOP PICK] [$] 10:30 pm ($24 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Tom Papa (host of Jerry Seinfeld-produced NBC comedy The Marriage Ref; numerous appearances on David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno; three Comedy Central specials), Lynn Koplitz (Joan Know’s Best, IFC’s Z Rock, host of WB’s Life & Style), Adam Ferrara (cast member on FX’s Rescue Me and ABC’s The Job; co-host of History Channel’s Top Gear; Comedy Central Presents), Gary Gulman (David Letterman, Jay Leno, Last Comic Standing, Tourgasm, Comedy Central hour-long special) performing stand-up at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) hosted by Keith Robinson (HBO, Comedy Central, Wanda Sykes Show): Tom Papa, Lynn Koplitz, Adam Ferrara, and More
[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): Fran Gillespie, Jon Gabrus, Sue Galloway, Matt Fisher, Craig Rowin, Nate Lang, and/or other superb improvisors at UCB Chelsea making up scenes about an audience member’s legal dispute: The Law Firm: Law & Disorder
10:30 pm ($10): Shannon O’Neill (breathtakingly innovative, lighting-quick, and fearless improvisor/sketch comic and rising star; The Chris Gethard Show, The Stepfathers, ASSSSCAT 3000, Strangers Wanted, Ladies Night, The Lady Jam), Arthur Meyer (Jimmy Fallon), Adam Newman (Comedy Central, MTV, College Humor, comedy CD Not for Horses), and more performing at UCB East hosted by Brandon Scott Jones, D’Arcy Carden, Justin Tyler, Emily Axford, and/or Alden Ford: Gentrify
[TOP PICK] 11:30 pm ($5): Before this Magnet show, audience members may anonymously submit written confessions, secrets, rants, advice and opinions which will be used onstage by the improvisors—who include such talents as Laura Grey (stellar old-time radio style theatrical podcast Horrorgasm, improv troupe Salmon Diane, sketch/improv duo Klepper & Grey): The Friday Night Sh*w
[TOP PICK] [FREE] Midnight: NYC stand-ups—sometimes stellar ones—pushing boundaries for a show designed for looseness and experimentation at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City with hosts Jacqueline Novak and Chris Laker: Permission to Fail
Midnight ($5): A variety of oddball comedy acts from UCBT talents Don Fanelli/Mike Antonucci/Darren Miller, Langan Kinglsey, Matt Hunziker, Coker & Stratton, and more at UCB East hosted by sketch duo Matt Dennie & Josh Sharp: Cool Shit / Weird Shit
[FREE] Midnight: This show might not be much fun for audience members, but it’s an amazing opportunity if you want to perform sketch for free and with almost zero hurdles on the prestigious UCB Chelsea stage. Plus it’s hosted by members of Maude troupe Fambly, typically including such wonderful talents as Nicole Byer and Veronica Osorio: Liquid Courage
[$] 12:15 am ($20 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Lynne Koplitz (Joan Know’s Best, IFC’s Z Rock, host of WB’s Life & Style), Gary Gulman (David Letterman, Jay Leno, Last Comic Standing, Tourgasm, Comedy Central hour-long special), Nick Griffin (David Letterman, Jay Leno, Comedy Central Presents), Sherrod Small (writer/performer on TBS’ Are We There Yet?, Comedy Central, VH1), Mike Yard (Comedy Central, Def Comedy Jam), and Sam Morril (Comedy Central) performing stand-up at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) hosted by Ardie Fuqua: Lynn Koplitz, Gary Gulman, Nick Griffin, and More
From legendary NYC comedy site Brooklyn Vegan: If you want to know what is happening in NYC comedy on a particular day, you gotta get hip to this dude Hy Bender and his site Best New York Comedy. The site is updated daily and features a super exhaustive look at what is happening in the NYC comedy world that particular day. The site is updated religiously…It is your daily comedy itinerary and it scares me how on top of his shit this guy is.
