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Demetri Martin has a new book. Please check it out here.
Don’t miss Ted Alexandro, one of the finest stand-ups alive, perform a masterful and thoroughly hilarious set (I caught it yesterday) headlining one last night at the Gotham Comedy Club…
…and experience Allison Goldberg’s & Jen Jamula’s show about Teletubbies sex with Severus Snape, intercourse with dolphins, a reinactment of Hulk Hogan getting it on, and lots more at Blogologues: #SexyTime
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] 4:00 pm: An unusually early weekly open-mic stand-up show (“starts late enough to sleep off that hangover but ends just in time to begin a new one”) at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City hosted by Jhoel Walkowski & Evan Davis: The Amateur Hour
6:00 pm ($5): Improv troupes Dicks and Stones, Durian at the Movies, and Petting Zoo at The Magnet kicking off your Saturday evening: The Rundown
[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 7:00 pm & 9:00 pm & 11:00 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): Judah Friedlander (one of the quickest minds in comedy; 30 Rock, Meet the Parents, Along Came Polly, author of How to Beat Up Anybody), TV & movie star Janeane Garofalo (might be 9:00 pm only), Big Jay Oakerson (Comedy Central Presents, HBO, Showtime, MTV, IFC), Andrew Schulz (MTV2’s Guy Code), and more performing stand-up at the only comedy club in the East Village: Eastville Comedy Club
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 7:00 pm: TV & Broadway stand-up star Colin Quinn performs bits from a show he’s developing for an off-Broadway run that looks at US history “from the Founding Fathers to the Kardashians” at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre: Unconstitutional with Colin Quinn
[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($5): Shannon O’Neill (comedy genius), Morgan Grace Jarrett (wonderful comedic actress), Lydia Hensler (member of red-hot improv troupe Grandma’s Ashes), and/or Brandon Scott Jones (top sketch troupe Stone Cold Fox, red-hot improv troupe Grandma’s Ashes, top comedic play Death Wears Stilettos) play host to stand-up Sarah Spear, storyteller and character/sketch comic Cody Lindquist, plus an audience talent show (“the weirder, the better”) at the UCB East theatre: Ladies Night: Men Welcome
7:00 pm ($10): Stand-up, sketch comics, and improv groups mix up their regular routines; plus host Kissing Disease performs an improvised monoscene based on an audience member’s suggested obstacle at The PIT upstairs theatre: Kissing Disease Tries Something
[FREE] 7:00 pm: A unique musical improv open-mic show that lets both beginners and veterans get on stage and belt one out accompanied by brilliant improv pianist Frank Spitznagel at the Comedy Bar (134 West 29th Street) hosted by Douglas Widick: Spot Song
[$] 7:30 pm ($15): Singer/sketch performer/downtown cult figure Tanya O’Debra performs “a serious comedy about loneliness, mental illness, and perception. Holed up in her bedroom for eternity, crazy old Emily Dickinson unsuccessfully woos the object of her affection, a disembodied voice. A pseudo-historical, quasi-biographical psycho-romantic look at the life of America’s most annoying poetess” at Dixon Place (161A Chrystie Street): Shut Up, Emily Dickinson
7:30 pm ($7): Sharp Magnet improvisors “perform organic freeform improvisation in two mind-blowing parts; the only rule is that there are no rules:” The Weave
7:30 pm ($10): Talented improvisors at UCB Chelsea interview an audience member about where he or she grew up and then “turn that town’s tourist attractions, landmarks, hangouts, local celebrities, urban legends, and more into a hilarious show made up on the spot:” The Curfew: Not From Around Here
[MEGA-TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm & 10:00 pm ($25 & 2-drink min.): One of the very finest stand-ups in the country, who’s performed on David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, and The View, starred in two Comedy Central Presents half-hour specials, and frequently opens for Louis C.K., headlining one last night at the Gotham Comedy Club (with openers Rob Cantrell and Jim Mendrinos). I saw this last night and highly recommend you don’t miss the wonderful Ted Alexandro
[MEGA-TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($18 at the door or $19.62 in advance online; the latter is recommended because this may well sell out): A top-notch theatrical troupe that’s equally fine at compelling acting and split-second comedy uses actual material on the Web, performed verbatim, to craft laugh-out-loud scenes. This 12th edition of the series (begun in 2011) kicks off Spring by focusing on all things sexy…with the hilarious scenes covering intercourse with dolphins, Harry Potter’s Severus Snape getting it on with Teletubbies, and lots more. The three women in the cast—human dynamo Wendy Joy, and the show’s writer/producers Allison Goldberg and Jen Jamula—are each NYC treasures; any of them is worth the trip all by herself. (And if you’re a producer or director, snap them up while they’re still affordable…) For a video sample (a pale shadow of the live show), please click here. Another reviewer called this “like Forbidden Broadway for the Internet,” and that’s pretty close to the mark. There are just four performances left, running tonight and next Thursday-Saturday at 8:00 pm. Grab tickets in advance before it sells out, and then enjoy this production at Under St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place, between First Avenue & Avenue A): Blogologues: #SexyTime
[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm & 10:30 pm ($38.25 & 2-drink min.): A comic’s comic who’s performed on David Letterman, Jay Leno, HBO, FX’s Louie, CNN, FOX, and three Comedy Central specials, and has been a frequent guest on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn and Howard Stern, headlining one last night at the Carolines Comedy Club: Nick DiPaolo
8:00 pm ($8): Sketch comedy at The PIT downstairs lounge from National Scandal
[FREE] 8:00 pm: NYC stand-ups performing at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City hosted by Ray DeVito, Ben Kronberg, Nick Cobb, and/or Tim Dimond: Shoot the Shite
[TOP PICK] 8:30 pm ($10): Barry Rothbart (Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, Comedy Central, MTV’s Punk’d, IFC’s Do Whatever), Jermaine Fowler (MTV’s Guy Code, Comedy Central, Adult Swim’s The Eric Andre Show), Dan Soder (Comedy Central, VH1; for set about being a hypochondriatic drug user, please click here), Michelle Wolf (IFC), Jordan Carlos (The Colbert Report, MTV, VH1), and more performing stand-up at UCB East hosted by Kara Klenk: If You Build It
[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): One of the gutsiest and most hilarious troupes in comedy history—with honors including being Cage Match Champion for three years in a row, and winning the 2011 ECNY Award for Best Improv Group—UCB Chelsea’s genius improvisors Death by Roo Roo
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 9:00 pm: NYC stand-ups tell jokes and perform comedy as original characters at The Creek downstairs lounge in Queens’ Long Island City hosted by Shakir Standley: Out of Character
9:00 pm ($7): Magnet improvisors team up with poets at Kiss*Punch*Poem
9:00 pm ($10): “A monthly show featuring long form improv of three diverse schools of thought and culminating in a cross-team closing…that last year broke an all-time attendence record” at The PIT downstairs lounge hosted by Sharif Ali and Kelly Ann Rockwell: World’s Fair
[TOP PICK] [DISCOUNTED] 10:00 pm ($8 online using code FIVE; no drink min.): Nikki Glaser (co-star of MTV’s The Nikki and Sara Show; Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, Last Comic Standing; podcast You Had to Be There), Big Jay Oakerson (Comedy Central Presents, HBO, Showtime, MTV, IFC), Mike Vecchione (Last Comic Standing, Howard Stern), and more performing stand-up at The Stand Comedy Club (239 Third Avenue & 20th Street): Nikki Glaser, Big Jay Oakerson, and More
[TOP PICK] [$] 10:00 pm ($15): Ted Greenberg (Emmy-winning David Letterman writer) performing a fun, fast-paced theatrical comedy show—complete with audience interaction and audience rides home!—at The Complete Performer
[FREE] 10:00 pm: NYC stand-ups take a comedic look at the world’s problems at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City hosted by Tom Dillon: Love, Poverty, and War
[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): At UCB Chelsea, improv troupe Grandma’s Ashes—which includes stellar talents Ryan Karels, Morgan Grace Jarrett, Brandon Scott Jones, and more—promises to “take your stories of the tragic and depraved and scatter them into laughter:” Grandma’s Ashes Gets Dark
[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): UCBT improv troupe Airwolf—which includes such talents as John Frusciante, Molly Lloyd, Tim Martin, and Emily Axford, and has so far crushed 10 improv groups in a row at Cage Match, entirely owns the UCB East stage tonight at Airwolf: Let’s Go Back to Your Place
10:30 pm ($10): An improv double-bill at The Magnet theatre: Eaglefox and Upstate
[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): Original comedic songs are showcased, with tonight’s performers including Jen Kwok, Will Hines, and Marshall York, at The PIT downstairs lounge hosted by Justin Perez & Shaina Stigler: Totally Requesty
[TOP PICK] [DISCOUNTED] [FREE] Midnight (totally FREE online using code FIVE; no drink min., but it’d be nice if you bought something from the acclaimed food/drink menu): Nikki Glaser (co-star of MTV’s The Nikki and Sara Show; Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, Last Comic Standing; podcast You Had to Be There), Kurt Metzger (Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central Presents, Ugly Americans), Big Jay Oakerson (Comedy Central Presents, HBO, Showtime, MTV, IFC), Dan Soder (Comedy Central, VH1; for set about being a hypochondriatic drug user, please click here), Sam Morril (Comedy Central), and more performing stand-up at The Stand Comedy Club (239 Third Avenue & 20th Street): Nikki Glaser, Kurt Metzger, Dan Soder, and More
Midnight ($5): Keisha Zollar (Doppelganger, Andy Kaufman Award finalist) and Poupak Sepehri (runs UCB’s Difference Blog) host a variety show at UCB East that’s a mix of forms, with tonight’s performers Saad Haroon (stand-up), Shonali Bhowmik (music), and jams with teams led by Sunita Mani, Nivedita Kulkarni, and Roheeni Saxena: The Soul Glo Project
[FREE] Midnight: Bryson Turner performs an hour of stand-up at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City: Bryson Turner
Midnight ($5): Two duo sketch troupes, Coker & Stratton vs. Cohen & Gentile, competing for audience laughs and votes at UCB Chelsea hosted by sketch troupe Sidecar: Backyard Brawl
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.
