HyReviews.com: NYC Comedy, NYC Theatre Discounts, Comedy Videos, Jokes, 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 (or HyReviews.com). 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.

Ilana Glazer & Abbi Jacobson perform as Broad City; Whitney Cummings performs at the 8:00 pm Comedy Cellar

Recommendations for the best in New York City comedy tonight
(in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:

[FREE] 6:00: A free screening at The Magnet of comedy Web series Improv, which "follows Mary McDonald (Maggie Morris) as she takes her first improv class in New York City. There she encounters a strange and hilarious array of characters including the eccentric improv teacher Frederick, the unintentionally racist Ross, and a dysfunctional father and son duo. She befriends two of her more normal classmates, all the while dealing with perhaps an even stranger assortment of characters both at work and at home." Screening will be followed by a brief Q&A: Improv: A Web Series

6:30 pm ($5): Sharon Spell (host of The Big Shrink) auditions a one-woman show about her parents passing away within three weeks of each other, which Sharon will somehow make hilarious: You're Doing Great!—A Bold-Faced Lie; plus a show about which I know nothing but sounds promising, Chickawaukasontown: The Most Midwestern Town in the Midwest, also auditions for a spot on the schedule of the prestigious UCB Chelsea stage: Spank

7:30 pm ($5): Expanding the UCB longform improv showcased on Harold Night is this weekly show at UCB East which tonight features groups Hotspur and Never Never: Lloyd Night

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): This UCB Chelsea double-bill kicks off with a one-act play about the Biblical end of the world written by & co-starring Kevin Hines and directed by Brandon Gulya: Apocalypse in Connecticut...

...and then four-gal group Georgie Aldaco, Danielle Gibson, Viviana Olen, and Katie Simon perform a series of surreal sketches that are both unsettling and charged with comedic energy. A long bit about a mother threatening to do something surprising to her husband and son is an instant classic (when you see it, you'll have no doubt what sketch I'm talking about...). The show could be greatly improved with periodic nuanced emotion to create a roller coaster effect—right now the audience is hit with surface shock after shock, which after a while desensitizes and loses impact—but if you're open to the purity of conceptual comedy that challenges your sanity, you'll enjoy Former Business Partners: Everything Must Go

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($14 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Whitney Cummings (star of NBC's Whitney; HBO, Showtime, Comedy Central, MTV), Colin Quinn (SNL, Comedy Central's Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, HBO, NBC, Broadway), Sherrod Small (writer/performer on TBS' Are We There Yet?, Comedy Central, VH1), Godfrey (Comedy Central Presents, Louie, 30 Rock, VH1; films Zoolander, Original Gangsters, Soul Plane; 7 Up Yours ads), and Jeff Lamp (Jay Leno, Comedy Central) performing stand-up at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) hosted by Mike Yard (Comedy Central, Def Comedy Jam): Whitney Cummings, Colin Quinn, and More

[TOP PICK] [FREE] Seating at 8:30, show at 9:00 pm (RSVP to confirm your spot at FreeComedyWednesdays@gmail.com): Mark Normand (hilarious rising star; Conan O'Brien, Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central; opens for Amy Schumer; co-host of We're All Friends Here), Michelle Wolf (adorable, irresistible dark comic rising star; IFC), Nick Vatterott (Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central Half Hour, MTV, Second City, 2012 Andy Kaufman Award), Tom McCaffrey (Comedy Central, VH1, The Onion), Seaton Smith (Opie & Anthony Virus Tour), and Matt Ruby (MTV; co-host of We're All Friends Here, blog Sandpaper Suit) performing stand-up at Ella (9 Avenue A) produced by Mark Normand, Matt Ruby, and Gary Vider: Hot Soup

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($5): Superb improvisors—and actual brothers—Will Hines and Kevin Hines make use of their intimate knowledge of each other to gracefully invent scenes (hopefully without any squabbling) at UCB East performing as duo The Brothers Hines

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Abbi Jacobson & Ilana Glazer created Broad City as a Web series, which was then picked up for development as a TV series for FX...and is also a monthly stage show at UCB Chelsea. Tonight's theme is Writer's Room for this "delicately crafted hour of fun:" Broad City Live

9:30 pm ($5): Each booked performer has 10 minutes to do whatever he or she chooses—stand-up, sketch, improv, music, dance, or something beyond categorization. "It's simple, it's fun, and it might get crazy" at The PIT downstairs lounge: Guerrilla Theatre

[TOP PICK] [$] 9:45 pm ($14 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Neal Brennan (razor-sharp, edgy comedy veteran; HBO, Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Fallon, co-creator of Chappelle's Show), Gary Gulman (David Letterman, Jay Leno, Last Comic Standing, Tourgasm, Comedy Central hour-long special), Trevor Noah (South African comic; Jay Leno, Chelsea Lately, one-man show Born a Crime), Gregg Rogell (Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno, Louie, Comedy Central), and Lenny Marcus (David Letterman, MTV) performing stand-up at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) hosted by Mike Yard (Comedy Central, Def Comedy Jam): Neal Brennan, Gary Gulman, Trevor Noah, and More

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 10:00 pm: Rising stand-up stars—Mark Normand, Jared Logan, Mike Lawrence, Dan. St. Germain, Michael Che, Emily Heller, Jeffrey Joseph, Dan Soder, Barry Rothbart, Calise Hawkins, Joe List, Pat Dixon, and/or Nick Turner—at Queens LIC's The Creek upstairs theatre: The Regulars

[TOP PICK] 10:00 pm ($5): The instructors of UCB's classes include some of the finest improvisors in the country. In this new weekly show a bunch of them get on stage at UCB East, along with hosts Betsy Stover and Ari Voukydis: Hot for Teacher: The UCB Faculty Show

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 11:00 pm: The wonderful Sasheer Zamata (highly charming, innovative rising star; Comedy Central's Inside Amy Schumer, FX's Totally Biased; member of red-hot improv troupe Doppelganger, sketch troupe The Prom, and Harold Night troupe Bucky) hosts as many as a dozen guests packed into 75 minutes performing stand-up, improv, sketch, and occasionally acts that defy categorization. The level of talent can vary wildly, but for some (like me), that's part of the laid-back fun; plus Sasheer is going to be a huge star, so catch her in this intimate setting while you can. (Tonight's scheduled guests should eventually be posted here.) Come support the experimentation, and periodic magical surprises, that this uniquely organic rollercoaster of a weekly show at UCB Chelsea makes possible—and don't forget to toss $1 in the bucket on your way out: School Night

[TOP PICK] [$] 11:30 pm ($10 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Uncensored stand-up from Dave Attell (one of the most respected stand-ups in the biz; star of Showtime's Dave's Old Porn and Comedy Central's Insomniac; HBO, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno, The Daily Show, Comedy Central Presents), Kurt Metzger (staff writer for Inside Amy Schumer; Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central Presents, Ugly Americans), Greer Barnes (David Letterman, Chappelle's Show, For the Love of the Game), Andrew Schulz (MTV's Guy Code, Girl Code, Failosophy), and Ardie Fuqua (HBO'S Bad Boys of Comedy, Comedy Central) performing at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) hosted by Mike Yard (Comedy Central, Def Comedy Jam): The Nasty Show: Dave Attell, Kurt Metzger, and More

[TOP PICK] [ALMOST FREE] 6:00 pm ($1): Cammi Climaco (co-host of Ask Me Stories) hosts this weekly hour-long open-mic storytelling show, with typically six audience members chosen from a bucket of names getting to tell tales for 6-7 minutes each at The PIT downstairs lounge: Cammi Climaco's Storytelling Open Mic: Six by Six

[FREE] 6:00 pm: Open-mic stand-up providing 5 minutes per comic at Queens LIC's The Creek upstairs theatre hosted by Benel Germosen: Cracking It

6:00 pm (no cover, 1 drink min. for both comics and audience members): Open mic stand-up providing 5-7 minutes per comic, running 2 1/2 hours. Arrive 30 minutes before the show to get on the signup sheet. This is a fine opportunity to perform at the only comedy club in the East Village: Eastville Comedy Club Open Mic

[ALMOST FREE] 10:30 pm ($1): Biweekly open-mic stand-up, with each comic getting an unusually long 6-10 minutes, at The PIT downstairs lounge hosted by James III & Jamie LeeLo: Hump Day

[FREE] 11:00 pm: Open-mic stand-up running until 1:00 am, with time divided evenly between performers (up to five minutes), at The Creek downstairs lounge in Queens' Long Island City with host Rob Stern: Bucket 'O Buckets

[FREE] 11:00 pm: Your opportunity to perform on the stage of UCB East with improv veterans, hosted by UCBT Harold Night house troupe Bucky and DJ Cipha Sounds: The Improv Jam

[FREE] 11:00 pm: Your chance to perform on stage with experienced improvisors at The PIT upstairs theatre hosted by Lucas Hazlett: Improdome

[FREE] 11:30: Sign up at 11:00 pm for the opportunity to make up scenes at The Magnet with group Chet Watkins: Magnet Improv Mixer

Upright Citizens Brigade Chelsea
(307 West 26th Street; 150-seater; shows free-$10; one of the most respected comedy theatres in the world)

The PIT
(123 East 24th Street; 99-seat upstairs theatre, 40-seat downstairs theatre; shows free-$15)

Comedy Cellar
(117 MacDougal Street; among the finest daily stand-up lineups in the world; 2-item min.)

The Stand
(239 Third Avenue; recent competitor to Comedy Cellar; no drink min.—support this policy!)

Carolines Comedy Club
(1626 Broadway; focuses on the world's top headliners, who perform hour-long sets; 2-drink min.)

Gotham Comedy Club
(208 West 23rd Street; headliners on weekends, Comedy Juice on Tuesdays, and more; 2-drink min.)

To view HyReviews.com NYC Comedy Picks from previous weeks, please click here.

Celebrate Mother's Day every day by watching Andrea Rosen's wonderful new docuseries airing on NickMom at 10:00 pm...

Olde English is a sharp group of sketch comics who performed together for years on both stage and video...but one day simply drifted apart. Then the director of the group, Ben Popik, suggested a project: Each member write 15 pages of a screenplay...while getting to see only the last five pages of the previous writer.

It's a fun gimmick to create a marketing hook for the movie. Naturally, the results of the film made from the screenplay are mixed; but they're not the crazy quilt you might expect.

A critical element that makes the latter work is phenomenally talented actress Megan Raye Manzi. While she has to play wildly different versions of her character in each 15-page sequence, she creates a solid underlying core that's always compelling and emotionally believable, allowing us to care deeply about her character throughout. Manzi is the invaluable glue that holds the "fiction" part of this project together.

Further, the execution of the screenplay is only one side of the coin of this movie. The other major component is documentary footage of the members of the group interacting before, during, and after the project. The latter is handled so subtly and artfully by director Popik that what The Exquisite Corpse Project is really about didn't sneak up on me until near the end—and then hit me in the head in a way that I'll long remember.

In a nutshell, this is a transcendent story about creative relationships...and the nature of relationships in general. And that turns what in lesser hands would be a gimmicky comedy into a genuinely great film.

As an added bonus, at the 1:01 mark, Olde English member Raphael Bob-Waksberg gives the finest description you're ever likely to hear of what it means to be a screenwriter in Hollywood.

You can watch the vibrant work of Ben Popik, Megan Raye Manzi, and the other very talented folks involved at your convenience, because this movie is available for download anytime for a mere $5 here. You can also check out the trailer here. Highly recommended.

Something I've known for years is finally making it into the mainstream:
Pete Holmes is not only a comedy treasure, but one of our greatest comics ever.
First Pete broke into Hollywood as a sitcom writer for NBC and FOX; then he started the highly popular
podcast You Made It Weird; and now he's slated to have a show directly following Conan O'Brien.
On top of all that, Pete currently has an hour-long special running on Comedy Central,
with an expanded version available on CD and DVD: Nice Try, The Devil. Some samples & classic bits:

Almost all the recommendations and discounts HyReviews.com provides appear directly
on this site. However, occasionally I may feel an offer is so special that it merits extra attention.
Also, sometimes comedy clubs, theatres, and others contact me with offers that they
don't want on a searchable Web page but that they're happy to provide to my readers.

If you'd like to take advantage of such opportunities, please provide your name and email address, and once in a while you'll receive a notice directly from me about cool deals.

Special thanks to comedy photographer supreme Anya Garrett for creating so many of the stellar photos that grace this site...and the sites of hundreds of NYC comics.

For a comprehensive list of links to all the sections
on this site, please see the Site Index below (or click here).

Best NYC Comedy Tonight

Previous Daily Comedy Picks

Comedy Videos of the Month: Kroll Show

Previous Comedy Videos of the Month

HyReviews.com Joke of the Week

NYC Comedy Club Discounts

Become a Comedy/Theatre Discount Insider

Top NYC Comedy Venues

Other Notable Comedy Sites

Comedy in the Moment: Del Close Improv Marathon

Comedy Scene by Scene: SketchFest NYC 07

Exceptional Comics

Interview with Carolyn Castiglia

Show Report 3/28/08: Kumail Nanjiani's Unpronounceable

Show Report 2/28/08: Invite Them Up Ends Glorious Six-Year Run

Show Report 2/10/08: Alternative, Alshmernative—Kristen Schaal

Show Report 11/12/07: Andy Blitz Sees the Future

Show Report 9/24/07: Dave Hill Turns Things Around

Shockingly Delightful: Offensive Fest 2007

Hy On Theatre

Hy on Theatre Discounts: See Great Shows for as Little as $4

FringeNYC 2012 Coverage

FringeNYC 2011 Coverage

FringeNYC 2010 Coverage

FringeNYC 2009 Coverage

FringeNYC 2008 Coverage

FringeNYC 2007 Coverage

FringeNYC 2007 Performers Gallery

FringeNYC 2006 Coverage

FringeNYC 2005 Coverage

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Please note: Note a word has been changed in the ads below. My comments are in boldface.

I have a wonderful poetry book, creative, wild images and a really good magical story to tell.

[So you have a poetry book with images...and you also have a story in an undefined form. And for some reason you need to sell the poetry before you sell the story...to "someone." That's a bit confusing, but whatever; it's not like you're claiming to be a wordsmith...]

It's got spirituality, love, tragedy, adventure, crime, violence, music, sex, a little bit of everything.

[Actually, you left out drugs.
But that's okay; at this point, drugs are heavily implied...]

I have a diary of our letters to each other, and the poems are like letters I wrote to God in a creative way.

[As opposed to the non-creative steamy porn that you actually wrote to your stud boyfriend God.]

[It's a hip-hopera DVD titled Trapped in the Closet.
Thing is, God turned insane in 2000. (Which explains a lot...)]

[Idea #42: Raise cash as drug mule.
Cops will never suspect crippled old coot like you.]

If you have any other type of writing or editing need, I can probably tackle it as well. To get in touch, please email me at hy@hyreviews.com.