Last updated Wednesday, August 20th 2008
For complete FringeNYC 2008 coverage, please visit—and bookmark—HyReviews.com/fringenyc2008.htm.
There's just five days of festival to go. For comments on shows from yesterday and recommendations about the shows playing today, please click here; and for reviews of many of the 46 shows caught to date, please click here.
A scene from musical comedy China: The Whole Enchilada, one of the best shows at FringeNYC 2008
For NYC comedy info, please keep reading this home page.
Comedy Club Discounts
If you'd enjoy an elegant evening at an NYC comedy club
but also want to save some money, please click here.
Currently available are discounts for select shows at the Comix Comedy Club
and a 50% discount on all tickets for the Broadway Comedy Club.
Upcoming Hot Club Shows: Strictly for Laughs—Alexandro, Dixon, Carlos, Florentine, Nog on August 21
($10 off the $20 cover price for HyReviews.com readers before day of show)
and
Nick Kroll and John Mulaney on August 22-23
($10 off the $27.50 cover price for HyReviews.com readers before day of show)
For terrific low-cost comedy year-round in NYC, please visit the Web sites of
Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre
Please Note: Two New York live comedy venues that were frequently listed here have recently closed.
Rififi played host to such thoroughly wonderful shows as The Greg Johnson & Larry Murphy Show,
Gelmania, Totally J/K, and Sweet Haven. Thursday, July 31st was apparently its final day.
(I walked by the next night, on Friday at 8:30 pm, just to make sure. Normally alive with laughter and
socializing thanks to Greg's & Larry's show, the place was shut down and locked. Very sad...)
Also gone is the RubyFruit Bar & Grill, which played host every Monday night to the delightful
Jackie Monahan, Amy Beckerman, Gloria Bigelow, and Leah Dubie of Dykes on Mics.
These weekly comedy shows were NYC treasures. Here's hoping they all find new homes soon.
For Video Clips of the Month (featuring sneak peeks at FringeNYC 2008 shows), please click here.
For previous top video picks, please click here.
To explore other NYC theatre and comedy sections of HyReviews.com, please click here
(or use the search box and/or site index below).
Best FringeNYC 2008 Show Promos & Sneak Peeks
Carl and Shelly, Best Friends Forever
Kansas City or Along the Way: "Lullaby" (audio only)
The Sound of One Hanna Clapping: "Ode to Britney" (audio only)
The Home for Wayward Girls and Fallen Women
Kansas City or Along the Way: "Hammer" (audio only)
Kansas City or Along the Way: "Adelaide Hall" (audio only)
Dreadful Penny's Exquisite Horrors
Usher: "I Might Have Taken You Dancing"
Please check out these New York City theatre sections of HyReviews.com:
FringeNYC 2007 Performer's Gallery
Hy on Theatre Discounts: See Great Shows for as Little as $3.50
Please also check out these comedy sections of HyReviews.com:
Previous Nightly NYC Live Comedy PIcks
Previous Video Clips of the Month
UCBComedy.com: A New Force for Comedy on the Web
Comedy in the Moment: The Annual Del Close Improv Marathon
Comedy Scene by Scene: SketchFest NYC 07
Shockingly Delightful: Offensive Fest 2007
Show Reports: Kristen Schaal Dave Hill Andy Blitz
Show Reports: Kumail Ali (formerly Nanjiani) Invite Them Up
And if you need any help with a book or a screenplay, please visit Hy's writer sites:
Previous Video Clips of the Month
Getting Canceled...and Starting Over
The Unsettling Artistry of Comedy Troupe Quiet Library
Violet Krumbein and Greg Tuculescu
Quiet Library: Chris Cooper, David Hale, Dave Cederquist, & Greg Tuculescu
Parents of Miss Teen South Carolina
Miss Teen South Carolina vs. Bush
Rob Paravonian
Life as a Comic: College Conventions
Life as a Comic: Downtown Comedy
Life as a Comic: Guitar Comics
Memorable Award Show Moments
Conan O'Brien, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert at the 2006 Emmys
Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Steve Carell at the 2007 Emmys
Jon Stewart's Opening Monologue at the 2008 Academy Awards
Jon Stewart Presenting a Baby at the 2008 Academy Awards
Sarah Silverman: I'm F*cking Matt Damon
For Jimmy Kimmel's Fifth Anniversary show,
his long-time girlfriend Sarah Silverman
gave him a video gift.
To enjoy it yourself, please click here.
Most Concise & Dead-On Explanation of the Strike
Tim Kazurinsky Succinctly Explains the Strike
Neal Pollack's 5-Year-Old Elijah Explains the Strike
David Letterman Explains the Producers' Side of the Strike
Tim Carvell & Jason Ross of The Daily Show on Viacom Paradox
Yet More Paradox in Voices of Uncertainty
Family Guy's Seth MacFarlane on the Strike
David Letterman—Bless Him—Negotiates Separate Deal with WGA
(news article about why you should tune into new episodes of Late Show with David Letterman starting 1/2/08)
Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert—Bless Them—Facing Tougher Situation
(New York Times article about these comedy genius writer/performers also returning to the air, but sans writing staffs)
A Ninja Offers Advice to the Writers Guild
How Moonlighting Handled the Writers Strike of 1988
For the Best Strike Coverage: Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily
Don't Rape Me (played on rape whistle)
What Shoulda Happened... (co-starring Eugene Mirman)
Aziz Stand-Up #1 (Kanye West & Val Kilmer)
Aziz Stand-Up #2 (Enemies List)
Aziz Stand-Up #3 (Gay Marriage)
Aziz on Amateurish YouTube Editing
Complete Stand-Up Routine (MP3 audio clip)
(If you don't happen to know your Betty Boop, please click the links above
to play three 1930s cartoon gems. Each one starts out slowly,
but please be patient and watch all the way through...and then observe
what happens to your mind after experiencing these black & white dreams.)
(uncooperative animated characters)
First four minutes of Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat
Borat interviewed by Jon Stewart
Sacha Baron Cohen torturing supermarket manager
Borat Q&A at Toronto Film Festival
Chad Vader, Day Shift Manager:
Amanda Congdon Bids Farewell to Rocketboom
Amanda Explains Things on MSNBC
(The lovely and super-talented Amanda Congdon's split
with her producer Andrew Baron has been the focus of the
biggest soap opera to hit the Web since Microsoft vs. Google.
If this drama has somehow slipped by you, these clips cover the highlights.)
(animated music video you're unlikely to forget...no matter how hard you may try...)
(comedian Judson Laipply dances through several musical generations—in just six minutes)
(actual deposition conducted in April 2006 by famed Texas attorney Joe Jamail)
(investigative videojournalists uncover the true-life Springfield)
(the secret Brokeback trilogy)
(Jewish comic Sacha Baron Cohen—a.k.a. Borat and Ali G—shines a light on anti-semitism)
Rainbow, a 1972-1992 UK version of Sesame Street
(shot for the show's 1979 Christmas party; and the funniest children's TV episode, ever...)
(infamous deleted scene from March of the Penguins)
Jack Nicholson's Heartwarming New Dramedy
Hy's Book Proposal & Script Analysis Services
Hy Bender (who runs this NYC comedy & theatre Web site for free) also runs two commercial editorial services: HyOnYourBook.com for anyone with a strong nonfiction book idea who needs expert help creating a winning book proposal, and HyOnYourScript.com for writers seeking expert analysis and repair for their screenplays. More specifically:
HyOnYourBook.com: Hy is the author of 14 acclaimed
books—including
five Dummies books, and The Sandman Companion—that
have sold hundreds of thousands of copies. Hy has also been published
by such diverse national newspapers & magazines as The New York Times,
American Film, Advertising Age, PC Magazine, Yahoo! Internet Life, Spy,
and Mad Magazine. If you have a solid idea for a nonfiction book, Hy is
a wizard at identifying the best aspects of your book and presenting them
in a compelling book proposal to attract agents and convince publishers.
To learn more, please click here.
HyOnYourScript.com: Hy has analyzed and helped fix hundreds of screenplays. He runs the respected Manhattan screenwriters workshop NYScreenwriters.org; and you can find testimonials on his HyOnYourScript.com site from clients who are produced Hollywood screenwriters, represented by agencies such as ICM, etc. If you're developing a screenplay, there's no one better than Hy at pointing out problems and suggesting ways to improve your work both artistically and commercially. To learn more, please click here.
If you have any other type of writing or editing need, Hy can probably tackle it as well. To get in touch, please write to email address hy@hyreviews.com.
Hy's Other Web Sites:
Copyright © 2008 Hy Bender
Email: hy@hyreviews.com