Please note that these listings are updated frequently. The best way to be instantly notified about new show postings is to subscribe to my BestNewYorkComedy.com blog and allow for email notifications, and/or to follow me on Twitter (@hybender) or Instagram (@hybenderny).
That said, my top NYC comedy recommendations for February 2019 included the following:
Saturday 2/2 (also 2/9, 2/16 & 2/23): A highly talented freestyle rapping long form improv group takes the stage for an hour: North Coast (9:00 pm, $12, The PIT Underground at 123 East 24th Street)
Saturday 2/2: Superb PIT "overactors" make up a ridiculous soap-operish TV movie on the spot based on a title supplied by the audience (plus two other improv groups, Captive Audience and Ugly People): Improvised Lifetime Movie (9:30 pm, $10, The PIT Mainstage (Striker) at 123 East 24th Street)
Tuesday 2/5 (also 2/12, 2/10 & 2/26): Comics creators join super-hosts Alex Zalben, Justin Tyler, and Pete LePage in a lively & hilarious discussion about four-color pop culture, with giveaways of comics and gift certificates: Comic Book Club (8:00 pm, Free!, The PIT Loft at 154 West 29th Street)
Wednesday 2/6: Chris Gethard (comedy genius, above; star of HBO 90-minute special Career Suicide; star of TruTV's & Fusion's The Chris Gethard Show; co-star of Mike Birbiglia film Don't Think Twice; host of Webby-winning podcast Beautiful Stories From Anonymous People; The Office, Comedy Central, IFC; author of A Bad Idea I'm About to Do and Weird New York), Tommy McNamara, Ashley Austin Morris, Gordon Baker-Bone, Nate Fridson, and Wanjiko Eke perform stand-up for this free weekly LES show produced by Luisa Díez, and hosted by Samantha Ruddy, Luke Touma, JP McDade, Jordan Temple, and/or Dina Hashem: Too Many Cooks (9:00 pm, Free!, Lucky Jack's Pub at 129 Orchard Street between Rivington & Delancey Streets)
Wednesday 2/6: 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 superb yarn-spinners are the wonderful Ophira Eisenberg (one of the finest comedic storytellers and stand-ups in the country; host of weekly NPR/WNYC show Ask Me Another, author of bestselling book Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy, comedy album Bangs!; NBC, CBS, Comedy Central, VH1, Showtime), Colin Wilhm (The Jinx, Friday Night Stories), Mike Brown (TBS' Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, TruTV, MTV, Adult Swim; co-host of Comedy Outliers), and Martin Dockery (five-time Moth GrandSlam finalist). Come let these storytellers and host Brad Lawrence (Moth GrandSlam Champion) attempt to mislead you for the first edition of this long-running show at its new home of Caveat (after 42 years, the Cornelia Street Cafe closed in January): The Liar Show (9:30 pm; $17 in advance online or $20 at the door; LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Wednesday 2/6: A comic explores all the reasons his friends have given for why they couldn't attend his performance. So you can either see this or live this: 33 Reasons Why You Couldn't Make It To This Show (7:00 pm, $8, The PIT Underground at 123 East 24th Street)
Thursday 2/7: One of the finest comedy venues in the country, UCB East, is closing due to financial pressures, with shows relocating on weekends only to the 130-seat SubCulture at 45 Bleecker Street (right next to the #6 subway's Bleecker Street stop). Bidding a fond farewell to this beloved East Village comedy haunt that's been serving fans daily since 2011 are hosts Connor Ratliff (brilliant improvisor & character comic; The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Orange is the New Black, Broad City, The Chris Gethard Show, The President Show; co-star of legendary improv group The Stepfathers; host of The George Lucas Talk Show) & Griffin Newman (brilliant character/improv comic; Arthur on Amazon's The Tick, Jared Kushner on Showtime's Our Cartoon President, HBO, CBS, MTV, TBS; feature films Draft Day, Fort Tilden, Night Moves) and their guests TBA, featuring music, prizes, and more: George Lucas & Watto: The Empire Strikes Beast (11:00 pm, $9, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)
Friday 2/8: Aparna Nancherla (above right; one of the very finest stand-ups in the country; co-star of Super Bowl 2019 commercial, Comedy Central's Corporate, and HBO's Crashing; also performed on HBO's 2 Dope Queens, Netflix's Master of None and The Standups, TBS' Conan O'Brien, and Comedy Central's @Midnight and Half Hour; former writer for Seth Meyers; comedy album Just Putting It Out There), Ben Kronberg (Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, Comedy Central Half Hour, MTV, ABC), Irene Fagan, Guitler Raphael, Joanna Ross, and Tim McLaughlan perform stand-up hosted by Erik Bergstrom (above left; Comedy Central Half Hour, MTV, VH1, Fuse; cartoonist/author of Grimmer Tales, The New Yorker), Myka Fox (SNL freelance contributor; host of Myka Fox & Friends podcast on Keith and The Girl Network), and Max Bruno: Live From Outer Space (9:00 pm, Free!, Brooklyn's The Cobra Club at 6 Wyckoff Avenue)
Friday 2/8: With just two nights left until UCB East permanently closes, every remaining show at the venue takes on a certain poignancy. Come experience nostalgia and letting go at this midnight storytelling, stand-up, and carny show bringing the blog And I Am Not Lying to life on stage, with storytelling from Seaton Smith (above right; rising star stand-up; HBO's Girls, FOX's Mulaney, Chris Rock's film Top Five, Conan O'Brien, Seth Meyers, Inside Amy Schumer, The Nightly Show) and host Jeff Simmermon (above left; NPR's This American Life, Moth GrandSlam Champion, comedy album And I Am Not Lying), and stand-up from Emmy Blotnick (above middle; brilliant rising star stand-up who's performed on Stephen Colbert and stars in a Comedy Central Half Hour; writer for Stephen Colbert; Head Writer for Comedy Central's The President Show; former writer for Comedy Central's @midnight, Roast of Rob Lowe, and Not Safe with Nikki Glaser; MTV, VH1), Eman El Husseini (opens for Patton Oswalt), and Tyler Fischer (HBO's Last Week Tonight, NBC's America's Got Talent), and burlesque by Vada James and Fem Appeal: And I Am Not Lying (Midnight, $9, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)
Friday 2/8 (also 2/15 & 2/22): Improvisors create new tales of Hogwarts on the spot based on an audience suggestion: The Heirs of Hogwarts (6:00 pm, $15, The PIT Loft at 154 West 29th Street)
Friday 2/8: Highly talented hip-hop improv group North Coast attempts to create a Hamilton on the spot by making up a musical based on an audience suggestion of a famous historical figure: Anybody: An Improvised Historical Hip-Hopera (9:30 pm, $17 online or $20 at the door, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
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Saturday 2/9: UCB East closes tonight (with the final shows sold out), but UCB Hell's Kitchen remains a stellar comedy stage. Tonight's events include a top musical improv troupe that has wowed audiences around the world with its skill at making up an hour-long musical moment by moment. The plot and characters, the musical accompaniment, even the song lyrics and "choreography" are invented on the spot, with no pre-planned structure, by such ace talents as Becky Drysdale, Zack Willis, Katy Barry, Caroline Martin, Amber Ruffin, Tim Sniffen, and Jeff Hiller, plus stellar improv musicians Dan Reitz (keyboards) & Sarah Mullins (drums/percussion). Come see why this show won a FringeNYC Award for Outstanding Unique Theatrical Event: Baby Wants Candy (10:30 pm, $14, UCB Hell's Kitchen at 555 West 42nd Street)
Saturday 2/9: Mike Zakarian performs a one-man autobiographical show about being "a cool Christian teen in New England looking forward every year to an event called Snow Camp:" Christ Kid: A Journey Through Snow Camp (7:00 pm, $10, The PIT Mainstage (Striker) at 123 East 24th Street)
Saturday 2/9 (also 2/16 & 2/23): A highly talented freestyle rapping long form improv group takes the stage for an hour: North Coast (9:00 pm, $12, The PIT Underground at 123 East 24th Street)
Sunday 2/10: The spectacular Jo Firestone (one of the most relentlessly inventive comics in the biz; staff writer for Jimmy Fallon; star of Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents special; radio host of WFMU's Dr. Gameshow, co-author of #1 bestselling Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers) hosts this show in which "comics represent you onstage in a live dating game! You may cringe and remain as anonymous as you want in the crowd...or arrive at 7:30 pm to be paired up with a comic and tell everything there is to know about you in 10 minutes or less, and then let them guide your love life in great and maybe horrible ways. Out of over 100 couples matched, four couples have managed to develop actual long-term relationships. One couple moved in together. It's amazing and defies all odds:" Friends of Single People (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Littlefield (635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Sunday 2/10: Phoebe Robinson (co-star of HBO's 2 Dope Queens; host of podcast Sooo Many White Guys; Seth Meyers, Conan O'Brien, Broad City, MTV’s Girl Code; feature films What Men Want and Ibiza; author of You Can't Touch My Hair and Other Things I Still Have to Explain), Wyatt Cenac (star of HBO's Problem Areas and TBS' Friends of Earth; former star correspondent for The Daily Show; writer for South Park; albums Comedy Person, Brooklyn, and Furry Dumb Fighter), and Alex English (writer for BET's The Rundown with Robin Thede) are the stellar guests at this podcast taping hosted by Michelle Buteau (VH1's Morning Buzz and Best Week Ever, Comedy Central's Key & Peele, FOX's Enlisted, Craig Ferguson, Last Comic Standing, @midnight, comedy album Shut Up) & Jordan Carlos (HBO's Girls, Comedy Central's Broad City and The Nightly Show, Showtime, MTV's Guy Code, Guy Court, VH1, Adult Swim): Adulting (7:30 pm, $10, Brooklyn's Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street; PLEASE NOTE: This show has SOLD OUT.)
Monday 2/11: Emily Flake (above left; brilliant writer/cartoonist; The New Yorker, The New York Times) & Kate Willett (Comedy Central's The Jim Jeffries Show and This Is Not Happening; VICE's Flophouse, Netflix's Comedy Lineup; comedy album Glass Gutter) host this monthly show & podcast that features wonderfully funny people sharing their nightmares, with tonight's guests iconic star John Hodgman (above right; bestselling author of Vacationland, The Areas of My Expertise, More Information Than You Require, and That Is All; Humor Editor of The New York Times Magazine; former stellar correspondent of The Daily Show; former personification of a PC in Apple Mac ads), Jason Chatfield (cartoonist for The New Yorker, Mad Magazine; Australia’s most widely syndicated cartoonist), Jennifer Finney Boylan (columnist for The New York Times, author of 15 books), Carole Montgomery (Comedy Central, Oprah, ABC, Showtime, MTV, VH1, A&E, Lifetime), and Kenice Mobely (host of Person About Town): Nightmares: The Best People Tell Their Worst Dreams (6:30 pm doors, 7:00 pm show; no cover but 2-drink min.; KGB Bar's upstairs Red Room at 85 East 4th Street off Second Avenue; please arrive early if you want to ensure getting in, as the room is likely to fill up fast)
Tuesday 2/12 (also 2/10 & 2/26): Comics creators join super-hosts Alex Zalben, Justin Tyler, and Pete LePage in a lively & hilarious discussion about four-color pop culture, with giveaways of comics and gift certificates: Comic Book Club (8:00 pm, Free!, The PIT Loft at 154 West 29th Street)
Wednesday 2/13: The quick-witted & hilarious Tyler Richardson (ReelzChannel; host of New Bedtime Stories) & Brian Mitchell (sketch group Laser Baby) celebrate both Black History Month and Valentine's Day with guest stand-ups Alex English, Boris Khaykin, Kelsey Caine, Kristin Manna, Stu Melton, Mackenzie Graves, Amamah Sardar, Calvin S. Cato, and Mike Guild: Black Guys (8:00 pm, Free!, Brooklyn's Starr Bar at 214 Starr Street; take L subway to Jefferson Street)
Thursday 2/14: World-class singing improvisors Rebecca Vigil & Evan Kaufman interview an audience couple about their love life and then turn 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 (7:00 pm; $17 in advance online or $20 at the door; LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street; Please Note: This Valentine's Day edition of the show has SOLD OUT, but you can buy tickets for next month's performance by clicking here.)
Friday 2/15: A game show that describes itself as follows: "Ever talk to a straight guy and think, 'Jesus Christ you're boring!' Two straight men TBD enter the arena, but only one leaves with the title of Queen of the Straights. Lifelines include a Woman Who Gets It and a Wise Queer" hosted by Matt Rogers & Dave Mizzoni, who invite you to "come witness the ultimate test of who Is honorarily Gay As Fuck:" GAYme Show (9:30 pm, $12, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Saturday 2/16: Eight performers from the Ten Bones Theatre Company attempt to recreate infamous 2004 tearjerker The Notebook, with each comic using only what he or she can remember from seeing the movie just once. To add to the fun are a few rules: "Performers must incorporate lines written by the audience; performers must incorporate any sound effect played by the tech booth; one lucky audience member will be given a bell that they can ring three times—once rung, the actors must create a scene that has no business being in The Notebook but makes perfect sense given where they are in the story:" The Notebook...Entirely From Memory (8:00 pm, $10, The PIT Mainstage (Striker) at 123 East 24th Street)
Thursday 2/21: Six comedic actors, including Gianmarco Soresi (ABC's Deception; acclaimed FringeNYC play <50%), perform sketch in this acclaimed group: Uncle Function (8:00 pm, $10, The PIT Mainstage (Striker) at 123 East 24th Street)
Thursday 2/21: Surreal sketch group Terrorbird performs its oddball version of a Disney feature film: "The brave Princess Heckena and her marketably adorable sidekick Bonesy journey upwards through the kingdom of Heck for a musical adventure we’re contractually obligated to say the whole family will enjoy. Will Heckena make it to the mortal world and finally achieve her playfully ironic dream of ice skating? Or will she marry Caligula and spend the rest of her life presiding over the eternal torment of the dang-ed?": Terrorbird: Heck—Follow Your Nightmares (9:30 pm, $10, The PIT Mainstage (Striker) at 123 East 24th Street)
Friday 2/22: Highly talented hip-hop improv group North Coast attempts to create a Hamilton on the spot by making up a musical based on an audience suggestion of a famous historical figure: Anybody: An Improvised Historical Hip-Hopera (9:30 pm, $17 online or $20 at the door, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Saturday 2/23: Sketch comedy duo Jeff Ronan & Matt Bovee reenact all 50+ movies nominated for Oscars this year in under an hour: The Movie Idiot's Guide to the Oscars (9:00 pm, $10, The PIT Loft at 154 West 29th Street)
Sunday 2/24: Watch the Oscars with a live audience, and with comics and celebrity impersonators entertaining you during the commercials, in a classy LES venue with full bar: Oscar Watch Party at Caveat (7:00 pm, $17 online or $18 at the door, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Tuesday 2/26: Celebrating Black History Month, comics Kenice Mobley, Sharon Paul, Ariel Evans, and Khalid Rahmaan share their experiences with racial profiling hosted by Marcela Onyango (host of Feel the News) & guest co-host Andrea Coleman: Profiled (9:30 pm, $12, LES' Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Thursday 2/28: Jamie Aderski (exceptionally honest & funny storyteller; stellar solo show Cry Baby) is pregnant, while Destiny Mabry (abuse conqueror; host of Triumphs, Tampons, and Tears) is single and often sexless. Both share memorable tales blending storytelling and stand-up: Celibate and Pregnant (7:30 pm, $8, The PIT Underground at 123 East 24th Street)
Copyright © 2019 Hy Bender
Email: hy@hyreviews.com
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