NYC Comedy Picks for Monday 1/14/08
There's an awesome selection of great shows tonight (and especially for a Monday...).
NYC live comedy recommendations include
a Time Out New York-sponsored show raising funds for striking WGA writers, with
comedy writers from The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, etc., plus some of the finest
comics around, including Kristen Schaal and Mike Birbiglia, at Strike Night! (7:30 pm),
brilliant & unique comics Larry Murphy, Rick Shapiro, and more celebrating the one-year
anniversary of brilliant & unique Heather Fink's free comedy show Street Meat (8:00 pm),
ghosts of rock legends hosting a comedic musical extravaganza, with immensely talented guests
Adira Amram and Andres du Bouchet, at Keith & Donna's Grateful Dead Listening Hour (8:00 pm),
four sharp storytellers trying to mislead the audience in The Liar Show (8:00 pm),
hilarious hosts Noah Garfinkel & Joe Mande presenting one of my all-time fave stand-ups Anthony Jeselnik,
plus superb stand-ups Sean O'Connor and Sean Patton, and a special star guest, at Totally J/K (8:15ish pm),
and comedy treasures John Mulaney, Jon Benjamin, and more at one of the funniest shows in NYC—
which just happens to be free—starring and hosted by Human Giant (11:00 pm).
Mike Birbiglia and Kristen Schaal
Time Out New York's Strike Night!
Since the Writers Guild strike is keeping comedy writers from getting their material
on the air, Time Out New York had the lovely idea of hosting an event that
allows some of the best TV writer/performers in NYC to perform their stuff on stage.
Tonight's scheduled guests are
Kristen Schaal (one of the most talented and inventive comedy performers around;
co-star of HBO's Flight of the Conchords; co-host of NYC live Hot Tub Variety Show),
Mike Birbiglia (razor-sharp stand-up comic—his routine about CNN is worth the trip by itself;
Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, two Comedy Central Presents
specials, comedy CDs Two Drink Mike and My Secret Public Journal—Live;
for sample stand-up videos, please click here and here),
J.R. Havlan (writer for The Daily Show),
Eric Drysdale (writer for The Colbert Report),
and more writers & performers TBD.
To buy tickets online ($8 plus $3 service charge), please click here.
7:30 pm at Crash Mansion, 199 Bowery (at Spring Street); $8 plus two-drink minimum
Adira Amram and Andres du Bouchet
Keith & Donna's Grateful Dead Listening Hour
Join your hosts Keith and Donna (Matt McCarthy & Ann Carr)
"as they take you on a fun-filled journey of merry-making and music-making.
Keith may be dead, but that hasn't stopped them from reminiscing about
their days with Jerry and serenading you with the occasional impromptu tune
that never made it to record." Tonight's wonderful guests are
Adira Amram (brilliantly funny and sexy writer/singer; Jane Magazine Editor's Choice;
nominated for ECNY Best Musical Comedy Act [by herself] and Best Variety Show
[with Rob Lathan for Get Psyched!]; for sample songs & videos, please click here), and
Andres du Bouchet (writer for & performer on FOX's Talkshow with Spike Feresten;
Late Night With Conan O'Brien, Tough Crowd With Colin Quinn, Cheap Seats;
live NYC comedy show Giant Tuesday; comedy videos).
8:00 pm at The Peoples Improv Theater, 154 West 29th Street (off 7th Avenue); tickets are $5
Larry Murphy and Rick Shapiro...
...and hosts Adam Newman & Heather Fink
Street Meat: One-Year Anniversary & Party!
Street Meat is a special monthly comedy show that's been running for a full year.
Tonight is a celebration of its anniversary, hosted—as ever—by
Adam Newman (CMT's Prankville'd, VH1's Best Week Ever blog, Channel 102) and
Heather Fink (sly & sexy nominee for this year's NY Emerging Comic Award;
for videos demonstrating Heather's acting skills, please click here and here).
Joining the fun are some of the freshest and lightning-quick comics in NYC:
Larry Murphy (brilliant voiceover actor who performs all the
key characters on Adult Swim's Assy McGee; other TV series include
Home Movies, O'Grady, Cheapseats, Computer Lab, Puppets N Such;
for an animated VO reel, please click here),
Rick Shapiro (HBO's Lucky Louie,
PoCreations Radio, comedy CD Unconditional Love),
Adrianne Frost (The Daily Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien,
VH1's Best Week Ever; co-host of The Jay Thomas Show on Sirius Stars Network;
popular humor book I Hate Other People's Kids),
Marcus Monroe (street performer who juggles knives!; MTV's TRL, ABC Family's Switched,
host of Discovery Kid's Mad Science, Nickelodeon's Slime Across America), and
pseudo-metal band Uber Luber (to help everyone party hard).
8:00 pm at Cake Shop, 152 Ludlow Street (between Rivington & Stanton); free
Marlene Nichols, Ryan Britt, Cyndi Freeman, and H.R. Britton
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.
Host Andy Christie (The New York Times) welcomes tonight's fine yarn-spinners:
Marlene Nichols (writer/performer; one-woman show Seeing Voices is currently being developed at NYC's Stage Left Studio),
Ryan Britt (written for Mr. Beller's Neighborhood, reallysmalltalk.com;
wrote play Encounter at Greenpoint).
Cyndi Freeman (comedic actress/writer who's appeared on HBO, Comedy Central, and
Showtime; produces NYC live shows Hotsy Totsy Burlesque and Storytelling at Coraline Cafe),
and H.R. Britton ("gravitates towards the anxiously comic;" one-man show From Madison to Madurai: 134 Days in Mother India; called a most incredible storyteller by Hi! Drama).
8:00 pm, Ochi's Lounge at Comix, 353 West 14th Street (between 8th & 9th Avenues);
no cover, 1 drink or food item minimum (on low-cost menu; e.g., draft beer for $4-$5)
Hosted by quick-witted and enormously funny best buds Joe Mande and Noah Garfinkel
(for dueling birthday videos, please click here and here; and for other videos,
please click here and here). Tonight's terrific guests include
Anthony Jeselnik (phenomenal comic specializing in darkly shocking jokes and one of
my favorite stand-ups ever; Comedy Central's Premium Blend, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live,
NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly, MTV's Walk of Shame;
for a video stand-up sample, please click here),
Sean O'Connor (VH1; New York Post's Top 20 Entertainers to Watch For in 2006;
upcoming album Shmeat is Shmurder; host of NYC weekly live comedy show The Sean O'Connor Experiment; for hilarious stand-up samples, please click here and here),
Sean Patton (for a stand-up audio clip about vitamin-coated condoms, please click here),
and "a special guest who I can't mention by name because of a bizarre agreement
this comic has made with a particular comedy club in Times Square!!"
8:15ish pm at Rififi, 332 East 11th Street (between 1st & 2nd Avenues); tickets are $5
Comic/activist Kate Clinton and her new 25th Anniversary Tour DVD , and host Lizz Winstead
Lizz Winstead is co-creator and former head writer of the original The Daily Show; former Executive VP of Air America Radio; and a performer on such shows as Comedy Central Presents and HBO's Women of the Night. (She's also a character; e.g., for a memorable anti-apology after canceling her appearance on the live NYC show Drink at Work, please click here.)
Tonight's guest is Kate Clinton,
a long-time political satirist & gay activist who's just released
her 25th Anniversary "It's Come To
This!" Tour
monthly columns for The Progressive and The Advocate, and blogs for The Huffington Post.
She's also written articles for The New York Times and George Magazine, and was
a staff writer on The Rosie O'Donnell Show.
To get a feel for STM, view a fun interview with cartoonist David Rees by clicking here.
To buy tickets online (each $10 plus $2.50 service charge), please click here.
8:30 pm at Ace of Clubs, 9 Great Jones Street (3rd St. between Lafayette and Broadway); $10
This theatre is downstairs from the Acme restaurant. Nearest subway stops are
Bleecker Street on the #6 and Broadway-Lafayette on the F/V/D/B.
Pent-up Hostility with David Caruso
Tom DiMenna and Stuart Luth (sketch troupe Slightly Known People)
take you on a journey through mankind's repressed emotions.
And apparently the focal point of this adventure is actor David Caruso.
How can you avoid being intrigued?
9:30 pm at The Peoples Improv Theater, 154 West 29th Street (off 7th Avenue); tickets are $5
Jon Benjamin and John Mulaney...
...and Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer, and Aziz Ansari (a.k.a. Human Giant)
Aziz Ansari, Rob Huebel, and Paul Scheer, the wonderful stars
of MTV comedy hit Human Giant, will be showing off clips-in-progress
for their upcoming second season (slated to air in March).
There's no one better at working an audience than these guys;
and their first season was, in my opinion, one of the funniest shows in TV history.
(For details, please click here.)
Helping the guys throw a great party will be superb comics, including
John Mulaney (one of the sharpest stand-up comics around; VH1's Best Week Ever,
Late Night with Conan O'Brien; for video stand-up samples, please click here and here), and
Jon Benjamin (superb voiceover actor for FOX's Family Guy, Adult Swim's
Lucy the Daughter of the Devil, Home Movies, Assy McGee—which he
co-writes with Jon Glaser, and Comedy Central's Freak Show, Dr. Katz;
played talking can of vegetables hooked on autofellatio in film Wet Hot American Summer;
was thoroughly hilarious as Bruce Willis impersonator in classic Human Giant sketch).
This is likely to be one of the funniest shows in NYC.
And it's free.
11:00 pm at UCBT, 307 West 26th Street (off 8th Avenue); free
NYC Comedy Picks for Tuesday 1/15/08
Tonight's recommendations for the best in NYC live comedy include
Claudia Cogan, Lang Fisher, and other delightful stand-ups at Carolyn Castiglia's Chicks & Giggles (8:00 pm),
all four writers of the new weekly Amazing Spider-Man storyline at Comic Book Club (8:00 pm),
lovely & witty Cathleen Carr & Daiva Deupree turning life's darkness into comedy as Two Girls for Five Bucks (8:00 pm),
champion storyteller Adam Wade and more at Charles Star's free Brooklyn comedy show Pant-Hoot (8:00 pm),
awesome star comics, including Janeane Garofalo—yes, you read that right, Janeane Garofalo!—
plus Saturday Night Live cast member Jason Sudeikis, Chelsea Peretti (Variety Shac), Laura Krafft (The Colbert Report),
and Whitney Cummings (HBO, MTV, VH1) at the fabulous Seth Herzog's Sweet (9:00 pm),
and a free East Village show featuring such fine talents as God's Pottery (pseudo-Christian folk band),
Master Lee (Kung Fu comic), and Tony Pizzazz & Dr. Xanax (unusual magical act) at Flying Carpet (9:45ish).
Pent-up Hostility with David Caruso
Tom DiMenna and Stuart Luth (sketch troupe Slightly Known People)
take you on a journey through mankind's repressed emotions.
And apparently the focal point of this adventure is actor David Caruso.
How can you avoid being intrigued?
7:00 pm at The Peoples Improv Theater, 154 West 29th Street (off 7th Avenue); tickets are $5
Lang Fisher, Carolyn Castiglia, and Claudia Cogan
Carolyn Castiglia hosts a lineup of talented female stand-up comics.
Tonight's scheduled guests are:
Claudia Cogan (ECNY Award nominee for Best Female Stand-Up;
Logo Network, Sirius OutQ; for stand-up video about Claudia's aspirations to be
a stripper, please click here; for video about her being unemployed, please click here),
Lang Fisher (writer and performer of funny videos for The Onion News Network,
Comedy Central, etc.; for a video sample, please click here),
Poppi Kramer (At-Home Winner of NBC's The Biggest Loser Season 3;
Suddenly Stand-Up at The Duplex),
Jamie Lee (VH1's Best Night Ever, Archers of Ha),
Stacia Jensen (Comedyland), and
Erica Skeete (BET network, Laugh Lounge).
8:00 pm, Ochi's Lounge at Comix, 353 West 14th Street (between 8th & 9th Avenues);
no cover, 1 drink or food item minimum (on low-cost menu; e.g., draft beer for $4-$5)
To pump fresh energy into the comics series, Spider-Man is embarking on a Brand New Day
Hosted by Alex Zalben, Justin Tyler and Pete LePage,
who enjoy discussing comic books while getting laughs.
In celebration of Marvel's new direction for Spider-Man titled Brand New Day,
tonight's guests are Amazing Spider-Man editor Steve Wacker
and all four Amazing Spider-Man writers:
Bob Gale, Marc Guggenheim, Dan Slott and Zeb Wells.
8:00 pm at The Peoples Improv Theater, 154 West 29th Street (off 7th Avenue); tickets are $5
Daiva Deupree & Cathleen Carr relaxing before their show
Carr & Deupree: Two Girls for Five Bucks
Two Girls For Five Bucks is very funny sketch comedy duo Cathleen Carr & Daiva Deupree,
who perform frequently in both NYC and Boston. These luminous women
offer a smart and wittily dark view of life and relationships,
and are well worth catching...and for a great deal more than five bucks.
Tonight is a lovely opportunity to see the gals perform at the acclaimed Ars Nova Theatre.
Bring a date to impress her with your good taste and uncannily fine sense of humor.
For a few sample MP3 audio clips—most notably, the top one in which
Daiva chats with Cathleen's vagina—please click here.
8:00 pm at the Ars Nova Theatre, 511 West 54th Street (off 10th Avenue); tickets are $15
The Harold is longform improv, pioneered by Del Close.
Tonight, five improv troupes—
T.R.U.C.K.S., fwand, Tantrum, Bastian, and Twelve Thousand Dollars—
each give it a go for 30 minutes, with
short breaks in between, for a total of 3 hours.
Some of the groups are great; some are less so. And this show
is designed more for students of improv than the general public.
But if you're interested, and patient, a mere $5 will buy you
a full evening's education...and periodic solid laughs.
8:00-11:00 pm at UCBT, 307 West 26th Street (off 8th Avenue); tickets are $5
Host Charles Star and champion storyteller Adam Wade
Pant-Hoot: Free Comedy in Brooklyn
This free monthly comedy show in Brooklyn is hosted by
Charles Star (Onion News Network, Stay Free! Daily blog).
Tonight's lineup includes
Adam Wade (stellar storyteller who's an 8-time StorySLAM champ
and 2006 GrandSLAM champ at The Moth),
Moody McCarthy (Last Comic Standing, Jimmy Kimmel;
for stand-up video about Web dating on NetZero, please click here),
DJ Hazard (cast member of American Misfits on Fuel TV),
Gilad Foss (for a stand-up video—ending with an impression of
Miss Piggy taking the SATs— please click here), and
Rachael Parenta (for audio clip of three hilariously shocking jokes, please click here).
8:00 pm at Brooklyn Height's Magnetic Field, 97 Atlantic Avenue (between Hicks & Henry); free
Janeane Garofalo and Chelsea Peretti...
...and Jason Sudeikis, Seth Herzog, and Whitney Cummings
Hosted by the razor-sharp, dynamic, and hilarious Seth Herzog (VH1's Best Week Ever).
Tonight's awesome all-star (and nearly all-female) stand-ups are
Janeane Garofalo (quite simply, one of the most influential, and hilarious, comics
of our time; most recently co-host of The Majority Report on Air America Radio and co-star of the upcoming season of FOX's hit series 24; sample quote: "I guess I just prefer to see the dark side of things. The glass is always half empty. And cracked. And I just cut my lip on it. And chipped a tooth."; for two decades of impressive credits, please click Janeane's photo above),
Chelsea Peretti (exceptionally fresh, smart stand-up comic; member of superb
comedy troupe Variety Shac; writer for Village Voice, Details, Playgirl, Jest,
blackpeopleloveus.com, and Rejection Line: 212/479-7990),
Laura Krafft (writer for The Colbert Report; former writer of Comedy Central's Crossballs;
appeared in Curb Your Enthusiasm; regular at UCBT's improv bash Let's Have a Ball),
Whitney Cummings (VH1's Best Week Ever, MTV's Punk'd, ABC's What About Brian,
HBO's Tell Me That You Love Me, host of Sundance Festival Dailies;
for rapid-fire sit-down comedy video, please click here), and
Jason Sudeikis (cast member of Saturday Night Live; frequent appearances on 30 Rock;
Late Night with Conan O'Brien).
Please Note: Because of the enormous, and entirely appropriate, popularity
of tonight's star guests, and the relatively cozy size of the theatre,
tickets sales will be limited to around 100 people.
So consider arriving early (and having alternate plans...).
Doors open at 8:30 pm, show starts around 9:00 pm; The Slipper Room, 167 Orchard Street
(corner of Stanton Street); tickets are $5
Jeremiah Smallchild (Wilson Hall) & Gideon Lamb (Krister Johnson) are God's Pottery
Matt Ruby's free comedy show tonight stars
God's Pottery (Wilson Hall & Krister Johnson's delightful parody of a Christian folk singing duo),
John F. O'Donnell (wild man who will make you love him; Comedy Central's Fresh Faces; host of biweekly Long Island City comedy show The Kingdom of Heaven),
Master Lee (Kung Fu comic who's appeared on such diverse shows as Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Showtime At The Apollo, America's Most Wanted, and Sesame Street),
Tony Pizzazz & Dr. Xanax (magic act from Boston that Matt says is "so good it's criminal"), and
Dan Curry (author of book Drunk on a Bike; for stand-up video, please click here).
9:45ish pm at Rififi, 332 East 11th Street (between 1st & 2nd Avenues); free
Stellar members of various UCBT improv teams are
mixed together to form new teams for just an evening.
Tonight's one-time-only troupes are:
Team 1: Robert Cuthill, Matt Fisher, Spike Friedman, John Frusciante,
Porter Mason, Shannon O'Neill, Risa Sang-urai, and Zach Woods.
Team 2: Chelsea Clarke, Brandon Gardner, Will Hines, Anthony King,
Oscar Magallanes, Jason Mantzoukas, Gil Ozeri, and David Siegel.
Come take advantage of this chance to see wonderful improvisers
who normally don't work together try to instantly form a group mind.
11:00 pm at UCBT, 307 West 26th Street (off 8th Avenue); tickets are $5
NYC Comedy Picks for Wednesday 1/16/08
Tonight's recommendations for the best in NYC live comedy include
a free view of a sketch troupe constructing material via entertaining anecdotes
and improv, featuring superb talents such as Elna Baker and Pat Shay, at Red (6:00 pm),
one of the funniest improvisors in the world, in a rare NYC performance of a
scripted one-man show: Matt Walsh in The Drummer (7:00 pm),
five of the most talented sketch comedy groups who perform regularly at UCBT—
Get Psyched! (nominated for an ECNY Award), Two Girls for Five Bucks, Penny, Sidecar,
and The Lance & Ray Show—at UCBT's Winter Showcase (8:00 pm),
stellar stand-up comics John Mulaney, Seth Herzog, Noah Garfinkel, and more—plus the brilliant
Larry Murphy doing his character thing—at Eugene Mirman's & Bobby Tisdale's Invite Them Up (9:00 pm),
a wonderful new show combining storytelling, alcohol, and improv, with players from 30 Rock,
The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Mad TV, and more: Happy Hour (9:30 pm),
and a laid-back free show where virtually anything can happen on a School Night (11:00).
Pat Shay and Elna Baker
Comedy troupe Red tells stories off the top of their heads, then improvises scenes
based on the tales; and also perform sketches from material they improvised the previous week.
It's a clever way of crafting a sketch show organically, week by week—and you can watch the whole process, at no charge. The group consists of Kevin Allison, Elna Baker, Chris Caniglia,
Scott Eckert, Sarah Lowe, Sarah Nowak, Pat Shay, Nate Starkey, Shelly Stover, and Kevin Townley.
6:00 pm at The Peoples Improv Theater, 154 West 29th Street (off 7th Avenue); free
Matt Walsh is one of the funniest men alive.
And along with the other members of the Upright Citizens Brigade,
he's had a profound impact on modern comedy.
Tonight he performs this (one time only) one-man show,
which is described as "the epic story of a part-time pot dealer
who almost rocked too hard. There may or may not be drumming."
Don't miss a rare opportunity to see this LA-based improvisor in an NYC mini-play.
7:00 pm at UCBT, 307 West 26th Street (off 8th Avenue); tickets are $5
Rob Lathan and Adira Amram of Get Psyched!; Daiva Deupree & Cathleen Carr of Two Girls for Five Bucks...
...Amber Petty, Jessie Schupack and Tricia McAlpin of Penny; Lance Rubin & Ray Munoz of The Lance & Ray Show...
...and Matt Fisher, Alden Ford, and Justin Tyler of Sidecar
Five of the finest sketch comedy groups who perform regularly at UCBT
come together tonight to show off their stuff and make you laugh.
These highly talented writer/performers are:
Adira Amram and Rob Lathan, a spectacularly funny duo nominated for
this year's ECNY Award for their self-help parody show Get Psyched!;
for their theme song, please click here;
Two Girls For Five Bucks: sketch comedy duo Cathleen Carr & Daiva Deupree,
who offer a smart and wittily dark view of life and relationships;
for a few sample MP3 audio clips—most notably, the top one in which Daiva
chats with Cathleen's vagina—please click here,
sketch/improv group Penny: adorable & very funny comedy trio
Amber Petty, Trisha McAlpin, and Jessie Schupack,
Lance Rubin & Ray Munoz, who perform stream-of-consciousness
sketch comedy as The Lance & Ray Show, and
absurdly fun sketch/improv troupe Sidecar, consisting of Alden Ford, Matt Fisher,
and Justin Tyler; for a sketch about their interrogation technique, please click here.
8:00 pm at UCBT, 307 West 26th Street (off 8th Avenue); tickets are $5
