NYC Comedy Picks for Monday 1/28/08
Tonight's recommendations for the best in NYC live comedy include
what's likely to be one of the most fun and memorable events of the year,
a who's who of NYC comedy at the spectacular ECNY Awards (8:00 pm),
stellar comics & actors—including such special guests as luminous TV & movie star Amy Poehler
and Jason Sudeikis of Saturday Night Live—plus brilliant improvisors Michael Delaney, Christina Gausas,
Anthony King, and many more—crashing improv into classic theatre scenes at Gravid Water (8:00 pm),
sketches & other fun regarding the Presidential primary season, plus an interview with
quick-witted political cartoonist David Rees, at Lizz Winstead's Shoot the Messenger (8:30 pm),
and wonderful star comics John Oliver (The Daily Show), Melissa Hill (Comedy Central, CBS, FOX, VH1),
and more at one of the funniest shows in NYC—which just happens to be free—starring and
hosted by Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer, and now-babyfaced Aziz Ansari of Human Giant (11:00 pm).
This show promises to be one of the best comedy events of the year.
After an almost two-year hiatus, the ECNY Awards, New York's original comedy awards,
were resurrected and completely revamped by a group of brilliant NYC comedy stars:
Jon Friedman (The Rejection Show at UCBT, Slightly Buzzed at Rififi), Alex Goldberg (world-class sketch troupe Fearsome), Carol Hartsell (Drink at Work at Ochi's Lounge), Nate (gold standard comedy site The Apiary), and Alex Zalben (spectacular annual SketchFest NYC, Comic Book Club at The PIT, ace sketch troupe Elephant Larry). Bless them all
for the enormous hard, and very smart, work they put into making this happen.
ECNY was originally an acronym for Emerging Comics of New York,
but that was ditched this year to allow the finest talents in NYC
to be recognized whether they're "emerging" or not.
And the nominees truly do include some of the most razor-sharp,
awesomely talented, and hilarious comics in the country.
(To learn more about ECNY, please click here and here.)
According to producer Alex Goldberg, "The ECNY Awards will now, more than ever,
serve as a reflection of what's going on in New York comedy. We're
seeing an explosion of talent in the city right now, and how better to honor that
than with an overblown, self-important awards show?"
Indeed. And expect a memorable party afterwards.
The show is at Comix, a gorgeous comedy club that normally has a two-item
minimum. However, that's been waived tonight; and tickets are a mere $10.
If you're at all interested in live comedy in NYC, don't miss this special event.
To order tickets online, please click here.
8:00 pm, Comix, 353 West 14th Street (between 8th & 9th Avenues); tickets are $10
Amy Beckerman, Gloria Bigelow, Jackie Monahan, and Leah Dubie
Free gay-themed stand-up comedy show featuring the gals above
as regulars/hosts, plus tonight's guests:
Selena Coppack, Jessimae Peluso, and Scott Ryan.
8:00 pm at RubyFruit Bar & Grill, 531 Hudson Street (between West 10th & Charles); free
Luminous stars Jason Sudeikis and Amy Poehler of Saturday Night Live...
...and genius comedy performers Anthony King, Christina Gausas, and Michael Delaney
Classic theatre scenes performed by professional actors who stay on book—
and an improv comic who hasn't read the play and has to make up lines on the fly.
Starring genius improvisers: Michael Delaney (The Stepfathers, The Swarm), Christina Gausas (Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Stepfathers, Dorff & Gausas), Anthony King (brilliant UCBT-NY Artistic Director; Reuben Williams, Happy Hour, Let's Have a Ball, off-Broadway show
Gutenberg! The Musical), Amy Poehler (Saturday Night Live cast member for five seasons and Weekend Update co-anchor for two seasons; luminous movie star in such hit features as
Mean Girls, and the upcoming Mr. Woodcock, Fast Track, and Southland Tales; co-founder of
milestone comedy troupe the Upright Citizens Brigade), and Jason Sudeikis (Saturday Night Live
writer since 2003 and cast member since 2006; former love interest of Liz Lemmon on 30 Rock).
And also starring are some of NYC's top theatre actors: Jason Antoon (Contact), Jenn Gambatese (Is He Dead?), Jason Kravits (The Drowsy Chaperone), Sandy Rustin (Neil Simon's Hotel Suite), and Amy Rutberg (Our Leading Lady).
Gravid Water is directed, hosted, and co-stars Stephen Ruddy...
and is one of the finest comedy productions in New York.
If you want to introduce an actor friend to the world of improv, start with this show.
8:00 pm at UCBT, 307 West 26th Street (off 8th Avenue); tickets are $5
Political cartoonist David Rees 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 cartoonist David Rees, who creates political cartoon
series and books such as Get Your War On (for a sample, please click here).
To get a feel for STM, view a fun interview with David Rees from his previous
visit to the show (on October 15, 2007) 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
Melinda Hill and John Oliver...
...and Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer, and Aziz Ansari (a.k.a. Human Giant)
The wonderful stars of MTV comedy hit Human Giant—
Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer, and recently-shaved Aziz Ansari—
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 star comics, including
John Oliver (brilliant stand-up comic; delightful & hilarious news correspondent for
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, co-writer/star of The Department for BBC Radio 4;
currently perfecting material for his first Comedy Central Presents special), and
Melinda Hill (Comedy Central's The Sarah Silverman Program and World Stands Up;
CBS' Late, Late Show With Craig Ferguson; FOX, VH1, E!; The Groundlings;
for Melinda as adorable and thoroughly hilarious tooth fairy, please click here;
for Melinda doing comedy riffs on her mom, please click here).
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 1/29/08
Tonight's recommendations for the best in NYC live comedy include
terrific female stand-up comics, including Margot Leitman, Giulia Rozzi, and Abbi Crutchfield
(explaining "How to Use a Mascara Wand as a Shiv") at Carolyn Castiglia's Chicks & Giggles (8:00 pm),
always-fun explorations of comic books with a comedic slant at Comic Book Club (8:00 pm),
wonderful star stand-ups Dave Hill, Mike Birbiglia, and Victor Varnado, plus acclaimed comedy
screenwriter/director John Hamburg, at the 150th edition of the fabulous Seth Herzog's Sweet (9:00 pm),
and some of the best improvisors in NYC mixing it up at The Blender (11:00 pm).
For details, please click here.
An Exciting New Source of Comedy on the Web
One of the most positive forces for comedy in our time,
the Upright Citizens Brigade (see directly below) has just launched a comedy Web site.
Called UCBcomedy.com, it's designed to be a home for hilarious sketches,
new TV series ideas, music videos, live performances, pranks, found footage, and more.
The site plans to host fresh videos every day and a new original short every Tuesday.
(The first short is titled Shirts and Skins, stars Matt Besser, Matt Walsh, Sean Conroy, and Joe Nuņez, and is both funny and disturbing...) The founding members of UCB—Matt Besser,
Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh—are comedic geniuses; and
through their school/theatres in New York and LA, they've helped shape
an entire generation of fresh, brilliant comedy talent who've spread UCB's
wonderful philosophies and techniques around the country.
Can UCB do for Web comedy what it's already done for
live and TV comedy? Visit UCBcomedy.com regularly and
decide for yourself about this new venture, "UCB's third stage."
Amy Poehler: ASSSSCAT—Sexy Tennis
Matt Walsh: Dog Bites Man—Jewish Room
Matt Walsh: Dog Bites Man—Racism
Matt Walsh & Matt Besser: Al Roker
Ian Roberts: Martin and Orloff
Ian Roberts et al: UCB—Astronaut Racism
(to purchase DVDs of the Upright Citizens Brigade TV show,
please click for Season 1
and to purchase a fine taped version of UCB's signature live show ASSSSCAT!,
which was performed in 2007 at the LA Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, please click here)
Abbi Crutchfield, Carolyn Castiglia, and Giulia Rozzi
Carolyn Castiglia hosts a lineup of talented female stand-up comics.
Tonight's scheduled guests are:
Margot Leitman (Late Night with Conan O'Brien, VH1, ESPN;
co-host of red-hot NYC live comedy show Stripped Stories;
for Margot's fun reel, please click here),
Giulia Rozzi (VH1's Best Night Ever podcasts; monthly video series The Message Board, which makes fun of brides, on ComedyNet.com; co-producer of East coast version of hit national show Mortified; other co-host of monthly NYC red-hot live comedy show Stripped Stories;
for a video sample, please click here),
Abbi Crutchfield (possibly as Dr. Eric Newberry, feminist motivational speaker who teaches class on self-defense via everyday items, e.g., "How to Use a Mascara Wand as a Shiv"),
Jodie Wasserman (Comedy Central's Premium Blend and Comic Remix, BET),
Mara Herron (Maury), and
Susannah Perlman (Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad).
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 Alex Zalben, Justin Tyler and Pete LePage,
who enjoy discussing comic books while getting laughs.
Tonight's industry guests are Greg Pak (World War Hulk)
and Fred Van Lente (Action Philisophers).
8:00 pm at The Peoples Improv Theater, 154 West 29th Street (off 7th Avenue); tickets are $5
The Harold is longform improv, pioneered by Del Close.
Tonight, five improv troupes—
Twelve Thousand Dollars, 1985, fwand, Bastian, and Raynard—
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
Dave Hill, Mike Birbiglia, Victor Varnado, and Seth Herzog
Hosted by the razor-sharp, dynamic, and hilarious Seth Herzog (VH1's Best Week Ever).
This is one of the finest comedy shows in NYC; and tonight is extra special, as it's the 150th.
Tonight's wonderful all-star guests include
Dave Hill (written for The New York Times, Salon, HBO, and the eerie
Web site Black Metal Dialogues; written and performed for VH1, Spike TV,
The Learning Channel, and the fabulous Smoking Gun TV series; hosts monthly
UCBT extravaganza The Dave Hill Explosion—to learn more, please click here),
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; new Comedy Central special What I Should Have Said is Nothing airing
in a couple of weeks, so please keep an eye out for that;
comedy CDs Two Drink Mike and My Secret Public Journal—Live;
for sample stand-up videos, please click here and here),
Victor Varnado (Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Comedy Central's Premium Blend, NBC's My Name is Earl, Chicago City Limits; for a stand-up sample, please click here), and
John Hamburg (creator/writer/director of CBS' new single-camera sitcom Welcome to the Captain; writer/director of movie hit Along Came Polly; co-writer of such other movie hits as Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers, and Zoolander).
9:00 pm at The Slipper Room, 167 Orchard Street (corner of Stanton Street); tickets are $5
Stellar members of various UCBT improv teams are
mixed together to form new teams for just an evening.
Tonight's (pretty awesome) one-time-only troupes are:
Team 1: Bobby Moynihan, Silvija Ozols, Aubrey Plaza, Ben Rodgers, Nick Ross,
Gavin Speiller, Charlie Todd, and Greg Tuculescu.
Team 2: Bob Acevedo, Brian Barrett, Jen Bartels, Eric Bernat, Jackie Clarke,
Eugene Cordero, Megan Neuringer, and Charlie Sanders.
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 1/30/08
Tonight's recommendations for the best in NYC live comedy include
the magical Livia Scott delivering a brilliant performance in her one-woman show about OJ Simpson fans,
plus a joyously silly celebration of school days, in Goodnight, O.J. and High School Talent Show (8:00 pm),
typically stellar stand-up comics at Eugene Mirman's & Bobby Tisdale's Invite Them Up (9:00 pm),
one of the most fascinating and hilarious storytelling shows in NYC, The Nights of Our Lives (9:30 pm),
and a laid-back free show where virtually anything can happen on a School Night (11:00).
For details, please click here.
This year's ECNY Awards were presented January 28, 2008 at a gala event at Comix.
After an almost two-year hiatus, the ECNY Awards, New York's original comedy awards,
were resurrected and completely revamped by a group of brilliant NYC comedy stars:
Jon Friedman (The Rejection Show at UCBT, Slightly Buzzed at Rififi), Alex Goldberg (world-class sketch troupe Fearsome), Carol Hartsell (Drink at Work at Ochi's Lounge), Nate (gold standard comedy site The Apiary), and Alex Zalben (spectacular annual SketchFest NYC, Comic Book Club at The PIT, ace sketch troupe Elephant Larry). Bless them all
for the enormous hard, and very smart, work they put into making this happen.
ECNY was originally an acronym for Emerging Comics of New York,
but that was ditched this year to allow the finest talents in NYC
to be recognized whether they're "emerging" or not.
And the nominees truly included some of the most razor-sharp,
awesomely talented, and hilarious comics in the country.
(To learn more about ECNY, please click here and here.)
As for the winners, each of whom richly deserves the recognition, they are as follows:
Best Director
Kurt Braunohler (Penelope: Princess of Pets, Big Black Ballet, Police Procedures)
Best Improv Group
Glennis McMurray & Eliza Skinner: I Eat Pandas
Best One Person Show
Nick Kroll (Fabrice Fabrice)
Best Sketch Comedy Group
Outstanding Achievement in Postcard or Flyer Design
Keith Huang & Matt Johnson (for The Apple Sisters)
Best Technician
Best Short Comedic Film
Best Web Site—Original Comedic Content
Best Web Site—News or Commentary
The Apiary (run by one-man army Nate)
Best Host(s)
Eugene Mirman & Michael Showalter (Tearing the Veil of Maya @ Brooklyn's Union Hall)
Best Variety Show
The Greg Johnson and Larry Murphy Show
Emerging Comic Award
Best Musical Comedy Act
Best Male Stand-Up Comedian
Best Female Stand-Up Comedian
ECNY Lifetime Achievement Award
Eloquent ECNY producer Alex Goldberg added, "We couldn't be more proud
of the winners. Over 5,000 people voted online, coupled with our industry committee
votes, making sure this was the fairest ECNYs ever. These winners truly represent
the best New York, and the world, has to offer."
Agreed. Huge congratulations to the winners...and to everyone who was nominated.
As Sparks Fly Upward: Stories->Improv->Sketch
This comedy troupe tells stories off the top of their heads, then improvises
scenes based on the tales...which may later turn into scripted sketches.
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,
Chris Caniglia, Scott Eckert, Sarah Nowak, Nate Starkey, and Shelly Stover.
6:00 pm at The Peoples Improv Theater, 154 West 29th Street (off 7th Avenue); free
Livia Scott in Goodnight, O.J...
...and High School Talent Show's Ilana & Eliot Glazer (left) and Mindy Raf (right)
Goodnight, O.J. and High School Talent Show
Two terrific sketch shows for a mere five bucks.
Brilliant comedic chameleon Livia Scott (Late Night with Conan O'Brien,
world-class sketch group Meat, Livia's Castle of Enchantment), wrote and performs
this superb ECNY Award-nominated one-woman show, described as follows:
"In 1994, while he was in prison and on trial for murder, O.J. Simpson received
over 300,000 letters. To help pay for his defense and gain public support,
he had them published in a book called I Want to Tell You by O.J. Simpson: My Response
to Your Letters, Your Messages, Your Questions. Alternately humorous, disturbing,
and poignant, Goodnight, O.J. explores the minds of the people who wrote him."
The idea is clever; but Livia's thoughtful choices and hilarious performance make this truly special...and recommended. For a video sample, please click here. Directed by
Baron Vaughn (MTV's The Gamekillers, VH1's Best Week Ever, Shoot the Messenger).
The double-bill then continues with High School Talent Show,
a fun extravaganza from brother-sister duo Eliot & Ilana Glazer in which
"Upper Central High School's brightest stars take to the stage to deliver rabble-rousing performances in song, dance, magic, slam poetry, stilts, and more!" The cast of enormously talented comics playing high school students includes Ann Carr, Carolyn Castiglia, Shawn Hollenbach, Rob Lathan, and brilliant writer/singer Mindy Raf.
8:00 pm at UCBT, 307 West 26th Street (off 8th Avenue); tickets are $5
Hosted by comedy greats Eugene Mirman and Bobby Tisdale (above).
The lineup—which is usually stellar—tends to be posted late afternoon
on the day of the show. To check whether the Web page
has been updated yet, please click here.
9:00 pm at Rififi, 332 East 11th Street (between 1st & 2nd Avenues); tickets are $5
The Nights of Our Lives: Two Sides to Every Story
This is one of the best shows in New York.
The format is simple: A bunch of razor-sharp writer/performers tell stories
about themselves revolving around the evening's theme
—which tonight is "two sides to every story."
The only rules are that the tales must be true, and must be funny.
The brutal honesty, and jarring bravery, of some the participants can be hair-raising.
What they offer aren't merely jokes, but resonant, humane perspectives on life.
At the same time, there are very few shows, on or off Broadway,
that will make you laugh as consistently and as loud.
Enormous kudos go to host David Martin; and to brilliant storytellers
Anthony Atamanuik, John Flynn, Chris Gethard, Curtis Gwinn,
Anthony King, Margot Leitman, Adam Pally, and the other comedy soldiers
who've bared some of their darkest and funniest secrets on the Nights of Our Lives stage.
8:00 pm at UCBT, 307 West 26th Street (off 8th Avenue); tickets are $5
Kurt Braunohler, Pat Shay, and Kimmy Gatewood
The Faculty and The Baldwins and Sid Viscous
Some of the PIT's instructors—who include such talents as Ali Farahnakian,
Kurt Braunohler, Ptolemy Slocum, Jen Nails, Pat Shay, Matt Donnelly, Kevin Scott,
Rebekka Johnson, and Kimmy Gatewood—perform improv for around 30 minutes.
And opening for them will be house improv troupes The Baldwins and Sid Viscous.
9:30 pm at The Peoples Improv Theater, 154 West 29th Street (off 7th Avenue); free
Host Justin Purnell provides a mix of guests who perform stand-up, improv, music,
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.
Come support the experimentation, and periodic magical surprises,
that this free show makes possible.
11:00 pm at UCBT, 307 West 26th Street (off 8th Avenue); free
NYC Comedy Picks for Thursday 1/31/08
Tonight's recommendations for the best in NYC live comedy include
the delightful Kate Hess & Shelly Stover singing & crying for laughs, and real-life ER doctor Devlyn Corrigan
providing an insider's look at life at NYC hospitals, in We Kate Shelly and This is Gonna Hurt (8:00 pm),
superb stand-up comics Heather Fink, Victor Varnado, Brooke Van Poppelen, and Peter Kassn