NYC Comedy Picks for Monday 11/12/07
Tonight's recommendations for the best in NYC live comedy include
Joe Mande & Noah Garfinkel hosting a small mob of talented comics at Totally J/K (8:00 pm),
Todd Hanson, editor/writer for The Onion, interviewed at Shoot the Messenger (8:30 pm),
star comic Mike Birbiglia performing a one-time UCBT showcase for his Stand-Up (9:30),
and some of the sharpest comics around, including Joe Mande, Anthony Jeselnik,
Jessi Klein, and Jim Gaffigan at a temporary stand-in for Crash Test, Cavalcade! (11:00 pm).
Hosts Noah Garfinkel and Joe Mande, and John Mulaney
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 guests include the wonderful & razor-sharp
John Mulaney (VH1's Best Week Ever, Late Night with Conan O'Brien;
for stand-up samples, please click here and here),
Paul Oddo ("My girlfriend asked me what color bra she should buy. I said it didn't matter. Breasts go with everything;" for a video stand-up sample, please click here),
Joselyn Hughes (for video questioning the effectiveness of rape whistles, please click here),
Mookie Blaiklock (for odd TV ad, please click here; for stand-up sample including
routine about actor headshots and Mr. T, please click here), and
Harris Wittels (Jimmy Kimmel Live; writer for 2007 MTV Video Music Awards).
8:00 pm at Rififi, 332 East 11th Street (between 1st & 2nd Avenues); tickets are $5
Charles Star, Liz Miele, and Becky Donohue
Hosted by Billy Reno (SNL's Weekend Update, Caroline's; for
video samples, please click here and here). Tonight's guests are
Becky Donohue (Comedy Central's Premium Blend, Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn),
Liz Miele (Carolines; for wry, fun video stand-up sample, please click here),
Charles Star (Onion News Network; Stay Free! Daily blog; host of
monthly Brooklyn comedy show Pant-Hoot),
Jesse Joyce (Comedy Central's Live At Gotham and 2007 Campus College Tour; hosted AMC's
Date Night; comedy CD Joyce To The World; for video about killer bees, please click here), and
Matt Taylor (MTV's Parental Control; host of Astoria, Queens show Tuesday Night Comedy).
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)
Todd Hanson and 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 Todd Hanson, story editor & writer since 1990 for The Onion. Hanson has also been a writer for Space Ghost Coast to Coast; is a VO cast member of Adult Swim's Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Squidbillies; and has been a guest on such other shows as Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Janeane Garofalo & Sam Seder's radio program The Majority Report. For a print interview with Hanson, please click here.
To get a feel for the show, view a fun STM 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.
Mike Birbiglia performs smart, relaxed, and very funny comedy. (Sample line: "If the best part of waking up is Folgers in my cup, I'm not sure I want to wake up.") He's appeared on Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Conan O'Brien; done two Comedy Central Presents specials; and has two comedy CDs out, Two Drink Mike and the brand new My Secret Public Journal—Live. For sample videos, please click here and here.
If you enjoy thoughtful stand-up delivered with great skill,
come enjoy Mike tonight for this showcase.
9:30 pm at UCBT, 307 West 26th Street (off 8th Avenue); tickets are $5
All-female improv group Frank consists of Elizabeth Blue, Leslie Collins, Julie Dulude, Caroline Goldrick, Mary Jacobson, Desiree Nash, and Abigoliah Schaumaun.
Tonight the gals will be joined by another all-female troupe: KAPE,
consisting of Kelly Hudson, Amber Nelson, Emily Strachan, and Jill Morris.
9:30 pm at The Peoples Improv Theater, 154 West 29th Street (off 7th Avenue); tickets are $5
Hosts Sean O'Connor & Joe Mande...
...and Anthony Jeselnik (being lauded by Robin Williams), Jim Gaffigan, and Jessi Klein
This UCBT time slot is normally reserved for Crash Test
hosted by Aziz Ansari (one of the best stand-up comics on the planet,
and co-star with fellow brilliant comics Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer
of MTV hit comedy series Human Giant). However, Aziz, Paul and Rob are
tied up shooting the second season of Human Giant, so Crash Test
is going on hiatus until Aziz is able to focus on his live show again.
(For insider notes about the HG production and sneak peaks at new videos,
please visit the guys' Web site at thehumangiant.com.)
Andy Blitz
Happily, last week's Crash Test was the strangest in its entire run,
and the memory of it will likely linger until Aziz is ready to return.
Hosted by Andy Blitz, who is a comedy genius (best known for being
a writer and performer for Late Night with Conan O'Brien since 1999),
most of the show consisted of Blitz simply chatting with an elderly man in the
front row whose name appears in the phone book as George George.
Essentially, George wanted an unlisted number without having to pay extra for it
so supplied a phony last name; but the full story took about 15 minutes to relate...
George also explained how Steve "Guts-'n-berg," star of Police Academy,
"invented the invention;" how George was arrested in Brooklyn for smoking;
and why George should be on stage instead of the comics who'd been booked.
The initial conversation lasted 40 minutes—
with Andy interrupting halfway in just to call a friend and say,
"You have to get over here. 26th and 8th. No, trust me. It's worth it."
Andy also resumed chatting with George after each comic's set throughout the show.
Every now and then, after George said something particularly astonishing,
Andy would remark, "How did you happen? And why did you happen tonight?"
Then towards the end, the light dawned.
"Oh no!" said Andy. " I get it now. You're me in 10 years!!"
I'm definitely not alone in considering the evening memorable.
If you visit the UCBT Men's room, you'll find someone has added
"I 
George George;
5 stars" to the wall by the sink...
Anyway...tonight kicks off a series of stand-up shows titled Cavalcade!
The hosts are the razor-sharp and hilarious Joe Mande (co-host of
the biweekly comedy show Totally J/K, which was on tonight at 8:00) and
Sean O'Connor (co-host of the weekly show Smiletime with Sean and Shawn;
VH1; New York Post's Top 20 Entertainers to Watch For in 2006; upcoming album
Shmeat is Shmurder; for stand-up samples, please click here and here).
And tonight's brilliantly funny guests are
star comic Jim Gaffigan (Late Show With David Letterman [11 appearances],
Late Night with Conan O'Brien [16 appearances], Comedy Central Presents),
Anthony Jeselnik (phenomenal stand-up specializing in darkly shocking jokes;
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),
Jessi Klein (winner of 2003 ECNY Best Female Stand-Up award; Director
of Development at Comedy Central; Comedy Central's Premium Blend
and Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn; VH1's Best Week Ever;
NBC's The Today Show; The Showbiz Show with David Spade;
voice of Lucy on Adult Swim's Lucy the Daughter of the Devil;
for a video stand-up sample about which celebrity would save
the most Jews, and on email etiquette, please click here and here), and
Harris Wittels (Jimmy Kimmel Live; writer for 2007 MTV Video Music Awards).
And it's all free.
11:00 pm at UCBT, 307 West 26th Street (off 8th Avenue); free
NYC Comedy Picks for Tuesday 11/13/07
Tonight's recommendations for the best in NYC live comedy include
delightfully sharp comics Sara Schaefer, Negin Farsad, and Lang Fisher at Chicks & Giggles (8:00 pm)
and the wonderful Cracked Out, Dave Hill, and Leo Allen at Sweet (9:00 pm).
Negin Farsad, Sara Schaefer, and Lang Fisher
Carolyn Castiglia hosts a lineup of talented female comics.
Tonight's fabulous guests are the delightful
Sara Schaefer (VH1's Best Week Ever, E! Network's Rise of the Geeks, UCBT's Video Gaga),
Negin Farsad (Comedy Central's The Watch List, comedy troupes Madame Funnypants
and Three Jews and a Persian, Laughing Liberally at Town Hall, host of NYC
live comedy show Dirty Immigrant Collective; for a video sample, please click here),
Lang Fisher (writer and performer of funny videos for The Onion News Network,
Comedy Central, etc.; for a sample, please click here),
Margaret Dodge (drummer for Manson Family Singers),
Poppi Kramer (At-Home Winner of NBC's The Biggest Loser Season 3;
Suddenly Stand-Up at The Duplex), and
and Jacqueline Novak (for "response to heckler" video, please click here).
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 guest is Chris Grace, member of comedy improv troupe Fancy Dragon...
and, based on his photo above, quite possibly a comic book fan.
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—
Decoster, Tantrum, 1985, fwand, 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
Cracked Out, Leo Allen, and Dave Hill
The sharp & witty Seth Herzog (VH1's Best Week Ever) is currently in LA,
so taking over hosting chores tonight will be Cracked Out:
artfully shocking chameleons Jon Daly & Brett Gelman parodying a hip-hop group.
For samples of the duo's mind-blowing videos, please click here and here,
and check out their album Fleetwood Cracked.
Tonight's guests include the wonderful
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; host monthly
UCBT extravaganza The Dave Hill Explosion—to learn more, please click here),
Leo Allen (writer for Saturday Night Live 2002-2005; Late Night with
Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Presents, Ed, Sex and the City), and
Jeff Kreisler (political comic who recently won the Bill Hicks Award for Provoking Thought;
writer for Comedy Central's Indecision; creator of the Comedy Against Evil tour;
author of upcoming book Get Rich Cheating).
9:00 pm at The Slipper Room, 167 Orchard Street (corner of Stanton Street); tickets are $5
NYC Comedy Picks for Wednesday 11/14/07
Pat Shay
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 (who's away this week), 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
Charlie Todd, Scott Bateman, and Matt McCarthy
Jon Friedman hosts a delightful parade of rejected material
by exceptional writers and performers. Tonight's guests include
Charlie Todd (prankster who's one of New York Magazine's Ten Funniest New Yorkers You've Never Heard Of) presenting material rejected by his group Improv Anywhere,
the cast of the recently canceled Buffy The Musical,
Scott Bateman (cartoonist who produced an animated short a day for a year; Plum TV's Scott Bateman Presents Scott Bateman Presents; Salon.com weekly animated series), and
Matt McCarthy trying to resolve a dispute with The Other Baldwins.
There'll also be music from fabulous comedic rockabilly band The Defibulators.
8:00 pm at UCBT, 307 West 26th Street (off 8th Avenue); tickets are $5
Margot Leitman, Jess Wood, and Rob Cantrell
Stand-up comedy normally hosted by the very funny Jenny Rubin and Matt McCarthy
(though Matt might not be there, as he's slated to be at UCBT on The Rejection Show).
Tonight's superb guests are
Rob Cantrell (Last Comic Standing, Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn,
CBS's Late Late Show, VH1),
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),
Jess Wood (very funny stand-up; HBO's Def Jam Comedy;
for documentary about her, please click here),
Michelle Buteau (Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central's Premium Blend;
for stand-up video about Utah, sharing, and tits, please click here), and
Charlie Gaeta (for stand-up video about having a gay dad in North Carolina, please click here).
To get a feel for the show overall, please click here.
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)
Negin Farsad and Charles Star
Political humor from stand-up comics
Negin Farsad (Comedy Central's The Watch List, comedy troupes Madame Funnypants
and Three Jews and a Persian, Laughing Liberally at Town Hall, host of NYC
live comedy show Dirty Immigrant Collective; for a video sample, please click here),
Charles Star (Onion News Network; Stay Free! Daily blog; host of monthly
Brooklyn comedy show Pant-Hoot; for a stand-up video about female suicide
bombers, 99 Cent Dreams, and "baby cancer," please click here),
James Adonian (frequently impersonates George W. Bush on Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson; Jimmy Kimmel Live, Mad TV, Mind of Mencia, MTV's Celebrity Death Match),
Jamie Kilstein (2007 Montreal Just for Laughs Festival; has opened for
Lewis Black, Dave Chappelle, Dave Attel, and Marc Maron),
Lee Camp (Sometimes Funny Hurts DVD; SharkBaby Comedy News Webcast; Spike TV,
E!, Law and Order: SVU; for stand-up video on political hypocrisy, please click here), and
Hilary Schwartz (songwriter, guitarist and co-lead singer for Manson Family Singers).
8:00 pm at The Tank, 279 Church Street (bet. Franklin & White Streets);
tickets are $5 if you mention you're on the Laughing Liberally mailing list (otherwise $10)
Brett Gelman, Jessi Klein, and Leo Allen
Hosted by comedy greats Eugene Mirman and Bobby Tisdale.
Tonight's stellar lineup includes
Jessi Klein (winner of 2003 ECNY Best Female Stand-Up award; Director
of Development at Comedy Central; Comedy Central's Premium Blend
and Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn; VH1's Best Week Ever;
NBC's The Today Show; The Showbiz Show with David Spade;
voice of Lucy on Adult Swim's Lucy the Daughter of the Devil;
for a video stand-up sample about which celebrity would save
the most Jews, and on email etiquette, please click here and here),
Brett Gelman (Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Colbert Report, Death by Roo Roo;
for samples of Brett's mind-blowing work with partner Jon Daly, please click here and here,
and also check out their hip-hop parody album Fleetwood Cracked),
Leo Allen (writer for Saturday Night Live 2002-2005; Late Night with Conan O'Brien,
Comedy Central Presents, Ed, Sex and the City),
Kumail (for very funny stand-up about the dark side of video games, odd memories,
and the many ways cell phones are eliminated in horror films, please click here),
James Adonian (frequently impersonates George W. Bush on Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson; Jimmy Kimmel Live, Mad TV, Mind of Mencia, MTV's Celebrity Death Match), and
Harris Wittels (Jimmy Kimmel Live; writer for 2007 MTV Video Music Awards).
9:00 pm at Rififi, 332 East 11th Street (between 1st & 2nd Avenues); tickets are $5
High School Talent Show's Ilana & Eliot Glazer (left) and Mindy Raf (right)
High School Talent Show and A Bit XXcessive
High School Talent Show is a fun extravaganza from brother-sister duo Eliot and 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.
And the other half of this double bill is A Bit XXcessive,
"a musical sketch show about our X chromosomes."
9:30 pm at UCBT, 307 West 26th Street (off 8th Avenue); tickets are $5
Kurt Braunohler, Pat Shay, and Kimmy Gatewood
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.
Afterwards, house improv troupe Sid Viscous takes the stage.
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 11/15/07
Tonight's recommendations for the best in NYC live comedy include
Glennis McMurray as a thoroughly adorable 6-year-old hosting a talk show—with superb
comic guests Kurt Braunohler and Matt McCarthy—in Shootin' The Shizz With Molly McFizz (6:30 pm),
Livia Scott and Molly Prather in two smart, dark one-woman shows: Goodnight, O.J. and That Girl (8:00 pm),
Dave Hill demonstrating he's one of the sharpest, freshest, funniest comics around, with
comedic musical guests Lady Bunny and Touching You, at The Dave Hill Explosion (9:30 pm),
and the last of the 2007 quarter-final competitions at Pat Baer's 3-on-3 Improv Tournament (11:00).
Secret Hospital and Glennis McMurray: Shootin' The Shizz With Molly McFizz
Glennis McMurray (above right; Late Night with Conan O'Brien; half of acclaimed musical improv
group I Eat Pandas; writes popular blog; for video samples, please click here and here)
is adorable, brilliant, and hilarious as 6-year-old Molly McFizz...who hosts a talk show from her bedroom. Tonight's scheduled guests are stellar comics Kurt Braunohler and Matt McCarthy;
and, as usual, Molly's sassy Aunt Colleen.
Secret Hospital is a relatively new sketch comedy troupe consisting of Michael Hartney, Patrick Inglis, Rachel Korowitz, Stan Laikowski, Dan McInerney, and Jeff Scherer (for performer bios, please click here). Tonight is scheduled to feature Batman, Hitler, the Gay Hive Mind, and a Dr. Frank Fernando. For a fun video about how you should never shake a baby, please click here.
6:30 pm at UCBT, 307 West 26th Street (off 8th Avenue); $5
Livia Scott and Molly Prather
Livia Scott: Goodnight, O.J. and Molly Prather: That Girl
Tonight, five bucks buys you two darkly funny one-woman shows.
Comedic chameleon Livia Scott (Late Night with Conan O'Brien, world-class sketch group Meat, Livia's Castle of Enchantment) wrote and performs Goodnight, O.J., which is based on a bestselling book...sort of: "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." For a video sample, please click here.
Directed by Baron Vaughn (MTV's The Gamekillers, VH1's Best Week Ever, Shoot the Messenger).
The other half of this double-bill is Molly Prather performing her one-woman show
That Girl, described as follows: "If you found yourself at a bachelor party
and someone offered you $600 to take off your shirt, you'd be an idiot not to? Right?"
This comedic play enjoyed a six-month run at UCBT-LA. Directed by Eric Hunicutt.
For an interview with Prather—and a photo demonstrating she's actually
way cuter than her show's scary poster—please click here.
8:00 pm at UCBT, 307 West 26th Street (off 8th Avenue); $5
Smile Time with Sean and Shawn
Stand-up comedy hosted by Sean O'Connor (VH1; New York Posts
Top 20 Entertainers to Watch For in 2006; upcoming album Shmeat is Shmurder;
for hilarious stand-up videos, please click here and here), and
Shawn Pearlman ("If you're in a bad neighborhood, blowing a rape whistle
is like ringing a dinner bell;" for stand-up videos, please click here and here).
Tonight's guests haven't been announced, but this show has attracted some fine talent.
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)
SpeakEasy: Stories from the Back Room
There is little as satisfying as a well-told funny story...
that is, unless you can have an entire evening packed with them.
Sherry Weaver hosts this lovely show, which she says she created because