HyReviews.com
The Most Complete & Accurate Info on NYC's Best
Live Comedy Shows—
Stand-Up, Improv, Sketch, Storytelling, Variety, and More, Fully Updated
Daily—
Plus Comedy Discounts, Theatre
Discounts, Top
Jokes, Top
Videos, and More
From legendary NYC comedy site Brooklyn Vegan: If you want to know what is happening in NYC comedy on a particular day, you gotta get hip to this dude Hy Bender and his site Best New York Comedy (or HyReviews.com). The site is updated daily and features a super exhaustive look at what is happening in the NYC comedy world that particular day. The site is updated religiously...It is your daily comedy itinerary and it scares me how on top of his shit this guy is.
Last updated on Wednesday May 22nd 2013
Please click to go directly to:
Best NYC Live Comedy Tonight (normally updated daily...)
HyReviews.com's Comedy Videos of the Month: Pete Holmes: Nice Try, The Devil
HyReviews.com's TV Show of the Month: Andrea Rosen's Take Me to Your Mother
HyReviews.com's Indie Comedy Film of the Month: The Exquisite Corpse Project
Red-Hot Shows Likely to Sell Out: John Oliver & Janeane Garofalo on 5/20 at Morrison Motel
Previous HyReviews.com Favorite Jokes
Previous HyReviews.com Comedy Videos of the Month
NYC Comedy Club Discounts—NO COVER on all Eastville & select Greenwich & Broadway shows!
(Eastville Comedy, Greenwich Village Comedy, Broadway Comedy, Dangerfield's)
Hy's Latest (15th) Book: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Thyroid Disease
Hy's Book Proposal, Screenplay Doctoring, and Ghostwriting Services
NYC Comedy Picks (normally updated daily...)
On May 2nd I had knee surgery. It's been a struggle since then to keep these daily listings going; but I managed.
Today, however, my PC effectively died. (It can be resurrected for about seven minutes—allowing me to write this—but then, with no warning, dies again...)
Am reading this as the universe telling me, "Hy, take a break."
So I'm gonna.
The daily comedy listings are going on hiatus from today, May 22nd, through at least the end of the month.
I can still be reached via email; and I'm still able to perform my professional writing & editing work (which doesn't require finicky Web software).
Please tune in on June 1st to see where I'm at with my health, my attempts to get a replacement computer set up, and the status of the HyReviews.com and BestNewYorkComedy.com sites.
Meanwhile—while the information isn't as detailed, complete, or accurate (e.g., shows are listed that aren't actually happening that night, requiring double-checking)—the next best source for comedy listings is the Time Out New York website, which you can visit here.
Hope to see you again on June 1st.
Love,
Hy
To view HyReviews.com NYC Comedy Picks from previous weeks, please click here.
HyReviews.com's TV Show of the Month:
Andrea Rosen's Take Me to Your Mother
Celebrate Mother's Day every day by watching Andrea Rosen's wonderful new docuseries airing on NickMom at 10:00 pm...
...and available online for free here, and free for members of Hulu.com Plus and Amazon.com Prime: Take Me to Your Mother
To read HyReviews.com's Favorite Jokes, please click here.
HyReviews.com's Indie Comedy Movie of the Month:
Megan Raye Manzi, the luminous and brilliantly talented actress starring in The Exquisite Corpse Project...
...and the film's visionary director, Ben Popik
Olde English is a sharp group of sketch comics who performed
together for years on both stage and video...but one day simply drifted apart.
Then the director of the group, Ben Popik, suggested a project:
Each member write 15 pages of a screenplay...while getting to see only
the last five pages of the previous writer.
It's a fun gimmick to create a marketing hook for the movie. Naturally, the results of the film made from the screenplay are mixed; but they're not the crazy quilt you might expect.
A critical element that makes the latter work is phenomenally talented actress Megan Raye Manzi. While she has to play wildly different versions of her character in each 15-page sequence, she creates a solid underlying core that's always compelling and emotionally believable, allowing us to care deeply about her character throughout. Manzi is the invaluable glue that holds the "fiction" part of this project together.
Further, the execution of the screenplay is only one side of the coin of this movie. The other major component is documentary footage of the members of the group interacting before, during, and after the project. The latter is handled so subtly and artfully by director Popik that what The Exquisite Corpse Project is really about didn't sneak up on me until near the end—and then hit me in the head in a way that I'll long remember.
In a nutshell, this is a transcendent story about creative relationships...and the nature of relationships in general. And that turns what in lesser hands would be a gimmicky comedy into a genuinely great film.
As an added bonus, at the 1:01 mark, Olde English member Raphael Bob-Waksberg gives the finest description you're ever likely to hear of what it means to be a screenwriter in Hollywood.
You can watch the vibrant work of Ben Popik, Megan Raye Manzi, and the other very talented folks involved at your convenience, because this movie is available for download anytime for a mere $5 here. You can also check out the trailer here. Highly recommended.
Red-Hot Shows Likely to Sell Out
Comedy genius John Oliver performs on May 20th with Janeane Garofalo and more at the Morrison Motel
[TOP PICK] [DISCOUNTED] 8:30 pm on Monday May 20th ($15 if you mention HyReviews.com [otherwise $20], which includes one drink. As of 5/16, this show has SOLD OUT. You can try calling 212.989.9319 to reserve a spot on the waiting list, but there may be a bunch of folks ahead of you): John Oliver (star correspondent of The Daily Show—and who'll be hosting this summer while Jon Stewart is off directing his first film—co-star of NBC's Community, star of Comedy Central's New York Stand-Up Show, screenwriter, and genius stand-up comic), TV & movie star Janeane Garofalo, Liam McEneaney (Comedy Central, VH1's Best Week Ever, Showtime, host of Tell Your Friends), and "a special guest" performing stand-up at the Cornelia Street Cafe for John Morrison's Morrison Motel
HyReviews.com's Comedy DVD/Album of the Month:
Pete Holmes: Nice Try, The Devil
Something I've known for years is finally making it into
the mainstream:
Pete Holmes is not only
a comedy treasure, but one of our greatest comics ever.
First Pete broke into Hollywood as a sitcom writer for NBC and
FOX; then he started the highly popular
podcast You
Made It Weird; and now he's slated to
have a show directly
following Conan O'Brien.
On top of all that, Pete currently has an hour-long
special running on Comedy
Central,
with an expanded version available on CD and DVD: Nice
Try, The Devil. Some samples & classic bits:
Why Google Makes Life Meaningless
Review of Pete's Show by Robots
Previous HyReviews.com Comedy Videos of the Month
Special Freebies & Discounts for HyReviews.com Insiders
Almost all the recommendations and discounts HyReviews.com provides
appear directly
on this site. However, occasionally I may feel an offer
is so special that it merits extra attention.
Also, sometimes comedy clubs,
theatres, and others contact me with offers that they
don't want on a searchable Web page but that they're happy to provide to my
readers.
If you'd like to take advantage of such opportunities, please provide your name and email address, and once in a while you'll receive a notice directly from me about cool deals.
(Your email address will never be sold, rented, or given away to anyone else.)
Please use the subscribe box below to become a comedy/theatre Insider.
Special thanks to comedy photographer supreme Anya Garrett for creating so many of the stellar photos that grace this site...and the sites of hundreds of NYC comics.
Please check out these New York City theatre sections of HyReviews.com:
Hy on Theatre Discounts: See Great Shows for as Little as $4
Please also check out these New York City comedy sections of HyReviews.com:
Previous HyReviews.com Videos of the Month
For a comprehensive list of links to all the sections
on this
site, please see the Site Index below (or click here).
If you'd enjoy an elegant evening at an NYC comedy club
but also want to save some money, please click here.
You can get free tickets for all shows at the Eastville Comedy Club,
free tickets to most shows at the Broadway Comedy Club, and
free & 50% discount ticket offers for Dangerfield's Comedy Club.
Top NYC Comedy Venues
The following are the primary theatres hosting notable NYC comedy shows:
Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre West (UCB West)
Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre East (UCB East or UCBeast)
The Creek and the Cave (Queens LIC)
I'm trying to keep this section super-concise,
but If a top site isn't listed that you think oughta be,
please drop me a note and I'll take a close look.
Comedy Coverage
(in alphabetical order):
Comedy Providers
(in alphabetical order):
Hy's Current Favorite Craigslist Ads
Please note: Note a word has been changed in the ads below. My comments are in boldface.
Poet/Artist/God's Wife Looking for a Literary Agent or Publisher
Date: 2010-02-04, 10:19 am EST
Reply to: kristiedono@yahoo.com
I have a wonderful poetry book, creative, wild images and a really good magical story to tell.
[You have a poetry book—um, with images and a story?]
I am looking to sell my poetry book with images and then my story
to someone.
[So you have a poetry book with images...and you also have a story in an undefined form. And for some reason you need to sell the poetry before you sell the story...to "someone." That's a bit confusing, but whatever; it's not like you're claiming to be a wordsmith...]
I am God's wife, and the story is about our life together.
[Ah.]
It's got spirituality, love, tragedy, adventure, crime, violence,
music, sex, a little bit of everything.
[Actually, you left out drugs.
But that's okay; at this point,
drugs are heavily implied...]
I have a diary of our letters to each other, and the poems are like letters I wrote to God in a creative way.
[As opposed to the non-creative steamy porn that you actually wrote to your stud boyfriend God.]
This will be a big hit, it is a beautiful story, you won't be disappointed.
[The odds are good. God's last book was a huge bestseller.]
God is a black man on Earth and a musician. I have proof.
[It's a hip-hopera DVD titled Trapped in the Closet.
Thing is, God turned insane in 2000.
(Which explains a lot...)]
This is a great story. I am also a great writer and poet and artist.
[And 100% real. You can check out Kristie's Web site at http://www.harttherapy.blogspot.com.]
Need Urban Ghost Writers (Metro Atlanta)
Date: 2009-11-13, 6:33PM EST
Reply to: writelikeyoufeel@yahoo.com
Looking for creative ghost writers with excellent grammar skills and ideas.
[Because that's what makes a writer great: killer grammar, and concepts.]
Male and females are encouraged to apply.
[Translation: Sorry, I don't work with hermaphrodites.]
Serious inquiries only...Please do not respond if you are not serious!
[Translation: I'm sooo tired of people making fun of me...]
Writer Wanted for Book to be Published (Hartland, WI)
Date: 2009-09-29, 1:52AM CDT
Reply to: job-tvm4r-1397614923@craigslist.org
I am writing a book and need someone who can
help me with writing my story.
I am seeking someone who is spiritual in nature
and believes that by reading this
you are the person designed to write it.
Give me a call at 262-xxx-xxxx and introduce yourself.
[Hello. I have been designed to write your book.
Thank you for fulfilling my destiny.
The days, months, and years of constantly reading
Craigslist ads in search of purpose have finally
been rewarded. I am eager to start work on
our spiritual instant classic I Was Born
to Ghostwrite Someone Else's Book.]
Writers for Wheelchair Book (San Diego—Mission Valley)
Date: 2009-09-28, 10:41AM PDT
Reply to: bouncesdtalent@gmail.com
Easy Life Inc. is looking to write a book about purchasing a new wheelchair.
We are looking for 2-3 writers to provide 200 pages of content each.
[In other words, we want a 600-page book...about buying a wheelchair.]
We want fresh ideas that relate to buying a wheelchair.
[Idea #42: Raise cash as drug mule.
Cops
will never suspect crippled old coot like you.]
Please send a sample or two of your writings, your rates,
and 2-3 BRIEF topics that you would contribute to this book.
Writings will be submitted weekly for originality
and to assure you are going in the right direction.
[If you're going in the wrong direction, we'll grab
hold of your wheelchair and point you the right way.]
We want you to exhaust any and all ideas
that go into purchasing a motorized wheelchair.
[At which point the Seventh Seal will be broken,
commencing the Apocalypse.]
Once you have exhausted that
go into manual wheelchairs,
then walkers, crutches, etc.
[And after you've exhausted all hope of support,
we want to you to crawl on your belly before us.
Crawl like the worm you are.]
Previous SEO experience a plus. Local to San Diego preferred.
In the subject line: WHEELCHAIR
[Or just: END OF THE WORLD.
Either way.]
Take a look at our Web site at http://www.powerchairatnocost.com.
Compensation: $750 to $1,500 DOE
[Again, this ad is 100% real. If you have
fresh ideas about buying a wheelchair...]
Hy's Book and Screenplay Services
In addition to this Web site, I run two commercial editorial services:
If you have any other type of writing or editing need, I can probably tackle it as well. To get in touch, please email me at hy@hyreviews.com.
Hy's Other Web Sites:
Copyright © 2013 Hy Bender
Email: hy@hyreviews.com
