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Abbi Jacobson & Ilana Glazer (Broad City) invite you to join them…
…at UCB Chelsea for their Stoned Sleepover Party
Tonight’s recommendations for the best in New York City comedy (in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:
[FREE] 6:00 pm ($5): Claire Ayoub interviews comedians over tea and coloring from up-and-coming illustrators in this on-stage version of her In Too Steep podcast, with this evening’s theme Katie Fisher Day Day at the UCB East theatre: The In Too Steep Tea and Coloring Party
[FREE] 6:00 pm: Open-mic stand-up for 15 comics performing for 5 minutes each at Queens LIC’s Laughing Devil Comedy Club (4738 Vernon Blvd.)—with drinks at half price: Happy Hour Open Mic
[FREE] 6:00 pm: Open-mic stand-up providing 3 minutes per comic at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre hosted by Max Corbel & Benel Germosen: Cracking It
6:00 pm (no cover, 1 drink min. for both comics and audience members): Open mic stand-up providing 5-7 minutes per comic, running 2 1/2 hours. Arrive 30 minutes before the show to get on the signup sheet. This is a fine opportunity to perform at the only comedy club in the East Village: Eastville Comedy Club Open Mic
[FREE] 7:00 pm to midnight: Five free hours of improvisation at The PIT upstairs theatre: Super Free Wednesday
7:00 pm-12:30 am ($7 for the entire evening): Magnet house troupes Dr. Champagne, Flower Girl, Bloomer, Brick, Chet Watkins, The Wrath, Nintendo, and Featherweight followed by a free audience interactive show with Featherweight at 11:30 pm: The Magnet’s Megawatt
7:30 pm ($5): Expanding the UCB longform improv showcased on Harold Night is this weekly show at UCB East which tonight features troupes Bloody Mary and Graceland: Lloyd Night
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): One of the best and one of the worst shows currently at UCB Chelsea. Starting with the positive: Four-gal comedy group Georgie Aldaco, Danielle Gibson, Viviana Olen, and Katie Simon perform a series of surreal sketches that are both unsettling and charged with comedic energy. A long bit about a mother threatening to do something surprising to her husband and son is an instant classic (when you see it, you’ll have no doubt what sketch I’m talking about…). The show could be greatly improved with periodic nuanced emotion to create a roller coaster effect—right now the audience is hit with surface shock after shock, which after a while desensitizes and loses impact—but if you’re open to the purity of conceptual comedy that challenges your sanity, you’ll enjoy Former Business Partners: Everything Must Go…
…and in the other half of this double-bill, frankly, the worst scripted UCBT show I’ve seen over the past year—terrible writing, acting, direction, a perfect storm of bad. The folks involved are very nice, though; sometimes things just don’t work out…: The State vs. Josh: The Trial of the Millennial’s
[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($14 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Colin Quinn (SNL, Comedy Central’s Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, HBO, NBC, Broadway), Nick DiPaolo (star stand-up, with numerous appearances on David Letterman, Jay Leno, Louie; Emmy-nominated comedy writer, talk show host), Dan Soder (Comedy Central, VH1; for set about being a hypochondriatic drug user, please click here), Keith Robinson (HBO, Comedy Central, Wanda Sykes Show), and Jeff Lamp (Jay Leno) performing at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) hosted by Mike Yard (Comedy Central, Def Comedy Jam): Colin Quinn, Nick DiPaolo, and More
[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($15, no min.): Nick DiPaolo (star stand-up, with numerous appearances on David Letterman, Jay Leno, Louie; Emmy-nominated comedy writer, talk show host), Mark Normand (hilarious stand-up; Conan O’Brien, Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central; co -host of Hot Soup and We’re All Friends Here), Jessica Kirson (Jay Leno, Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, HBO, Yannis Pappas (Comedy Central, VH1), and Pete Davidson performing stand-up at The Stand Comedy Club (239 Third Avenue & 20th Street): Nick DiPaolo, Mark Norman, Jessica Kirson, and More
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): Chelsea White (MTV, VH1, TLC, co-host of Call Us Crazy), Missy Baker, Lance Weiss, Nathan McIntosh, and Fariaz Rabbini performing stand-up at McSwiggan’s (393 Second Avenue off 23rd Street) hosted by Selena Coppock (author of upcoming book The New Rules for Blondes) and guest-host Emily Heller (Comedy Central, FX’s Totally Biased): Connotation: Emily Heller, Selena Coppock, Chelsea White, and More
FREE] 8:00 pm: NYC stand-ups do sets “and then have a discussion about what’s going on in the world and the mysteries of life” at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City, hosted by Chris Laker: The Show
8:00 pm ($5): The debut of a stand-up show (comics not announced) that includes a bass guitar performer to set the tone at The PIT downstairs lounge: Stand-Up Bass
[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($5): Superb improvisors—and actual brothers—Will Hines and Kevin Hines make use of their intimate knowledge of each other to gracefully invent scenes (hopefully without any squabbling) at UCB East performing as duo The Brothers Hines
[FREE] 9:00 pm: Adrienne Iapalucci (Last Comic Standing, VH1), Sheng Wang (Comedy Central Presents), Justin Williams (host of Death Comedy Jam”), Frank Liotti, Jesse Jones, and Will Carey performing stand-up at this free weekly comedy show at Lucky Jack’s Bar (129 Orchard Street) produced by Kyle Fincham, Lance Weiss, and Brendon Fitzgibbons: Gandhi, Is That You?
[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Abbi Jacobson & Ilana Glazer created Broad City as a Web series, which was then picked up for development as a TV series for FX…and is also a monthly stage show at UCB Chelsea. Tonight’s theme is Stoned Sleepover—and you’re requested to “be sure to wear PJs…no joke”—for this “delicately crafted hour of fun:” Broad City Live
9:30 pm ($8): A house sketch troupe performs a brand new show parodying Beckett and Theatre of the Absurd at The PIT upstairs theatre: National Scandal
[TOP PICK] [$] 9:45 pm ($14 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Judah Friedlander (one of the quickest minds in comedy; 30 Rock, Meet the Parents, Along Came Polly, author of How to Beat Up Anybody), Gary Gulman (David Letterman, Jay Leno, Last Comic Standing, Tourgasm, Comedy Central hour-long special), Gregg Rogell (Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, Louie, Comedy Central), Sherrod Small (writer/performer on TBS’ Are We There Yet?, Comedy Central, VH1), and Godfrey (Comedy Central Presents, Louie, 30 Rock, VH1; films Zoolander, Original Gangsters, Soul Plane; 7 Up Yours ads) performing stand-up at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) hosted by Mike Yard (Comedy Central, Def Comedy Jam): Judah Friedlander, Gary Gulman, Gregg Rogell, and More
[TOP PICK] 10:00 pm ($5): The instructors of UCB’s classes include some of the finest improvisors in the country. In this new weekly show a bunch of them get on stage at UCB East, along with hosts Betsy Stover and Ari Voukydis: Hot for Teacher: The UCB Faculty Show
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 10:00 pm: Rising stand-up stars—Jared Logan, Mike Lawrence, Mark Normand, Dan. St. Germain, Pat Dixon, Emily Heller, Michael Che, Joe List, and/or Nick Turner—at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre: The Regulars
[$] 10:30 pm ($20, no min.): If you’re a fan of MTV’s Washington Heights, come join the show’s cast as they screen the final episode of the season at The Stand Comedy Club (239 Third Avenue & 20th Street): Cast of MTV’s Washingon Heights & Season Closer
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 11:00 pm: The wonderful Sasheer Zamata (Doppelganger, Bucky, The Prom) hosts as many as a dozen guests packed into 75 minutes performing stand-up, improv, sketch, 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; and this is often one of the most amazing comedy shows in town. (Tonight’s scheduled guests haven’t yet been announced, but please check for an update—that doesn’t start with Gary Vider, the top of the list from last week—by clicking here.) Come support the experimentation, and periodic magical surprises, that this uniquely organic rollercoaster of a weekly show at UCB Chelsea makes possible—and don’t forget to toss $1 in the bucket on your way out: School Night
[FREE] 11:00 pm: Open-mic stand-up running until 1:00 am, with time divided evenly between performers (up to five minutes), at The Creek downstairs lounge in Queens’ Long Island City with host Rob Stern: Bucket ‘O Buckets
[FREE] 11:00 pm: Your opportunity to perform on the stage of UCB East with improv veterans, hosted by UCBT Harold Night house troupe Grandma’s Ashes: The Improv Jam
[$] 11:30 pm ($10 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Uncensored stand-up from Nikki Glaser (co-star of MTV’s The Nikki and Sara Show; Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, Last Comic Standing; podcast You Had to Be There), Jon Fisch (David Letterman, Comedy Central, Last Comic Standing, VH1), Kurt Metzger (Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central Presents, Ugly Americans), Andrew Schulz (MTV2′s Guy Code), and Wil Sylvince (Comedy Central, BET’s Comic View) performing at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) hosted by Mike Yard (Comedy Central, Def Comedy Jam): The Nasty Show: Nikki Glaser, Jon Fisch, Kurt Metzger, 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. 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.
