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Wyatt Cenac headlines one last night at Carolines, and Janeane Garofalo performs at Eastville
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:
[TOP PICK] 1:30 pm-1:00 am ($45 for an all-you-can-see festival pass, or pay-per-show): The next-to-last day of a sketch comedy extravaganza at The PIT theatres: The New York City Sketch Festival
[TOP PICK] [$] 2:00 pm & 8:00 pm ($65): This isn’t pure comedy, but an enchanting hodgepodge of original tall tales fueled by laughs. The 2-hour play from the wonderful guys of PigPen blends shadow puppetry, songs, inventive staging, and more to create living dreams. For my review of PigPen’s two previous shows at FringeNYC, please click here and here. This newest work is their most ambitious, and that sometimes results in the story feeling too slow or padded; but it also yields a deeper emotional payoff. And even though not all the bits hit the mark, so many of them do that you’re likely to feel satisfied—and missing PigPen’s world after the show is over. The production is at The Gym at Judson (243 Thompson Street) through November 26th: The Old Man and the Moon
[FREE] 4:00 pm: An unusually early weekly open-mic stand-up show (“starts late enough to sleep off that hangover but ends just in time to begin a new one”) at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City hosted by Jhoel Walkowski & Evan Davis: The Amateur Hour
6:00 pm ($5): Improv troupes Michael Loves Greg, The Bartender, and Pumpkin at The Magnet kicking off your Saturday evening: The Rundown
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 7:00 pm: A TV & Broadway stand-up star hones material at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre—for free!: Colin Quinn Tries Stuff Out
[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($5): A comedy quiz show full of heavily researched quirky facts in which comedy contestants get points if their answers are correct but get more points if their answers are “quite interesting” at UCB East created & hosted by Katey Healy-Wurzburg: The Fascinator
7:30 pm ($10): Talented improvisors at UCB Chelsea interview an audience member about where he or she grew up and then “turn that town’s tourist attractions, landmarks, hangouts, local celebrities, urban legends, and more into a hilarious show made up on the spot:” The Curfew: Not From Around Here
[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($7): “Organic freeform improvisation in two mind-blowing parts; the only rule is that there are no rules” at The Magnet theatre: The Weave
[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm & 10:30 pm ($27.25 & 2-drink min.) A star correspondent for The Daily Show headlining one last night at the Carolines Comedy Club: Wyatt Cenac
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5 at the door or $7.63 online): Arden Myrin (Conan O’Brien, Mad TV, numerous other TV shows & films; for Mad TV samples, please click here and here and here) and Lisa deLarios (Comedy Central) host this delightful monthly mix of stand-up and sketch, with tonight’s guests Tom Shillue (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, The Daily Show, Comedy Central Presents, 2011 ECNY Award for Best Storyteller), Brooke Van Poppelen (writer for MTV’s Epic Fall; trutV, TLC, co-host of Dive Comedy; for stand-up videos about overindulging at 30 and impersonating Morrisey, please click here and here), Ben Lerman (nuanced raunchy comedic singer/songwriter; Logo TV’s NewNowNext, Sirius Radio’s Frank DeCaro Show), Dave Siegal, Casey Jost, and Jay Miller performing at Brooklyn’s Union Hall on this month’s special movie theme: The Party Machine: John Hughes Party
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:00 pm: Three stand-ups (not announced) performing sets and then being interviewed about their personal lives at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City hosted by Matt Ruby & Mark Normand (who says “all these guys were hand-picked because they’re funny and have some serious problems; when you read this lineup you’re gonna be like ‘oh yeah, that guy is a mess’”): We’re All Friends Here
[$] 8:00 pm & 10:00 pm ($25 & 2-drink min.): A stand-up who’s performed on Comedy Central, MTV, Oxygen, and more headlining tonight through Sunday at the Gotham Comedy Club: Tony Rock
[TOP PICK] 8:30 pm ($10): Star storyteller Tom Shillue (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, The Daily Show, Comedy Central Presents, 2011 ECNY Award for Best Storyteller), Jared Logan (rising star; Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, host of ComedyJuice), Amber Nelson (fearless, innovative rising star; sketch troupe The Prom, co-host of Late Night Stand and Mustache Party), Brent Sullivan (Comedy Central; for video about crying while reading The Giving Tree, please click here), Jason Saenz, and Doug Smith performing stand-up at UCB East hosted by Kara Klenk: If You Build It
[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): One of the gutsiest and most hilarious troupes in comedy history—with honors including being Cage Match Champion for three years in a row, and winning the 2011 ECNY Award for Best Improv Group—UCB Chelsea’s genius improvisors Death by Roo Roo
[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 9:00 pm & 11:00 pm (FREE TICKETS if you reserve in advance by calling (212) 260-2445 and mention HyReviews.com, but there’s still a 2-drink min. per person): Killer great lineup of TV & movie stars Janeane Garofalo (9:00 pm only), Rachel Feinstein (finalist on Last Comic Standing; Comedy Central; opens for Sarah Silverman on tour), Tony Woods (HBO Half Hour, Comedy Central Presents), and more performing at the only comedy club in the East Village: Eastville Comedy Club
9:00 pm ($7): Magnet improvisors team up with poets at Kiss*Punch*Poem
[MEGA-TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($20): The return of one of the funniest comedies—and finest comedic ensembles—to grace New York, and what ended up as the very best show of this year’s FringeNYC Festival, playing at the Soho Playhouse’s upstairs theatre. Please read my review by clicking here, and then take advantage of this opportunity to see the Chicago-based 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche
[TOP PICK] [$] 10:00 pm ($15): Ted Greenberg (Emmy-winning David Letterman writer) performing a fun, fast-paced theatrical comedy show—complete with audience interaction and audience rides home!—at The Complete Performer
[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): Improv troupe Grandma’s Ashes—which includes stellar talents Ryan Karels, Morgan Grace Jarrett, Brandon Scott Jones, and more—promises to “take your stories of the tragic and depraved and scatter them into laughter” at this newest UCB Chelsea show to be honored with a weekend time slot: Grandma’s Ashes Gets Dark
[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): UCBT improv troupe Airwolf—which includes such talents as John Frusciante, Molly Lloyd, Tim Martin, and Emily Axford, and this year crushed 12 improv groups in a row at Cage Match, entirely owns the UCB East stage tonight at Airwolf: Let’s Go Back to Your Place
10:30 pm ($7): Nick Kanellis & Peter McNerney performing at The Magnet as comedy duo Trike
Midnight ($5): A special New York Comic Con edition of this nerdy show, with tonight’s guests Dave Johnson (cover artist for Deadpool, 100 Bullets, Superman: Red Son), David Murray (seibei.com), Jesse Falcon (Marvel, Disney, Children’s Hospital), and Mike Drucker (freelance writer for SNL, The Onion, McSweeney’s) performing at UCB Chelsea hosted by Pat Baer: 404ing It: Breaking (Down) the Internet
[FREE] Midnight: Mike Dobbins is a unique stream of consciousness comic (for an interpretive dance of his breakup, please click here). Tonight he shares his special perspective on life at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City: Mike Dobbins Blows Your Little Mind
[FREE] Midnight: A weekly chance for you to shine at The Magnet, as students and veteran improvisors share the stage to form “rare and wonderful one-night-only teams,” with sign-up starting at 11:30 pm: Magnet Mixer
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