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Genius musical improvisors Tara Copeland (above), Baby Wants Candy, and more perform at Gilda's Club Benefit to top off The Magnet's 2011 New York Musical Improv Festival...
...and Erin Lennox and guests Arden Myrin, The Bandana Splits, and more perform at the delightfully quirky I Like You Too Show
Tonight’s recommendations for the best in New York City comedy (in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:
[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 3:00 pm ($35 using discount code FTBBOX online or at the box office): One of my favorite FringeNYC shows (for my 2006 review, please click here) is finally enjoying a commercial run. The mostly-true tale of a man who became the toast of Paris by making music with his ass is playing at Sofia’s Downstairs Theater (221 West 46th Street): The Fartiste
[TOP PICK] 4:00 pm ($15): In this double-bill at The Magnet, singing improv troupes Initial Public Offering and Hit ‘N Run Musical Improv each make up a musical on the spot based on an audience suggestion: IPO and and Hit “N Run
[FREE] 4:00 pm: An unusually early walk-in open-mic stand-up show at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City: Face-Plant Comedy Showcase
[TOP PICK] 6:00 pm ($5): Comedy geniuses Dave Hill (HBO, This American Life) and Neil Casey (Death by Roo Roo, Adult Swim, plus Philip Jackson (Dance Beast, Johnny Tables) participate in “a weekly podcast that assembles a new panel of comedians and weird characters to give funny advice, or at the very least relate to the people’s problems with their own stories” at UCB Easthosted by Andy Rocco: Here to Help
[TOP PICK] [$] 6:00 pm ($15): In this double-bill at The Magnet, singing improv troupes BEEES!!!and North Coast each make up a musical on the spot based on an audience suggestion: BEEES!!! and North Coast
[FREE] 6:00 pm: At this monthly show, “three improv teams swap two performers each, pick a long-form style out of a hat, and then perform with their new rosters” at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City: Yankee Swap
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 7:00ish pm: Arden Myrin (Conan O’Brien, Mad TV, Chelsea Lately, host of The Party Machine; for Mad TV samples, please click here and here and here), Christian Finnegan (co-star of TBS’ Are We There Yet?; three Comedy Central specials; MSNBC, VH1’s Best Week Ever, Chappelle’s Show, The Today Show), Joe DeRosa (HBO’s Bored to Death and Down and Dirty,Comedy Central Presents, co-host of Righteous Kill, comedy CD The Depression Auction), Mike Lawrence (shrewdly funny curmudgeon; Comedy Central), Nick Turner (Jimmy Fallon; host ofMonsters, co-host of Too Cool For School and If You Build It), and Jamie Lee (Last Comic Standing, VH1) performing stand-up at at Brooklyn’s Belleville (330 5th Street) for this monthly extravaganza hosted by the razor-sharp & delightful Erin Lennox (co-host of Fresh; for a sample of Erin’s dynamite Seriously Sports show, please click here) and tonight’s guest host Mike Recine (Comedy Central), plus customized songs about each performer from adorable gal trio The Bandana Splits: Erin Lennox’s I Like You Too Show
[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10) and 9:30 pm [FREE]: UCBwest’s signature improv comedy extravaganza, which typically includes stars in the improv world, and sometimes even TV & movie stars such as Amy Poehler and Horatio Sanz: ASSSCAT 3000
[TOP PICK] [$] 7:30 pm ($20 at the door, $29 online): An amazing comedic freestyle hip-hop group—including genius human beatbox Chris “Shockwave” Sullivan—using audience suggestions as a springboard for creating improvised music inspired by jazz, rap, and comedy, performing at theGramercy Theater (127 East 23rd Street): Freestyle Love Supreme
7:30 pm ($5): Non-UCB improv troupes CSO and Beatloaf compete for audience laughs and votes at UCB East for Indie Cage Match
[$] 7:30 pm ($38.25 & 2-drink min.) An Iranian-American stand-up (for a sample set, please clickhere) who’s a founding member of the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour that featured top Middle Eastern-American comics, and an actor who’s performed on ABC’ s Better off Ted and Knights of Prosperity, FOX’ s Life on a Stick, HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, NBC’s The West Wing and ER, and many other shows & feature films, headlining one last night at the Carolines Comedy Club: Maz Jobrani
[FREE] 7:30 pm: Sketch, improv, and more at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City from comedy troupe Froduce
[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($25): In this fund-raising super-show at The Magnet, singing improv troupes Baby Wants Candy and Jill Bernard’s Drum Machine, improv genius Tara Copeland, and singer/songwriter Mikki Hommel each make up a musical on the spot based on an audience suggestion: Gilda’s Club Benefit: Closing Show of the 2011 New York Musical Improv Festival
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($7): TV & movie star Janeane Garofalo, Jared Logan (hilarious angry rising star; Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, co-host of Righteous Kill), and Mike Lawrence (shrewdly funny curmudgeon; Comedy Central), performing at Brooklyn’s Union Hall for comedy giant Eugene Mirman’s Pretty Good Friends
[FREE] 8:00 pm: Giulia Rozzi (Jimmy Kimmel, MTV, VH1, Playgirl Magazine, co-host of Dive comedyand Stripped Stories), Danny Solomon (soon moving to LA), Chris Thayer, and more performing at RG Daniels’ free weekly show at the Three of Cups East Village lounge: Sunday Night Stand-Up
[FREE] 8:00 pm: NYC stand-ups (not announced) performing at The PIT downstairs lounge for a free weekly show typically hosted by Chris Grace: Cold Soda Comedy
[FREE] 9:30 pm: Open-mic stand-up, with four minutes per comic, at The PIT downstairs lounge hosted by Rob Stern: Vicious Cycle
[TOP PICK] 10:00 pm ($5): Sean Patton (red-hot rising star; killer set on Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central, VH1; co-host of Comedy as a Second Language, frequent guest-host of Whiplash), Hari Kondabolu (Comedy Central Presents), Glenn Wool (UK comedy star), Ross Hyzer, Danny Solomon, and Anthony Devito performing stand-up at UCB East hosted by Mark Normand, Matt Ruby, Andy Haynes, and/or David Cope: Hot Soup
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 10:00 pm: Hilarious singer/songwriters Mel & El (monthly show at 92Y Tribeca), Maureen Langan (Jay Leno, Joy Behar, Comedy Central, Howard Stern), and Mark Maietta (HereTV’s Hot Gay Comics) performing at this free weekly gay-themed show at Therapy hosted by Brad Loekle: Electro Shock Therapy Comedy Hour
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