GUIDE: New York Comedy Festival 2021
a deep dive into who's performing at the upcoming NYC festival (clips included)
Hey friends,
Popping in to share my show recommendations for the upcoming New York Comedy Festival, which features 200+ comics over the course of the 7-day event (Nov. 8th-14th).
But before I do, wanted to share a FREE comedy tix opportunity for Chicago readers:
I saw Boston comedian Alex Edelman’s wonderful solo show Just For Us last night – it’s a masterclass in storytelling, and Alex is currently prepping it for a December Off-Broadway run, where it will be produced by Mike Birbiglia.
Because it’s Halloween weekend, he has some tickets available for tomorrow night (Saturday, 10/30). It’s playing at the Den Theater in Wicker Park (cool venue, btw).
Reply to this email or DM me (or him) if interested, and we’ll get you some comps.
Back to the festival.
I can already sense those of you who don't live in the tri-state area losing interest, so I'll be sure to provide clips of all the mentioned performers’ online material. That way, you can at least add some fresh, funny people to your TikTok/IG/Twitter feed.
Longtime readers might vaguely recall a similar write-up I used to do in the 2017-2019 range, of the Annual List of Shows I Think Deserve a Combination of Your Time/Attention/$$$ at the Edinburgh Fringe™. But those guides were really only useful for the dozen of you who had the rare combination of means, stamina, and not-being-American to not only sit through those dissertations in their entirety, but actually make the pilgrimage to Scotland, and take me up on my suggestions.
Luckily, NYCF1 is domestic, and a surprising amount of this readership are New Yorkers (great to have you here! baconeggandcheese, F––– Trae Young, etc.)
So not only will more of you understand who/what the hell I’m talking about, but you could theoretically join me (and your fellow readership) at some of these shows!
With an emphasis on highlighting up-and-coming performers, I combed through all 200+ shows on the lineup, did some research on the folks I hadn’t heard of, and organized them into the tiers below2. The tiers serve more as characteristic groupings (show type, starpower, “is my brother in it?”, etc.) rather than an ESPN power ranking.
I also tried to mix it up with the venues, in the hopes of exposing you to some of the city’s lesser known, more affordable clubs. After all, as that old saying goes: if you only see shows at The Comedy Cellar, you’re not a “comedy nerd” – you’re a comedy jock.
So for all the true comedy nerds out there, with no one to dissect their frog with – as well as any gross-out-gag goth kids, tight-five teacher’s pets, slapstick stoners, farcical floaters, and light-getting loners – this one’s for you.
TIER 1: LINEUP SHOWS
Good God Comedy - tix link
Showtime: Tues. 11/9 8:30 PM (The Sultan Room at Turk’s Inn in Brooklyn)
Lineup includes: Chris Gethard (HBO), musical comedian Caitlin Cook, Shane Torres (I saw him in Chicago last week and he was hilarious), Zach Zucker (brother)
Stamptown
Showtimes: Fri. Nov. 12 and Sat. Nov 13 at 9:30 PM (Asylum in Chelsea)
Friday Lineup includes: Joe Pera (HBO), Catherine Cohen, Sydnee Washington, Daniel Simonsen (Norwegian) Martin Urbano, Ashton Womack, Jo Firestone
Saturday Lineup: Jack Bensinger, Rachel Sennott, Ike Ufomadu, Marcia Belsky, Mary Neely, Martin Urbano, Joe Castle Baker, Emily Wilson, Dylan Adler
Butterboy - tix link
Showtime: Mon. 11/8 at 7:15 PM at Littlefield
Hosted by: Jo Firestone (Joe Pera Talks With You), Maeve Higgins, and Aparna Nancherla, whose credits include Hollyhock Manheim-Mannheim-Guerrero-Robinson-Zilberschlag-Hsung-Fonzerelli-McQuack on Bojack Horseman.
Mary Beth and Friends - tix link
Showtime: Sat. 11/13 at 9:30 PM (Gramercy Theater)
Tuesdays at Red Room with Emily Wilson - tix link
Showtime: Tues. 11/9 7:30 PM at Red Room KGB
Lineup includes: Catherine Cohen, Please Don’t Destroy (SNL), Sydnee Washington, Rachel Sennott, Zach Zucker (Camp Pontiac)
Lineup shows take priority here because the festival is only one week long, so you can maximize the number of acts you see in a single show. Also, when someone only gets 5-10 minutes of stage time, rather than a full hour, it usually means they’re doing their absolute best material, or are working on something brand new to test out, both of which are awesome to watch. There is guaranteed to be a diversity of performance style, and the performers on this type of variety show are often curated by the host, so they’ll still fall in the same wheelhouse. While 1-2 might bomb, a handful will become new people you follow on social media, and one might just become your new favorite obsession, whose clips you binge-watch the second you get home from the festival.
FRINGE-Y NOVELTY SHOWS:
Not quite a lineup, but also not your standard “bloke at a mic” stand-up. Something different.
Martin Urbano: Who Wants $2.69 with Martin Urbano? - tix link
Showtime: Sat. 11/13 7:30 PM (Union Hall)
Show Blurb: “Hip Latino comedian Martin Urbano hosts this twisted take on an interactive quiz show, full of dark and silly humor, many laughs per minute, and hilarious cringe moments you’ll never see coming! Showbiz guests Subhah Agarwal & Zach Zucker will each have their time in the ‘hot & sticky seat’ armed with three of Martin’s blessings and the chance to win money from Martin’s pocket. Four audience members will be chosen at random to answer rapid-fire general knowledge trivia questions in the ‘weakest loser’ round to win $2.69.”
Dan and Joe DVD Show - tix link
Showtime: Tues. 11/9 at 7:30 PM (Bell House)
Show Blurb: “Dan Licata (6’7″, SNL) and Joe Pera (6’8″, Adult Swim) reboot their long-running weekly standup show (7 years) for a special 3-month run this summer. A great comedy show to bring a friend, date, or family person to without having to worry about it being bad.”
GOOFY - tix link
Showtime: Sat. 11/13 7:30 PM at Asylum NYC in Chelsea
Blurb: “GOOFY is an immersive multimedia variety show, and a bastardization of all classic TV, from the big band numbers of Lawrence Welk to the mouth-watering drama of the Leno/Letterman feuds. Hosted by Thomas Frances and his unnecessarily large cast of assistants, each show includes stand up, musical acts, sing-alongs, and surprise guests. It’s a technicolor dream with everyone dressed to the nines in bright sequins, colorful suits, greased hair, and enough painkillers to take down a large horse." …sold!
LISA - Fri. 11/12 10 PM at Union Hall - tix link
BIT PRICEY, BUT PROBABLY WORTH IT
Michelle Wolf - Thurs. 11/11 7 PM - tix link
idk I heard her in an interview on Andrew Yang’s podcast where she talked about how she somehow ended up living with Dave Chappelle and his family at his house during most of the pandemic, and that’s pretty interesting. Also, she did this:
Marc Maron (WTF with Marc Maron) Sat. 11/13 at 7:00 PM (SOLD OUT)
Veteran comic and host of one of the better podcast episodes I’ve heard:
Michael Rapaport (11/11-11/13 at Caroline’s on Broadway)
RISING STARS:
Please Don’t Destroy (Wed. 11/10. 7:30 PM Bell House)
NYU-grad sketch comedy trio Martin Herlihy, Ben Marshall, and John Higgins
Kyle Gordon (@kylegordonisgreat on TikTok)
Showtime: Wed. 11/10) 9:30 PM at Asylum in Chelsea
Expect wildly original characters, frenetic musical comedy, and maybe even:
Punkie Johnson (SNL) - tix link
Showtime: Sun. 11/14 at 7:000 PM (Bell House)
Sydnee Washington: How to Start a Fire - tix link
Showtime: Thurs. 11/11 at 7:00 PM (The Bell House)
It feels a bit disingenuous to call some of these acts “Rising Stars” - especially given that Kyle has 2.3 million followers on TikTok, PDD were just hired as writers on SNL, and Punkie is already on SNL, but I’m including them all in this section because you might recognize their faces from your social media feed, but it’s high-time you put some names to those faces, as they are definitely ones to keep an eye on.
THE PUNT ZONE
Hannah Pilkes: A Woman on the Verge - tix link
Showtime: Tues. 11/9, at 10:00 PM (Union Hall)
Show Blurb: Hannah Pilkes (Search Party, Comedy Central, Vulture’s featured Comedian on The Verge, Buzzfeed) is on the verge in more ways than one. Enjoy an hour of absurdity, angst, and pratfalls interspersed with characters and storytelling with special guests Jenson Titus and Nic Sheppard of Very Gay Paint. It will be a night you won’t soon forget, unless of course you brown out..the show is at 10pm after all and I’m not here to judge.
Business Casual (Jeremy Elder, Corey Lane, Hunter Saling) - tix link
Showtime: Thurs. 11/11 10 PM (Union Hall)
Show Blurb: Fresh off sold out shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, LA-based sketch trio Business Casual makes their New York debut at Union Hall! They have been called the fart, poopoo, and peepee of comedy and collectively they have been nominated for zero awards. Special guests TBA!
The Brown Israelites Comedy Show - tix link
Showtime: Sat. 11/13 at 6:00 PM (Brooklyn Comedy Collective)
This tier name comes from an expression commonly uttered within the Fringe circuit, “taking a punt”, which refers to a ~normie~ punter (i.e., non-performer), attending a show on some sort of whim. This is analogous to the phrase, “taking a flyer”.
It’s a combination of shows with unconventional posters, intriguing show titles, subversive descriptions, and any other supplementary information that is potentially indicative of the kind of person behind the show.
Compare some of the blurbs I’ve shared above with social media star Trevor Wallace’s:
“Trevor Wallace is a 28 year old stand up comedian, writer & actor. Wallace can be seen just about everywhere on the internet and has collectively built a digital thumbprint of over 1 Billion views across his social media channels. Wallace has been featured on Comedy Central, MTV, Barstool Sports, E! News…” etc. etc.
Yaaaaaawwwnnn. Or how about Big Mouth’s Nick Kroll:
“Nick Kroll has established himself as one of today’s most sought-after creators, writers, producers, and actors in both film and television. Dubbed ‘the Picasso of Puberty’ by The New York Times, Nick co-created, writes, produces and perfor–
Booooring.
I don’t know about y’all, but I’m rocking with the, “fart, poopoo and peepee of comedy” over Wallace and Kroll any day of the week, and I don’t have to think twice.
THE “SCHEDULE CONFLICTS” TIER:
Katie Hannagan, Gary Gulman, Leah Lamarr, Julie Shiplett, Megan Stalter, Pat Regan (Seek Treatment podcast), Ethan Simmons-Patterson (from Waukegan, IL)
The Schedule Conflicts Tier is a subset of the Punt Zone, and whose showtimes conflict with others already locked in to my itinerary. If this were a month long festival, I would definitely see all of these acts, as they’d be on every night for several weeks. Sadly, they’re all only on one night each, and we only have six days.
THE COMEDY JOCK TIER (alternatively, “THE END ZONE”)
Not necessarily a pejorative, just my personal classification.
WORD-OF-MOUTH TIER:
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The best part of any festival is keeping your ear low to the ground, and finding out which acts have the true “buzz”. It’s one thing to see which show’s graphics get the most likes on Instagram, but it’s another to listen for who’s being talked about in an “if you liked that, you might like…” fashion between two guys at the post-show urinals.
I’ll be keeping an ear out for who recommends who in their post-show spiels, and keeping a pulse on relevant Twitter hashtags, and reviewers like the New York Times’.
So there you have it. If you’ll be in town, hopefully you find this (hardly comprehensive) guide somewhat beneficial/useful. At the very least, I hope you’ve discovered some new folks to brighten up your For You page.
Lastly, if there’s anyone you think I missed, let me know!
(New York Comedy Festival)
And yes, I’m single.