September 2017
First planned event was Sean Donnelly’s solo show at the Fat Black Pussycat ($5). Given that it was the evening of our arrival day it was always going to be a bit of a struggle but I felt guilty about missing out on seeing him at the same venue during a previous visit. He had an MC plus a couple of supports, none of which made much of an impression. Sean however was great.
46 hours later we had two events planned for the same evening. The first was Kweendom, a monthly LGBTQ show in the tiny back room of a pub called Pete’s Candy Store. The compere (Bobby Hankinson – who lists himself as a “professional homosexual”) was engaging and the highlights were Matteo Lane and Joel Kim Booster. A collection was taken at the end for that month’s nominated charity and afterwards there was a free BBQ in the back yard.
After that we had tickets booked for Camouflage Comedy ($5) at a place called Big Irv’s. It boasted that there would be free pizza (there was) and that beer “would be available” (it sort of was). We turned up a little late and simply walked into the room (glad we pre-booked those tickets). It’s an odd performance space. It sort of looks like a laundry that someone has emptied of equipment. There was some free pizza and a cooler full of cans of Bud and nothing else. The beer was paid for by donation. I didn’t donate a lot. We were mainly there to see Joe "the Kid" Machi but Matteo Lane (again!) was also on the bill. Fortunately they were on 2nd and 3rd so we made our escape after seeing those two.
Despite scouring the listings there was no sign of Judah Friedlander playing anywhere during our visit so we consoled ourselves with a trip to The Stand on the Sunday. They had been giving away free tickets to some shows that week so we waited till about noon on the day before booking and right enough, at 4pm the email came out offering free ticks. $37 wasted! When we arrived I jokingly scolded the girl checking people in and she was nice enough to give us free tickets to a future show, Tim Dillon and Sean Patton held the most appeal for me but it was a very strong bill.
The Brooklyn venue Littlefield changed location in the summer of 2017 and used a Kickstarter scheme to help fund the move. In return for only $25 we got two pairs of tickets to any show, plus some free drinks. We had used one set of tickets to see Wyatt Cenac’s show Night Train on our last NYC visit and imaginatively decided to use the second set to see Night Train again. As well as Wyatt Cenac we saw Sean Patton for the second night in a row and Matteo Lane for the third time in a week, which is probably bordering on excessive/obsessive. After five years the show is coming to an end but will be replaced by a new format called Butterboy.
Tuesday night was meant to be comedy-free but our plans changed and we fell back on Hot Soup at The Irish Exit. All 3 producers were on and there was a surprise appearance by Ilana Glazer who opened the show on her way to therapy.
May's visit - better late than never
We arrived on Tuesday and despite being a bit jet-lagged, staggered along to Hot Soup at the Irish Exit. No special guests this time but it was nice to catch Mark Normand trying out new stuff after burning a whole heap of material on his Amy Schumer-produced special.
On Wednesday we tried Comedians You Should Know for the first time at The Gutter in Williamsburg. As I mention in the venues list, this is an extremely atmospheric room and one I’m keen to go back to. It’s only $5 to reserve a seat and they had several big name comedians on, plus a selection of up and coming ones.
A requirement for any NYC visit is to see Judah Friedlander at least once. Ideally it would be at Stand NYC but some flexibility is required. Our best bet looked like being at Eastville but the most convenient show was on Saturday night which I usually try to avoid. By being on Eastville’s mailing list I often get sent free tickets (even to the Friday and Saturday shows) but annoyingly no such email had turned up. I remembered seeing something on bestnewyorkcomedy.com about comps and sure enough, they booked us in for the Saturday.
On the Sunday afternoon I went to the Stand NYC open-mic. I was surprised to see Daniel Simonsen outside talking to Frank Terranova. I’d seen the pair appear on the same stage in Brooklyn (at the Human Citizen Comedy Show) but they don’t strike me as sharing much common ground, comedy wise. Frank made his usual impression and Daniel lurched through some very hesitant ideas.
Wednesday night was a bit more problematic. Sean Donnelly often comperes at the The Cellar but I’ve seen him several times doing normal standup. He was scheduled to do a solo show at the Fat Black Pussy Cat and I wanted to a) Catch him doing a long set b) Make sure the place was full. We reserved tickets and were looking forward to it - the venue is the best of the 3 in the Comedy Cellar family and the cover was only $5. When we arrived things were a fairly chaotic. Colin Quinn was doing a WIP show in the same room and appeared to be running over. We had booked (and crucially paid for) tickets for the 10pm show at the Stand and with Sean’s show scheduled to be 80 minutes, that only gave us 10 minutes to get between venues. It took ages to clear the room as everyone was either trying to take photos with CQ or wanted to pose gormlessly on the stage (like they’d never been in a feckin comedy club in the lives). We were now well past the start time and seating hadn’t even started so we made the reluctant decision to ditch the first show and head to the Stand. I genuinely felt like I’d let Sean down.
I’ve seen Ari Shaffir many times in NYC and hugely enjoyed his Edinburgh Fringe show last year. Having spoken to Bob Slayer I suspected he wasn’t appearing at Fringe in 2017 (since proven correct) and since he had just returned to NYC and was on almost every lineup at the Stand, it seemed too good an opportunity to pass up. The fact that Pete Lee was on the same bill (as was Liza Treyger who I’ve been meaning to see for ages) made it all the better. It was a phenomenally good set and with Ari on first (which we would have missed if we’d stayed at Sean) I had to accept that we’d made the right decision. I’ll try and see Sean next time.
The last show of the trip was “Lasers in the Jungle” at UCB East, which was a new venue to me. It’s a pleasant enough space and the comics on that particular bill show seemed a little less accomplished and commercially-driven than those you might see at the big clubs, but it was an enjoyable 90 minutes. I probably won’t race back there unless there’s someone named on the bill that I’m particularly keen on.
NYC March 2017
I managed 6 comedy shows in a 7 night trip, which isn't bad going.
We arrived at lunchtime on Wednesday and I was keen to try a well-regarded show called Gandi, Is That You? at Lucky Jacks on the Lower East Side. The show was decent and I particularly enjoyed Canadian Nathan Macintosh and Brian Parise, both of whom were new to me. There's no cover or drinks minimum here which is admirable and given that they occasionally have big-name dropins (the following week Judah Friedlander and Sean Patton turned up) this is an excellent show to catch.
On Thursday we headed to the early show at New York Comedy Club. Their ticketing policy seems a little strange - you pay $19 (or thereabouts) and that seems to get you in for free for life (or at least a long time like perhaps a year). We managed to get a deal on Living Social (a Groupon equivalent) so that for $15 in total we got into the show, as well as getting 4 passes for the future. There was quite a variation in standard across the comics. We knew Stand NYC favourite Aaron Berg was closing and fortunately there were also surprise appearances from Sam Morril and Ricky Velez, otherwise it might have been a bit of a struggle.
By being on Eastville Comedy Club's mailing list I got offered free tickets to their weekend shows (incl Thursday) so we decided to double up and headed straight there for the 10pm show. I was particularly keen as both Judah Friedlander and Todd Barry were billed to appear. Nathan Macintosh opened but mostly did different material from the night before. Todd was excellent as ever and Judah said I could have a place in his cabinet, as well as declaring me the weirdest guy in the room. Winner!
As usual we avoided shows on Friday and Saturday so my next attendance was a solo effort at the Stand's Sunday afternoon open-mic. It was unusually strong for an open-mic with the first half hour being good enough to pay for. There's a coterie of regulars participants, including the abrasive Frank Terranova who could definitely do something if he could make himself more likeable. It might be a bit late for that.
On Sunday evening we had free tickets (mailing list membership again) to Stand Up NY on the Upper West Side. Lenny Marcus opened and wasn't quite as strong as I remembered but the main draws for us were Judah (again) and Gary Vider who is now effortlessly comfortable on stage. Harrison Greenbaum closed and while I normally see him compere, he's an accomplished comic.
For Monday we were split between going to Wyatt Cenac's dependable Night Train show in Brooklyn or Frantic Monday with Aaron Berg at the Stand. I'm not sure if there's a sharper compere working than Aaron and given that we had seen him doing a set at NY Comedy Club, we opted for the Stand. The only name I knew on Night Train's lineup (other than Wyatt) was Sam Morril, who we'd seen on Wednesday. The Stand worked out perfectly well, the highlights being Sean Patton, Monroe Martin and a surprise appearance by Alex Edelman. I'd seen a good bit of Alex's set before but still enjoyed it.
Later we found out that there had been a guest spot by John Oliver at Night Train. Now that is annoying. Almost as annoying as finding out that Louis CK turned up at the Stand on the Wednesday. However we were on a plane by that point so I can't really be too bitter about missing it. What is interesting is that I don't remember him dropping in there before, so that's an encouraging sign for the future.