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June 2025

We were spending some time in upstate New York this trip and I guessed (and was proven correct) that my comedy viewing opportunities up there might be few and far between. Consequently, I had to be focused while I was in the city.

First up, as is often the case, was Stand NYC's Monday night show, Frantic. Regular fixture manager Joe Harary had been missing on my last visit (he was working at SXSW) but he was present and correct this time and we had a decent chat about his Austin trip. As usual he was very laissez-faire with regards to my seating. Advertised host Aaron Berg wasn't appearing "so things will go smoother".

Chris Riggins, who was new to me, hosted and did OK. LA-based Subhah Agarwal drove things pretty hard into the ground but Rocky Dale Davis (also a new face) significantly cheered things up. I shall look out for him. Sienna Hubert-Ross did better than I normally experience her, Andrew Manning didn't appall and when Charles Engle appeared I decided that I'd had sufficient fun. One "Good" and two "OKs" is a solid return for a visit to Frantic.

The following night we called in to the Olive Tree for a drink at the bar and some eaves-dropping of James Mattern arguing with an out-of-his-depth Jim Norton on the subject of immigration. I'd heard on the We Might Be Drunk podcast that the new Comedy Cellar venue would be the biggest one yet. We had a look as we walked past the site and it didn't seem anywhere near completion. I asked the barman if he knew when it would be operational and he estimated "four months". This seems ambitious but I'm intrigued by the development.

Apropos of nothing, I heard recently on Barry Katz's podcast that the four NYC Comedy Cellar rooms host up to a total of 74 shows per week. Isn't that astonishing?

Thursday was to be the Bushwick Comedy Club, a BYO place I'd visited once before. I'd noticed that they often offered discounted tickets to their mailing list for the (presumably quiet) Thursday evening show and so it would turn out. In fact the deal was a generous one - ten entirely free tickets were available so I grabbed one and prepared for the not inconsiderable subway journey to Bushwick.

The room was much as I remembered it, though they'd covered up some seats, leaving only three rows of eight. There was no known poison on the bill and Chloe Radcliffe was up first. She did reasonably, as did Wolfgang Hunter and host Darius Dinkins. I'll keep an eye out for both.

Union Hall is sort of a comedy club. It's a cool, Park Slope bar with a large performance space in the basement and has multiple comedy shows on each night. While I was browsing through their calendar, I realised that there was a show that Friday at 5pm called The British Are Coming. Hosted (and produced) by Chloe Radcliffe, it also featured (her beau) Stuart Laws and James Acaster, all for the very reasonable price of $15 plus booking fee. OBVIOUSLY it had sold out, and in fact had done so in a matter of minutes. However, the website suggested that returns (which I guess is the equivalent of no shows) would be available on a first come first served basis. Given that the upstairs bar had a happy hour from 4pm, it didn't seem too much of a hardship to stand in line drinking cheap beer on the off chance that we might get in at the last minute.

Arriving at 4pm there was already a queue of about 20. We stood hopefully in line and after about a quarter of an hour the person next to girlfriend asked if she knew how to access their tickets electronically. When GF said that we didn't have tickets, a woman a couple of places in front said that she had spares and that we could buy them off her. So with that delightful piece of luck, we soon after found ourselves about three rows from the stage in a perfect position.

Chloe did fine, using a lot of the material I'd heard less than 24 hours before. Stuart was on for about 30 minutes and mined his last two Fringe shows. I won't spoil the conceit of James' new hour but what we got to see was extremely enjoyable. He went on quite the diversion regarding his hatred of Newark Airport and that felt particularly heart-felt. He's since booked in a WIP at my local comedy club, Monkey Barrel.

If you looked up free comedy in NYC on Eventbrite they seemed to list a show EVERY day from 4pm to 7pm at the Comic Strip Live on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It was a confusing entry, titled "Sip, Snack & Laugh: Daily Happy Hour at The Comic Strip", promising happy hour drinks, sports screens and the chance (?) that a comedian might drop in. What? Given that the lineups at the actual club were not that appealing, it seemed like a straightforward way to take a look at what is, historically at least, regarded as a comedy institution.

We made our way across the park and arrived outside. There were plenty of signs advertising a happy hour but precious little indication of comedy happening any time soon. Was it an open mic? We went inside and the guy couldn't have been more surprised. He scrabbled around, getting a till set up and serving us our $5 beers. It was literally the three of us in there so I took the opportunity to explore, wandering in to the showroom. It's a nice enough space but the seating was unfriendly and there didn't appear to be any draft beer options.

When I explained the reason for our visit (sad comedy anorak wants to tick off famous clubs) he quickly offered us no-cover tickets for that night. We were already committed to the Fat Black Pussycat Bar at 7:30pm so politely declined. A call from a comic a few minutes later forced him into an awkward conversation with him clearly not wanting to reveal in front of us that the show was so quiet that it might get cancelled. It wasn't surprising. The lineup was unremarkable; it was a Monday night in the (staid) Upper East Side and there were plenty of better comedy products elsewhere.

We paid for our one bottle of Brooklyn IPA each, took a few photos and departed. I can't see why I would go back.

A number of stars have to align for me to visit the Comedy Cellar. Firstly, the venue has to be either the Fat Black Pussycat Bar or Lounge. It also has to be relatively early - a start time of much after 9pm and I'm not going to remember what happened. Finally, the lineup needs to be sufficiently strong. There was, on the face of it, one challenge there.

Gray West hosted, as he did on our last visit, and was energetic and entertaining. Billed Matthew Broussard had been replaced by Nick Griffin and that was not a good thing. The front row of international tourists seemed happy enough but the rest of the room had quite a bad time. Then KC Shornima (the challenge) appeared. She's on at the Pleasance this year btw. The best thing I could say at the end of her set was that things could only improve. And so they did. We had the dependable Peter Revelo, a tremendous Leclerc Andre and Dan Soder closed to much applause. Overall, it was a success but I do wish Broussard had shown up.

GF took the sensible decision to go home and I decided to cram in JUST ONE more show. Despite its very modest crowds and non-existent cover charge, Whiplash at UCB is still going. And Shalewa Sharp continues to host. As she took the comics down to the venue, she asked if I was on that night. No, not tonight.

The crowd size rose and fell but probably averaged about 20. After opening, Shalewa brought on a red-haired girl called Maggie whose surname I missed. She had one good joke, about looking like a Boston cop's daughter. Shaun Murphy was up next and put in a shift but didn't achieve much. When the next comic wasn't one I was familiar with I made my exit. You get what you pay for.

Trip Stats

Shows entered - 5

Comedy location drive-bys - 2

Expenditure - $32 each