Fall’s top comedy shows

Don’t miss the season's big festivals or shows from stand-ups including Jerry Seinfeld.

By Matthew Love Tue Aug 21 2012

Bridget Everett

Bridget Everett
Godfrey

Photograph: Fernando Leon

Godfrey
Sarah Silverman at BAM

Photograph: Blake McElrath

Sarah Silverman at BAM
Photograph: David Andrako

Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival
Photograph: Frank Micelotta

Amy Schumer
Photograph: Kevin Yatarola

Never Sleep Alone
Photograph: Brian Friedman

Bill Burr
Janeane Garofalo

Janeane Garofalo
Todd Barry

Photograph: Fernando Leon

NEW YORK, NY- DECEMBER 1: Comedian Todd Barry performing onstage during the One Hour Comedy Central Special taping at the Gramercy Theatre on December 1st, 2011 in New York City. ..(Fernando Leon/PictureGroup), Todd Barry
Paul F. Tompkins

Seth Olenick

Paul F. Tompkins
Improvised Shakespeare Company

Photograph: Ari Scott

The Improvised Shakespeare Company
Photograph: John Shearer

Jerry Seinfeld
Photograph: Clay Patrick McBride

Lewis Black
832.otc.wyattcenac

Photograph: Seth Olenick

Wyatt Cenac
Julie Klausner

Photograph: Mindy Tucker

Julie Klausner
Photograph: Eric Leibowitz/FX

Louis C.K. on Louie
Kara Klenk

Photograph: Courtesy Kara Klenk

Kara Klenk
Alec Baldwin

Photograph: Brigitte Lacombe
Photograph: Hannibal Matthews

Kevin Hart headlines Madison Square Garden as part of the New York Comedy Festival
Photograph: Tony Lyon

Billy Connolly

Bridget Everett

We recommend moving fast if you want to snag tickets to this fall’s top comedy shows. The New York Comedy Festival and the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival in Brooklyn are guaranteed to sell out; but even if you miss those, there are plenty of other rib-tickling stand-up shows taking to enjoy this fall on New York’s stages to enjoy.

RECOMMENDED: Complete guide to Fall in New York

Bridget Everett

Price band: 2/4
Critics choice

Bridget Everett (Our Hit Parade), the astonishing and totally fearless mama bear of alt cabaret, returns to Joe's Pub with her band, the Tender Moments. Her covers and standards are riotous, ridiculous and not to be missed.

Joe's Pub at the Public Theater 425 Lafayette St, between Astor Pl and E 4th St
Until Tue Feb 12

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Godfrey

Price band: 2/4
Critics choice

Longtime club comic Godfrey has been inching his way toward greater success—he starred in a special last year, Black by Accident, and was recently featured on 30 Rock and Louie—but he continues to bring a naughty, impish glee to his stage sets.

Gotham Comedy Club 208 W 23rd St, between Seventh and Eighth Aves
Sat Sep 8 - Sun Sep 9

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Get It Out There

Critics choice
Free

BAM and IFC team up, working with comedy producer Caroline Creaghead to put together a free stand-up showcase of bold locals in BAM's atrium café. The first show of the fall is a big one: Host Nick Turner, Katina Corrao, the Lucas Brothers and Brent Sullivan will be joined by headliner Sarah Silverman.

BAMcafé 30 Lafayette Ave, between Ashland Pl and St. Felix St
Until Thu Jun 13

More info

The Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival

Price band: 1/4
Critics choice

This annual Kings County event, conceptualized by the titular Brooklyn comic, continues to be a fall highlight in the local comedy scene. The bells and whistles are still being affixed to this year’s fest; on Fri 24, supporters can attend Bring Your Checkbook (8:30pm; $25), a fund-raising show hosted by Mirman at the Bell House. But come September, fans can look forward to a curated series of goofy gimmicks; last year’s lineup included a petting zoo and an “awkward party bus.” Already on the bill are the popular StarTalk Live! podcast taping with Neil deGrasse Tyson (Sept 14) and an edition of Elna Baker and Kevin Townley’s Talent Show Saturday (Sept 15).

Locations throughout Brooklyn
Sun Sep 16 - Thu Sep 13

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Amy Schumer

Price band: 2/4
Critics choice

This rising stand-up may have revealed her wicked smarts to the nation during last year’s Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen—viewers will recall a particularly biting joke involving Bruce Willis, Ashton Kutcher and various “slots”—but she’s been playing nasty quips against her Kewpie-doll cuteness for some time. More intriguing is how Schumer’s most recent act delves into her personal insecurities. But rest assured: Even as she explores gags about friends, men and growing older, she’s not above delivering a good tongue-lashing.

Gotham Comedy Club 208 W 23rd St, between Seventh and Eighth Aves
Until Sat Mar 16

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Never Sleep Alone

Price band: 2/4
Critics choice

Highly talented character actor and cabaret belter Roslyn Hart—who has been playing shiraz-soaked, lovelorn Michelle Hoffman (a.k.a. Shells) for the past several years—introduces her new creation, "sexual psychologist" Dr. Alex Schiller. The doctor's goal: making sure the single people in the audience hook up with one another while getting them in the mood with a few choice tunes.

Joe's Pub at the Public Theater 425 Lafayette St, between Astor Pl and E 4th St
Until Sat Apr 27

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Bill Burr

Price band: 4/4
Critics choice

With his crackling energy, simmering rage and trademark “uninformed logic,” Burr is simply one of the best comics working. As his specials Why Do I Do This? and Let It Go attest, Burr is at his best when positing notions that no sane person could possibly agree with (at least not in public), and then winning the crowd over, joke by joke and laugh by laugh. He’s been nabbing more parts in films lately (such as the forthcoming Stand Up Guys with Al Pacino), but it hasn’t stopped him from maintaining a busy tour schedule, including a stop at Times Square’s biggest comedy club.

Carolines on Broadway 1626 Broadway, between 49th and 50th Sts
Sat Sep 22 - Sun Sep 23

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Uptown Showdown

Price band: 1/4
Critics choice

Two teams of comics and comic writers face off in a debate competition meant to settle age-old arguments, including whether pirates or ninjas would win in a brawl. As the performers take shots at each other and do untested material, the room gets charged (in the silliest way possible). The fall's first show includes appearances from Janeane Garofalo and Dave Hill.

Symphony Space 2537 Broadway, at 95th St, 10025
Until Mon Mar 18

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Todd Barry

Price band: 1/4
Critics choice

Todd Barry has guest-starred on innumerable network and cable comedies, and been featured on almost every late-night talk show. His acerbic wit, deadpan delivery and wickedly smart punch lines will win you over, too.

Carolines on Broadway 1626 Broadway, between 49th and 50th Sts
Until Sat Apr 6

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The Thrilling Adventure Hour

Price band: 2/4
Critics choice

This L.A.-based comedy show is a big, boisterous spoof of old-time radio shows. The campy tales of hobos, robots and celebrities past (e.g., Amelia Earhart) feature soundtracks, sound effects and big-name performers hamming it up in the best sort of way. Tonight brings regular player Paul F. Tompkins, along with Paget Brewster, John Hodgman, Busy Philipps and James Urbaniak.

The Bell House 149 7th St, between Second and Third Aves
Until Sat May 11

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The Improvised Shakespeare Company

Price band: 2/4
Critics choice

The actors speak in faux-British accents, employ Elizabethan-era speech and play up any number of Shakespearean tropes, yet this hugely popular Chicago show is anything but gimmicky. Good improv rises above.

Theatre 80 80 St. Marks Pl, between First and Second Aves
Until Fri May 17

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Jerry Seinfeld

Critics choice

Though it’s been 14 years since the end of his beloved “show about nothing,” the affable New Yorker thrills fans this fall with a return to both his comedic and geographic roots. This series of headlining shows will take place over five Thursday nights in October and November, and Seinfeld has come up with the perfect gimmick: There’s one in each borough. By the end of the run, we expect he’ll have mined enough area-specific faux pas to do another new hour of material.

Locations throughout the city 2900 Campus Rd, at Hillel Pl, one block from junction of Flatbush and Nostrand Aves
Thu Nov 14

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Lewis Black: Running on Empty

Price band: 3/4
Critics choice

Whether he's barking, twitching or yowling in pain brought on by dim-witted leadership, one thing seems clear: Lewis Black was born ranting. This fall, he brings his fiery political fury to Broadway with a show whose title reflects the degree of Black's current frustrations.

Richard Rodgers Theatre 226 W 46th St, between Broadway and Eighth Ave
Sun Oct 14 - Sat Oct 20

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Wyatt Cenac

Price band: 2/4
Critics choice

A regular fixture on The Daily Show since 2008, Cenac gets away with a lot, couching a great deal of smarts in a restrained delivery. He's a fixture in small clubs around town, but to these big gigs he'll no doubt bring the A-game seen in his 2011 special, Comedy Person.

Carolines on Broadway 1626 Broadway, between 49th and 50th Sts
Sat Oct 13 - Thu Oct 11

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How Was Your Week? Live with Julie Klausner

Price band: 1/4
Critics choice

Comic and writer Julie Klausner sings, dances, raves and kvetches through this taping of her popular podcast, How Was Your Week? In a live setting, Klausner goes for the gusto with big numbers, guests and her musical director, Ted Leo—the nicest (and possibly funniest) man in rock.

The Bell House 149 7th St, between Second and Third Aves
Until Fri Apr 5

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Louis C.K.

Critics choice

C.K. is frustrated, candid, relentless and profoundly funny. His FX series Louis—a dark, cracked look at C.K.'s life in New York as a dad and stand-up—is currently one of the funniest, and strangely affecting, shows on TV. But see this comic in person as often as you can: He's amazing and only seems to get better.

New York City Center 131 W 55th St, between Sixth and Seventh Aves
Sat Oct 27 - Sun Oct 28

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The She-Devil Comedy Festival

Price band: 2/4

The ambitious people behind LIC's new Laughing Devil Comedy Club have organized their second stand-up competition in a year; this time, the comics are all women, and the prize is $2,000. Comics from across the country, including locals Kara Klenk and Carmen Lynch, vie for the prize.

Various locations
Until Mon Oct 29

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Selected Shorts: Comedy!

Price band: 2/4
Critics choice

This ongoing reading series, which usually features buttoned-down fiction performed in front of reserved crowds, loosens up for an evening to celebrate comic writing. The dry and reliably funny Alec Baldwin welcomes a few as-yet-unannounced performers to share bits of clever fiction, new and old.

Symphony Space 2537 Broadway, at 95th St, 10025
Until Wed Nov 28

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New York Comedy Festival

Critics choice

The city’s largest stand-up celebration just gets bigger every year. This edition’s most-buzzed-about headliner has to be the confessional Kevin Hart, who’s playing a pair of shows at Madison Square Garden. But if you’d rather skip the tumult of the arena, check out solo shows, podcast tapings, a short-film contest, special editions of several local variety nights, and conversations with luminaries including Robin Williams and Ricky Gervais. nycomedyfestival.com. Times and prices vary.

Locations throughout the city
Wednesday, November 7 - Sunday, November 11, 2012

Billy Connolly: The Man Live

Price band: 3/4
Critics choice

The raucous, shaggy-haired Scot doesn't visit much, but the wait is worth it. Even at the age of 69, he's got a wild, animated presence. His stories about life, getting older and the world's ills involve both pointed, political humor and ridiculous fart jokes.