Winter's top comedy shows

Pals and creative cohorts Tom Scharpling (of WFMU fame) and Ted Leo (of Brooklyn rock fame) have brought together some of their best comedic pals to tell jokes while helping out with Sandy recovery efforts. Also taking the stage will be Chris Elliott, John Hodgman, Jon Benjamin, Julie Klausner, Andrew W.K. and more.

This wildly clever Irish stand-up approaches all of life's issues, from dicks to death, with a wry panache that makes many of his intricate jokes appear tossed off. He may be recognizable to Americans from films such as Shaun of the Dead, but Moran is a lifelong comic and regular at festivals around the world.

TJ Jagodowski and Dave Pasquesi quietly founded their own cult, and we couldn't be happier: Comedy nerds, theater enthusiasts and people who just like to laugh can all agree on their accessible and dynamic improv character studies. Trust us and drink their Kool-Aid.

Hosts Arden Myrin and Lisa DeLarios bring their usual bash to the Bell House with a number of great performers, to benefit the Red Cross and the Badass Brooklyn Animal Shelter. Their guests include Janeane Garofalo, Jon Glaser, Sheng Wang and Chris Gethard, with musical performances from Adira Amram and the Experience. The after-party DJs will be AndrewAndrew.

New York’s stalwart drag king, Murray “Mr. Showbiz” Hill, brings his rollicking year-end celebration—one of the highlights of the season, just like your drunk uncle—to Le Poisson Rouge with burlesque titillation, musical mayhem and comedic mirth courtesy of Bridget Everett, Carmine Covelli, Erin Markey, the New York City Burlesque Choir and the Craigslist Quartet. For more information, go to mistershowbiz.com.

It's been a quarter of a century since this bone-dry, eloquently sarcastic stand-up went to his first open mike; this show is a celebration of his dedication to the craft. Join Sarah Silverman, Janeane Garofalo, Ted Alexandro and more for this performance, which was rescheduled after complications created by Hurricane Sandy.

This chipper comic with a mad, braying laugh has been hosting a great podcast, You Made It Weird, and working for late-night shows such as Conan. All the while, he's been growing stronger and smarter as a stand-up, willing to go to great, goofy lengths to get the audience on his side.

We can't think of anyone we would rather witness the destruction of our world with than this deranged millionaire. Hodgman welcomes the apocalypse with two shows of comedy and music, featuring performance artist Cynthia Hopkins. We recommend saying goodbye to your loved ones, then making for the later performance, where Hodgman will count down to doom—er, we mean midnight.

The Divine Sandra is a mouthy actor, comedian and singer whose best work gives pop culture a big, sloppy kiss, while simultaneously biting it on the lip. The acerbic actor-comedian-singer returns to Joe’s Pub with her band, the Rebellious Jezebels, to further intertwine sentimentality, caustic wit, wistfulness and sarcasm—and to belt out plenty of tongue-in-cheek (or are they?) rock songs.

Attell is a comic’s comic because he works; he’s traveled the world, done innumerable clubs, appeared on all the late-night shows and is currently dissecting adult films on Showtime's Dave's Old Porn. Attell is not just a great joke writer, he also has a big, highly inappropriate imagination and way too much time to exercise it.