Happy Friday all!  I will be celebrating my birthday tomorrow under a haze of alcohol and bowling at Gutter, and for a birthday present, how about you do something for me: take that desire you’ve had to get onstage and DO IT THIS WEEK!  There are several improv and stand-up open mics around the city that you can jump on with little to no experience.  Everyone starts somewhere…why not make one of these shows your starting line?

Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (1)

Starting today, people will be attempting the impossible, pushing through exhaustion and body failure to go the distance in a test of endurance, patience, and skill.

No, not the Olympics. Those are boring. I speak of The Del Close Marathon!

Now in its tenth year, DCM 10 (or DCMX, as it would have been known in 1996) is a 72 hour marathon of improv on 4 different stages in Chelsea. Teams from across the country descend upon Manhattan to be a part of a weekend-long celebration of made-up hilarity.

Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (0)

This week’s column is a downbeat one. This week, downtown comedy epicenter RiFiFi closed its doors for good. RiFiFi was a dive bar with busted air conditioning whose crowd alternated between comedy nerds and sweaty hipsters waiting to throw up to the new DFA dance remix; in other words, a New York original.

It’s comedy roots started years ago when Eugene Mirman and Bobby Tisdale began hosting their weekly showcase, Invite Them Up, which grew to standing-room only crowds based on great word of mouth. It was from here that the second wave of downtown comedy emanated.

RiFiFi was the place attracted people from out-of-town to see shows due to the star wattage appearing on stage (it wasn’t odd to see Todd Barry, David Cross, Patton Oswalt, Zach Galafinakis, and others pop in to do a set) in a setting so intimate, the front row could literally reach out and grab the performer.

Sure the bathrooms were an abomination, and there was a perma-tear in the screen, but no one comes to the East Village for a squeaky clean experience. Well, maybe now they will; with the way real estate is skyrocketing in the area (the main point of contention for the bar closing), who knows how much longer before it becomes Midtown South?

Farewell, you filthy champion of comedy…you will be missed.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

The Final 13 Minutes of Comedy at RiFiFi (via The ComicsComic)

Want to see your show or video featured in this column? E-mail me and let me know!

read comments (0)

Hey everyone, it’s supposed to be 180balls outside this weekend, so try to stay cool. If the hype is to believed, the calendar changes this weekend to year 1 PDK (Post Dark Knight). I’m trying to contain my raging EVERYTHING until my ticket says I can walk in to the theater and see the film. In the meantime…

GO SEE THIS!

Tearing The Veil of Maya (Sunday July 20, 8:00 PM; Union Hall, 702 Union Street *BROOKLYN*) - Downtown comedy heroes Eugene Mirman and Michael Showalter celebrate the second anniversary of their always super-talented show.

EDIT: Sold out!

WHY YOU SHOULD GO

Since his long-running show in the East Village ended this past winter, Union Hall is the place to get your constant source of Mirman. His offbeat worldview and complete confidence in his odd ideas win nearly every crowd over. Showalter is amazing, as 10 years performing comedy on film (The State; Wet Hot American Summer) and live (the far-superior-to-the-show Stella tours) would lead you to believe. And the guests they get for their shows (David Cross, Aziz Ansari, Mike Birbiglia) are worth twice the price of admission themselves.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

12 Seconds (written by Chris Kelly; starring Winston Noel, Andree Vermeulen, Nate Shelkey; directed by Mitch Magee)

Want to see your show or video featured in this column? E-mail me and let me know!

read comments (1)

Hey everyone, how was your Fourth? If you saw me on that day, please tell me how it was; the alcohol is hiding those memories from me like a rum-powered mental shield.

No vid this week; having some trouble getting them to post through WordPress. It’s things like this that make me feel like an Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer with certain aspects of the Internet.

GO SEE THIS!

I Eat Pandas: We Classy (Wednesday July 16, Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre; 9:30 PM; $5.00) - Comedians Eliza Skinner and Glennis McMurray do an hour-long set of improvised musicals. This is for real.

WHY YOU SHOULD GO

Aside from working together like chocolate and peanut butter, Skinner and McMurray create improvised musicals based off of audience suggestions that are funnier and have more heart than most off-Broadway numbers you’d pay too much money to see. Skinner creates beautiful, hilariously tragic characters with the drop of a hat, and McMurray plays off of everything in the room so well you’d think that the whole thing was scripted.

We’ll have more viddy goodness next week, your 86 year old Uncle Matt promises!

Want to see your show or video featured in this blog? E-mail me and let me know!

read comments (0)

Happy 4th of July, Netizens! Today is the day when the entire world celebrates its independence. It’s been 12 years now since Captain Hiller and David Levinson infected the invaders’ ships with a virus from an Earth laptop. Remember, when you’re reciting President Whitmore’s chilling speech before the final salvo on the aliens, we laugh now to celebrate their sacrifices.

GO SEE THIS!

The Apple Sisters (Thursday, July 10, 8:00 pm; People’s Improv Theatre; $8.00) - The Apple Sisters put together a musixtravaganza for you lucky, lucky people

WHY YOU SHOULD GO

As American as the pie, los hermanas Apple are 3 girls whose slightly askew worldview makes for one of the freshest comedy voices in the city. Imagine a kids show run by recovering alcoholics repressing their dark edge. They were the video of the week last week in this column, and if you liked what you saw there, just wait until you see it live; yes, they spit corn all over each other and continue the show.

Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (0)

This week started on a down note with the death of comedy legend George Carlin. Lots of mournful posts out there, but I don’t think anyone should be mourning. In fact, Carlin would probably give a 15 minute rant on the hero worship that people are bestowing on him post mortem. He never wanted to be someone to look up to; he just wanted to tell the truth. Instead of being sad about it, why not instead go out, live life, and be an honest human?

Okay, back to the comedy.

Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (1)

If you’re reading this right now, be warned: there’s a fat guy in your Internet. He’s stuck there, and is trying to fight his way back out to reality. So, y’know, watch your pr0n passwords.

Last night was the launch party for Fat Guy Stuck in Internet, Cartoon Network’s newest live-action show airing on their Adult Swim block of programming. Originally created as a series for the monthly short festival Channel 102, Fat Guy follows Ken Gemberling (John Gemberling), a hotshot computer programmer that gets sucked in to the Internet after a freak accident (he poured a beer on his keyboard to prove his badassedness). While trying to find his way out of the Internet, he’s persued by a bounty hunter, hired by his boss in the real world, to hunt Gemberling down and bring him back to pay for the equipment Gemberling destroyed.

Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (0)

You know what’s awesome? Comedy.

You know what’s not so awesome? Not a lot of people are well-versed in the scene, thus missing out on a wealth of entertainment in their own backyards.

Enter me.

My name is Matt Little. I am a comedian, actor, and writer. I perform comedy all over town and write for TV, but this column isn’t about me. This column is about YOU, and your lust for comedic entertainment. It’s also about comedy, but that doesn’t sound as sexy in the copy.

I will be your guide to seeing great shows around town that don’t involve the words “drink minimum,” “bringer,” or “Times Square.” I’ll also be featuring vids from NYC-based comedians, interviews, and other whimsical flights of fancy. Consider this my soapbox for why New York is the best city for comedy in the Milky Way or Andromeda galaxies (sorry, Xlrt’son Deebot on Planetoid Xteen, but you know it’s true).

If you want to sound more savvy than the people in your office that get excited about the new season of Mind of Mencia, follow me.

After the jump, more! Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (0)