Brooke Shields and Tom Scharpling (via Patrick Cotnoir)

Tom Scharpling, Ted Leo, and Marianne Ways put together "A Very Special Benefit Show" on Friday (12/7) at the Bell House with a great lineup of Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, Chris Elliott (joined by Adam Resnick), John Hodgman, Jon Benjamin, Julie Klausner (joined by Gary the Squirrel), Andrew W.K., Kristen Schaal, previously revealed surprise guests TItus Andronicus, and a secret appearance by Brooke Shields. The show began with an intro by Ted Leo and Tom Scharpling, and then the many acts began their (relatively short) sets with auctions spliced in between. Later on in the show, Tom and Ted returned to the stage together to interview Brooke Shields, and before Andrew WK's closing set, Ted played a song on stage with the auction winner. To end the night, after Andrew WK's set, he was joined on stage by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists and members of Titus for a killer cover of "Louie Louie." A picture of the setlist from the show is below.

Ted Leo was also added to the previously mentioned Concert & Comedy For Sandy Animals: Benefit for the Sean Casey Animal Rescue, which takes place at Littlefield TONIGHT (12/9) with Michael Showalter, Casey Shea, The National Reserve, Jena Friedman, Colleen Pelletier (video), and Rawan Rihani (art). Supercute were initially supposed to play but they had to cancel. Tickets for tonight's show are still available.

In case you missed it, Tom Scharpling also made the mix tape for the first of Yo La Tengo's eight Hanukkah shows last night (12/8). Last night's openers were The Raybeats and Emo Philips. Any guesses on who opens tonight?

Setlist from the Tom Scharpling benefit below...

Continue reading "Ted Leo played The Bell House w/ many guests (like Brooke Shields & Titus) (setlist), added to tonight's benefit at Littlefield"

by Klaus Kinski

Aziz Ansari & Chris Rock @ Whiplash @ UCB last week

UCB Theater Chelsea's Monday night staple comedy jam session Whiplash still happens every Monday night at 11:00pm. Sadly, for old man Kinski, 11pm is just a tooouuucccchhhhh too late to be out and about galavanting with some of comedy's greatest talents these days. Which is sad, because you never know who will show up to perform, and those who do show up will usually blow your mind. For example, the Monday November 19th installment featured Chris Rock, Aziz Ansari, Simon Amstell and Anthony Jeselnik. Holy.

Chris Rock (pictured above with Aziz at Whiplash), good pals with Louis CK, also recently made a surprise appearance for Louis at his Staten Island Sandy Benefit Shows on November 17th.

But before the next Whiplash, the UCB Theater in Chelsea will be playing host to an awesome Sandy Benefit show on Sunday November 25th at 9:30pm. The line-up is festooned with so many Klaus favorites. $15 not only gets you piece of mind knowing you are helping out people whose lives were turned upside-down by hurricane Sandy, but you get performances by Arden Myrin, W. Kamau Bell (Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell on FX), Seth Herzog, Dave Hill, Jamie Kilstein, Janine Brito, Kevin Avery, Sara Benincasa, C.F. Lederer, and Chris Gethard (who by the way has a small part in the very last episode of Bored to Death) (I just watched it the other day and was reminded of that important fact). The show will be hosted by Nato Green.

Dave Hill & Tig Notaro

And speaking of Dave Hill and the UCB Theater in Chelsea, prepare yourselves for another fantastic installment of The Dave Hill Explosion which will take place on Thursday November 29th at 9:30pm. Dave's special guest will be Tig Notaro (who recently released a CD via Louis CK) and more. We all know Dave Hill is one of NYC's best comedians, guitar players, and show reviewers, but the Explosion is always a truly epic experience where Dave REALLY shines. The Dave Hill Explosion is a long-running live talk show hosted by Dave Hill. He doesn't do it that often but when he does it's awesome. One of the greatest shows I've ever seen was the Explosion that featured Rufus Wainwright and Dick Cavett. Holy.

Meanwhile you can find Dave Hill TONIGHT (11/24) at UCB East as part of "If You Build It", and check out Dave Hill's latest podcast featuring Chris Elliott. And don't forget that you can catch Chris Elliott at the Bell House on December 7th as part of Ted Leo and Tom Scharpling's epic and now totally sold out Sandy Benefit. You can also see him at the Pit with his daughters Abby and Bridey Elliott on Thursday December 6th at Running Late with Scott Rogowsky.

Hoity-Toity gastro-comedy joint The Stand will be hosting a rather impressive Sandy benefit called MTV Presents Stand up for Sandy on Tuesday November 27th. The line-up features Jim Gaffigan, Wyatt Cenac, Nikki Glaser, Sara Schaefer and Sean Patton. The tickets are a super reasonably priced $20 and are currently on sale. And for those keeping score, Sean Patton and Sarah Schaefer are two of my favorite and definitely underrated comedians in the biz. This might be THE show that gets your man Klaus out of his comfort zone and into The Stand.

Jim Gaffigan also has other bigger area shows coming up.

Wyatt Cenac (who also performs in the sold out Sandy Benefit show at the Bell House this Sunday November 25th) continues his new Monday night residency at Littlefield on Monday November 26th and every Monday. As a matter of fact, Har Mar Superstar is musical guest this Monday November 26th.

And speaking of Littlefield, celebrate Christmas Eve there with Wyatt Cenac because it looks like it will be a special night with guests Janeane Garofalo, Michael Che (who also plays the sold out show at Bell House this Sunday), and more already announced. But before that, on Sunday December 9th Littlefield will be hosting Concert & Comedy For Sandy Animals: Benefit for the Sean Casey Animal Rescue with comedy by Michael Showalter and Jena Friedman, and music by Supercute, Casey Shea and more.

For more upcoming shows check out Eugene Mirman's schedule, Pete Holmes & Doug Benson's tour dates, Nick Kroll's tour dates, Greg Proops, and a big list of upcoming shows at the Bell House (and HERE).

photos by David Andrako

Larry Murphy, Jon Benjamin and a naked centurion @ The Bell House 9/16/2012

The final day of Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival (9/16) was split into two events, one at Union Hall and then one that started later at The Bell House. First was the "The Eugene Mirman International Film Hour" at Union Hall which featured short films and odd videos produced by comedians. The festival closed with "Invite Them Up" at The Bell House. Hosted by Bobby Tisdale & Eugene Mirman, the show featured appearances from John Oliver, Demetri Martin, Jena Friedman, Daniel Kitson, David O' Doherty, Larry Murphy & Jon Benjamin. Pictures from both events are in this post, but beware, some are NSFW.

If you missed it, check out coverage of night one, night two and night three. More pictures from night four below...

Continue reading "The Eugene Mirman Comedy Fest: night 4 in pics (Demetri Martin, John Oliver, Jon Benjamin & more) (NSFW)"

photos by David Andrako

Daniel Kitson (R) gives Eugene Mirman a chuckle at The Bell House 9/15/2012

Attendees at the third day (9/15) of the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival were able to triple their fun with three shows across two venues. The matinee show, which took place at Union Hall, was called "Uh Oh: Dangerous, Inappropriate Comedy For Teenagers" and featured performances from Tom Shillue, James Patterson, Ben Kronberg, Jaqueline Novak, Brendon Small, and Craig Baldo. Union Hall also played host to a later show titled "Comedians Two to Five Years Away From Their Own TV" Jared Logan, Michael Che, Jena Friedman, Matt McCarthy, Emily Heller with David O'Doherty and more.

Meanhile, The Bell House was hosting "Talent Show presents: Speech & Debate" featuring special guests like Daniel Kitson, Arian Moayed & Meg Griffiths, Kevin Townley & Ashlie Atkinson, Hari Kondabolu, W Kamau Bell, Sarah Vowell & Todd Barry, Brendon Small, Stuckey & Murray and others. Pictures from that event, as well as both Union Hall shows are below.

If you missed it, check out coverage of night one and night two from the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival.

Continue reading "The Eugene Mirman Comedy Fest: night 3 in pics (Todd Barry, Brendan Small, Sarah Vowell, Daniel Kitson and many more)"