A New York State of Mine

Since Jay wrote about the shows he did in San Fran, I thought I would try to recall the trip I took up to NY last month.



The Family Hour @ Ohi's Lounge
Ochi's Lounge is the bar in the basement of Comix, the super club in the Meatpacking District. The room presents comedy shows 7 nights a week and was created as a home for some of the displaced shows following the close of Mo Pitkin's (a venue in the east village that had about 15-20 regular shows). It's not the largest room on earth but it was packed to the hilt with people and was a great start to my Friday Night. The show is hosted by the amazing Sara Benincasa who you can see here interviewing the Stella guys for her role in this years MTV Choose or Lose campaign.


The Greg Johnson and Larry Murphy Show
This was next show on Friday night, at ye olde Rififi. Who the fuck knows why I was on this show since it just won the ECNY award for best Variety Show and also on the bill that night were Todd Barry and Demitri Martin. This was my last show ever at Rififi, a place that holds a pretty special place in my heart being the center of the downtown scene for at least the last three years and the home of "Invite Them Up." this one was a lot of fun.

(more shows after the jump)

Friday Night Special @ The Village Ma

After Rififi I headed to the West Village to the Village Ma for a show run by Barry Rothbart, Mike Ennis and Jeff Cerulli. The Ma is a few doors down from the Comedy Cellar and looks way too much like a comedy club to not actually be one. It's actually a Thai restaurant with a performance space in the back and was recently sold as well, so this show too, is in limbo. That's right, DC, we aren't the only one's constantly being screwed over by changing management. Just pray that the new owner's don't go ahead with their proposed new name for the venue, Whiskey Dick's. (seriously.)


The Beauty Bar
This one is hosted by Vince Averill and Jesse Popp in a bar designed to look like a hair salon. Most of the audience sits in barber chairs so they are already designed to hate you. On this night it was actually sleeting so it was a surprise when it turned out to be a packed house. (and by packed I mean that you couldn't even physically get in to see the show at one point due to the huge crowd) The show was phenomenal and those dudes are awesome making a great finale to the trip.