There are many things New York City does with style - and one of them is stand up comedy.
We've seen some of the best comedians ever in history cut their teeth on the NYC comedy scene and rise to unimaginable heights. Think Jon Stewart, Louis CK, George Carlin, etc.
We don't even have to go through the endless list of comedic actors SNL has fostered. Many of them were Second City graduates, having spent their formative years in Chicago - but they came to NYC to make it.
How about Tina Fey? She's from freakin' Pennsylvania, studied in Chicago and then dropped roots in our fair metropolis.
We're a magnet for comedy, partially because you need to have a stout sense of humor to live here - lest you fall into City depression, which is much like seasonal depression except all year round.
For almost a whole week, November 10-15th, you can catch some of the nation's best comedians at the New York Comedy Festival, and the list of comics is growing every day! It's something like CMJ but for comedy; there'll be tons of shows in a multitude of venues across the city.
So far Norm MacDonald is already signed on for four shows! You may remember him from Saturday Night Live, Billy Madison, or more recently as the voice of the alcoholic sex-crazed pigeon on Adult Swim's Mike Tyson Mysteries - basically a Scooby-Doo parody that's twisted and hilarious.
Other than Norm, you can see Patton Oswalt, Sarah Silverman, Margret Cho, and Gabriel Iglesias. The list goes on with some heavyweights: Billy Crystal, Judd Apatow, Bill Maher, and John Leguizamo.
matttaylordraws I did another poster for @juddapatow's #CarnegieHall show in November as part of #NYComedyFestival - here's part of it taking advantage of Instagrams new portrait format which still isn't tall enough to show the whole thing (but all you're missing is some more of #CarnegieHall) #illustraton #JuddApatow #comedy #festival #newyork #taxi #nighttime
There's some newbies already announced to round out the bill too: Jon Stewart's successor at the Daily Show, Trevor Noah, has two shows booked, and Silicon Valley star Kumail Nanjiani will be around. Plus, there's a Q&A and sneak peek of Nathan For You!
It's like, four or more generations of awesome comedy and we can't wait!
[via New York Comedy Festival ][Feature Image Courtesy of The Interro Bang]