The 6th Annual New York Comedy Festival starts tonight (Nov 4) and they’ve got some big shows lined up for the next five days including: Stand Up For Heroes (with Bruce Springsteen, Stephen Colbert, Louis C.K., and special guests), Ricky Gervais, Patton Oswalt, Andy Samberg, Tracy Morgan, Mike Birbiglia, Bill Maher and many others. As far as comedy goes, by and large this is a pretty mainstream festival, but this year they have partnered with the Upright Citizens Brigade and 92Y Tribeca for a number of shows in an effort to give the fest an air of indie cred. You can obtain free tickets to all of the Comedy Central Presents shows at this year’s NY Comedy Festival by clicking on this link (most are already full though).

Check out the full New York Comedy Festival lineup after the jump.

2009 New York Comedy Festival

Blue Water Grill Comedy Show
Blue Water Grill,
Wed, Nov 4th

Celebrity Autobiography
Carolines on Broadway,
Wed, Nov 4th

Cipha Sounds
Carolines on Broadway,
Wed, Nov 4th

Comedy Central Presents
Gerald Lynch Theater at John Jay College,
Wed, Nov 4th

Stand-Up For Heroes
A Benefit For The Bob Woodruff Foundation
Town Hall,
Wed, Nov 4th

Your Favorite Band Sucks…at Comedy
A Night of Hilarious Musical Acts
UCB Theatre,
Wed, Nov 4th

Dane Cook
Dane Cook and Friends
Madison Square Garden,
Thu, Nov 5th

Funny Business
Carolines on Broadway,
Thu, Nov 5th

Jake Johannsen
Jake Johannsen at Gotham Comedy Club
Gotham Comedy Club,
Thu, Nov 5th

Mario Cantone
Special Engagement
Carolines on Broadway,
Thu, Nov 5th-8th

Mike Birbiglia
Mike Birbiglia: I’m in the Future Also
Town Hall,
Thu, Nov 5th

Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais: Out of England II
Carnegie Hall,
Thu, Nov 5th

The Best Sketch in NY
Showcase
UCB Theatre,
Thu, Nov 5th

YOU SAY TOMATO, I SAY SHUT UP… A LOVE STORY
92Y TRIBECA,
Thu, Nov 5th

Artie Lange
Artie Lange Live
The Beacon Theatre,
Fri, Nov 6th

Bill Burr
Bill Burr: Let it Go
Town Hall,
Fri, Nov 6th

Keeping It Fresh
Television Writing in the Internet Age
The Paley Center,
Fri, Nov 6th

Myspace Secret Stand-up Show – Rob Schneider
Carolines on Broadway,
Fri, Nov 6th

Time Out New York Approved
UCB Theatre,
Fri, Nov 6th

Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan’s Hard Knock Life
Carnegie Hall,
Fri, Nov 6th

Afterbirth
Stories you won’t read in a parenting magazine
Carolines on Broadway,
Sat, Nov 7th

Mike Epps
The Mike Epps is Rottin’ in the Apple Comedy Show
The Beacon Theatre,
Sat, Nov 7th

Patton Oswalt
Patton Oswalt Live
Town Hall,
Sat, Nov 7th

The Truthiness Behind the Lines
An In-depth look behind the scenes with the Colbert Report Writes
The Paley Center,
Sat, Nov 7th

Writing for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
The Writers of nbc’s “Late Night” will discuss their process and look uncomfortable”
The Paley Center,
Sat, Nov 7th

Andy Samberg
Andy Samberg and Friends Live from Town Hall
Town Hall,
Sun, Nov 8th

Bill Maher
An Evening with Bill Maher
Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center,
Sun, Nov 8th

Louis CK
Special Engagement: One Night Only
Carolines on Broadway,
Sun, Nov 8th

Urban Myth – Comedy Storytelling
Gotham Comedy Club,
Sun, Nov 8th

UPDATE: I just realized that I forgot to mention that The Boss will also be appearing tonight (Nov 4) at the Stand Up For Heroes benefit at Town Hall along with Brian Williams, Stephen Colbert, Louis CK, Lisa Lampanelli, John Ondrasik and other special guests..

In between his regular tour dates with the E Street Band, Bruce Springsteen will be appearing (presumably solo) at a benefit concert for Autism Speaks on November 17, 2009 at Carnegie Hall. Tickets for that show are pretty pricey, but it’s a benefit, and it’s for a good cause.

Benefit Concert for Autism Speaks with Jerry Seinfeld
and a special appearance by Bruce Springsteen
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall
Seventh Avenue and 57th Street, New York City
6:30 PM – 7:30 PM: Pre-show Private Reception for Sponsors
Sponsored by KRG Children’s Charitable Foundation (Business Attire)
7:30 PM: Performance
Buy Tickets

In other Boss news, it has just been announced that Bruce will be reviving the classic album + greatest hits format for his two upcoming Madison Square Garden shows (Buy Tickets). New Yorker’s will be treated to the The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle and The River, each being performed in their entirety for the first time.

Special programs announced for this weekend’s Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band shows at Madison Square Garden

On Saturday, November 7, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will perform The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle in its entirety for the first time.

On Sunday, November 8, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will perform The River in its entirety for the first time.

The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle was originally released in 1973 and The River was originally released in 1980. They now join Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, and Born in the USA as albums that Bruce and the Band have performed in their entirety during their Fall tour. [BruceSpringsteen.net]

One of the striking things about the shows is that most scenes were filmed once without the opportunity to reshoot if things weren’t quite right. On the new set of remastered DVDs, Cleese provides a commentary that reveals him as a frustrated perfectionist. He chuckles along at classic moments — “excuse me laughing at my own jokes, but I think that was Connie’s” — but is also hypercritical. He points out where moments of slapstick weren’t spot-on, analyses how lines could have been tweaked and picks over minute editing decisions: “Could have taken the first three seconds off that shot.”

But what is striking is how quick the show still seems. “It hasn’t lost pace, that’s the great thing about it,” says Scales. “And that’s because of the talent of Connie and John and the rigour of John; how fast he played. If you couldn’t keep up with him you had to really get in there. That’s what its enduring quality is, the pace.”

The reaction of the audiences when they recorded the shows was positive, but she had no inkling that she was involved in something that would go on to top polls of the greatest British television programmes. [Times Online]

This set is truly a gem and something every comedy fan should own, that’s why I’m pleased to offer 3 copies of Fawlty Towers: The Complete Series Remastered DVD box set to three lucky readers of this site. To enter the contest, just fill out the entry form after the jump (just don’t mention the war!). Winners will be notified and selected on November 11, 2009. Contest is available to US and Canadian residents.

But wait, that’s not all, in addition to my contest, there is a “Fawlty Towers Lookalike Contest” going on right now on Facebook where you can win even bigger prizes including a signed John Cleese Photo, a John Cleese signed Fawlty Towers DVD and a bunch of other FT related items. John Cleese himself will be picking the winners of this contest!

Bumpershine contest entry form, more info about the DVD box set and the Fawlty Towers Lookalike Contest after the jump.

Fawlty Towers: The Complete Collection Remastered

Actors: John Cleese, Andrew Sachs, Connie Booth, Prunella Scales
Format: Box set, DVD, Full Screen, Original recording remastered, Special Edition, Subtitled, NTSC
Language: English (Dolby Digital 1.0)
Subtitles: English
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 3
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Warner
DVD Release Date: October 20, 2009
Run Time: 374 minutes

Product Description
Coming to Special Edition DVD for the first time, it’s the complete Fawlty Towers collection with all-new commentary from John Cleese! Hot off the runaway success of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, John Cleese embarked on his now-legendary sitcom, Fawlty Towers, creating one of the most memorable and best loved characters in all of British comedy, Basil Fawlty. Basil Fawlty is a much put-upon, hard-working hotel manager whose life is plagued by dead guests, hotel inspectors, and riff-raff. Of course his biggest headache is his “little nest of vipers,” his nagging wife Sibyl. Together they run their hotel, Fawlty Towers, with a little help from the unflappable Polly and the trainee waiter from Barcelona with marginally more intelligence than a monkey, Manuel.

-Exclusive commentary by John Cleese
-2009 extended interviews, including exclusive interview with Connie Booth
-Accompanying booklet
-Interviews with John Cleese, Prunella Scales, and Andrew Sachs
-Series 1 director’s commentary by John Howard Davies
-Series 2 director’s commentary by Bob Spiers
-Artist profiles
-Outtakes
-Torquay Tourist Guide (short documentary film)
-Cheap Tatty Review

Episodes

Series 1
A Touch of Class – Basil Fawlty is in a campaign to improve the class of his clientele at Fawlty Towers. His efforts have spectacular results – in the short term.

The Builders – Sybil has picked a professional firm for the alterations to the hotel. But Basil makes an executive decision that his friend can do a better job.

The Wedding – Basil occupies himself in a losing battle against moral turpitude. His predicament is exacerbated by Manuel’s birthday celebrations.

Hotel Inspectors – One of the dreaded events in a hotel manager’s life is the inspector’s visit. One calls, and Basil has to decide which of the guests he is.

Gourmet Night – It is Gourmet Night at Fawlty Towers, and it seems that Basil’s long cherished dream will be realized. But the chef lies drunk on the floor.

The Germans – A moose head falls on Basil during a fire drill, giving him a concussion. But he must leave hospital to deal tactfully with a group of German tourists.

Series 2
Communications Problems – A nearly deaf and very difficult Mrs. Richards arrives at the hotel. When she loses a large sum of money, she demands that the police be called.

The Psychiatrist – Basil is certain one of the guests has smuggled a girl into his room and sets out to investigate. Unfortunately, he is caught in a compromising situation by Sybil.

Waldorf Salad – An American guest tips Basil to keep the kitchen open late, but chef has left for the day. Basil steps in, but he meets his Waterloo when the guest requests a Waldorf Salad.

The Kipper and the Corpse – What should a hotelier do when he serves a guest breakfast in bed and finds that guest dead? Whatever that something may be, Basil does not do it.

Anniversary – It is Basil and Sibyl’s anniversary, and Basil has actually remembered. In true Basil fashion, however, he has not told Sybil he has remembered and she is hugely upset.

Basil the Rat – Manuel has been ordered to get rid of his pet rat before the health inspector pays a visit. But the pet breaks away, leading the Major to trying to shoot the rodent in the bar.

Fawlty Towers Lookalike Contest (http://tr.im/fawltycontest)

Grand Prize
One (1) grand prize winner receives a prize pack that includes:
*Signed John Cleese Photo
*Signed Fawlty Towers DVD
*Fawlty Towers embroidered white terry-cloth bathrobe
*Fawlty Towers story of Britain’s Favorite Sitcom book
*Fawlty Towers corgi toy car

2nd Prize
One (1) second prize winner will receive:
A signed Fawlty Towers DVD and a Fawlty Towers corgi toy car.

3rd Prize
One (1) third prize winner will receive: A signed Fawlty Towers DVD.
Prize Eligibility

This contest is open to people at least 18 years old that reside in United States.

Contest Starts
October 21, 2009 @ 12:00 pm (PDT)

Contest Ends
November 15, 2009 @ 08:59 pm (PST)

Need more Details?
Read the Official Rules

WHIPLASH! with Colin Quinn & The Sklar Brothers, Sean Patton and Andrea Rosen
Monday, November 2 at 11:00pm
UCB Theatre 307 W.26th (corner of 8th Ave)
FREE

TYF! w/ Colin Quinn, Bob Powers, The Pleasure Syndicate, Bryan Tucker, and Liam McEneaney
Monday, November 2 at 8:00pm
Lolita Bar 266 Broome St
$5

I was going to post about this when I first saw it, but then I forgot, and was only reminded about it last night. Unfortunately, tickets the first two tapings of the new Comedy Central series “John Oliver & Friends” are sold out, but there are still some left for Sunday night. (Note to the uninitiated, if you really want to see these shows, I’d just show up.) Check out the lineup below, details on how to get tickets after the jump:

Friday, Oct. 23 – 6:45 PM – NO TIX LEFT
Marc Maron, Janeane Garofalo, Maria Bamford, Hannibal Buress, Pete Holmes, Amy Schumer

Saturday, Oct. 24 – 7:45 PM – NO TIX LEFT
Paul F. Thompkins, Eugene Mirman, Maria Bamford, Greg Fitzsimmons, Chris Hardwick, Nick Kroll

Sunday, Oct. 25 – 5:45 PM
Brian Posehn, Kristen Schaal, Matt Braunger, Chris Hardwick, Hari Kondabolu, Mary Lynn Rajskub

FOR ALL SHOWS YOU MUST BE ON LINE AT LEAST 45 MINUTES IN ADVANCE

PLEASE NOTE YOU MUST LIVE IN THE NYC AREA AND BE 18 YEARS OR OLDER TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR TICKETS. As always tickets are complimentary for this event.

For tickets to this exclusive free, live COMEDY CENTRAL show, please email us at johnoliver@theblacklistnyc.com with the following information in both the subject line and body of your email:

1. Your full name
2. Your email address
One which will not put our reply to you in your junk folder. If you have your email account with big ISPs like (Yahoo.com, AOL.com, Hotmail.com, etc.) please check your spam box, or add our domain – theblacklistnyc.com – to your white list or address book.
3. Your phone number(s)
4. Which show or shows you can attend. If you can attend any of the shows put “ANY SHOW”.
PLEASE REFER TO THE SHOW SCHEDULE ABOVE. The more flexible you are about which show you can attend the more likely it is you will receive tickets.
5. 2 tickets is the maximum number we can allow per request. Thanks

Example: Chris Rock / rocksthejoke@comedy.com / (212 ) 555-1212 / ANY SHOW /2 tickets

This information is NOT shared or used for any purposes other than to accommodate your ticket requests.
Our Privacy Policy is available Here.

The show will last approximately 2 hours and you must stay with us for the entire taping.

We will contact you via email with a detailed confirmation if there are tickets available. You should hear from us within a few days of your request but at latest by 7PM on FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22nd. PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL US DUPLICATE REQUESTS. If you must email us again please put “2ND REQUEST” in the subject line of your email. Thanks.

Come join us for Comedy Central’s “STAND-UP COMEDY WITH JOHN OLIVER AND FRIENDS”. You are guaranteed a fantastic night of comedy!!

EMAIL ~ johnoliver@theblacklistnyc.com

Eugene Mirman’s new comedy album, the provocatively titled, God Is a Twelve-Year-Old Boy with Asperger’s, came out this Tuesday (Oct 6) on Sub Pop records. To celebrate his new record’s release, he had a CD launch party in Somervile, MA on Tuesday where he rented a limo for his fans “so they [could] get home easily and, of course, because it’s stupid.” (Umm, no CD release party in NYC. Hey Eugene, how about showing us New Yorkers a little love for once?)

If you live in New York, and you still feel slighted by the whole Boston thing, you can catch Eugene this Sunday and on most Sundays after that at Union Hall for the weekly Tearing The Veil of Maya comedy show which he usually hosts (sometimes with Michael Showalter). This week’s show features Dave Hill, Eugene Mirman, John Mulaney and probably one or two other surprises. (Tickets are $7 at the door.)

In other Brooklyn comedy news, after their first successful show last may, comedy is returning to BAM on Saturday with the second free Comedy Night at BAMcafé.

On Saturday, October 10, Comedy Night, will feature some of New York’s most hilarious comedians including: Tom Shillue (Comedy Central Presents: Tom Shillue, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Daily Show), Pete Holmes (Comedy Central, VH1, The Daily Show), our very first returning comic, Kumail Nanjiani (Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Comedy Central’s Michael & Michael, UCB), Gabe Liedman (Gabe & Jenny, UCB), and hosted by the hysterical Chris Griggs (TVLand, NY Underground Comedy Festival).

(Word to the wise, get there early, I didn’t get in last time. Apparently, comedy in Fort Greene is something of a novelty.)

Other upcoming comedy/variety shows (Oct 10-18):
Sat, 10/10 Radio Happy Hour at LPR w/ Tunde Adebimpe and Kumail Nanjiani
Sun, 10/11 The Greg Johnson Show at Pianos
Sun 10/11 Tearing The Veil of Maya at Union Hall
Mon, 10/12 Tell All Your Friends at Lolita Bar w/ The Daily Show’s David Javerbaum, Dan Allen, Liam McEneaney, Jena Friendman, Alan Lebetkin & More!
Mon, 10/12 Whiplash! at UCB w/ Leo Allen
Tue, 10/13 Punch Up Your Life w/ Jessi Klein, Pete Holmes, Matt Goldich, Matt McCarthy, Ali Waller & Special Guest (Listen to Jessi’s recent story on the Moth podcast.)
Tue, 10/13 Punchline Mag Show at Comix w/ Janeane Garofalo, Lewis Black, Ted Alexandro, Todd Barry, Christian Finnegan
Tue, 10/13 IndigNATION at Comix with Joe DeRosa
Tue, 10/13 NY Moth StorySLAM “Enemies” at The Nuyorican Poets Café ($7 Tickets)
Wed, 10/14 Big Terrific at Cameo Gallery w/ Max Silvestri, Gabe & Jenny
Wed, 10/14 Risk! at Joe’s Pub w/ Kevin Allison of The State, Zak Orth, Melanie Hamlett, Christian Finnegan & Michelle Walson (This deserves its own writeup.)
Thu, Oct 15 Comedy Below Canal at 92Y Tribeca w/ Wyatt Cenac, John Oliver, Hannibal Buress, Che Grand, DJ Car Stereo (Wars)
Thu 10/15 Comedy As A Second Language at Kabin
Fri, 10/16 Moth Mainstage “Tales Out Of School: New Yorker Writers on Life at the Magazine” at City Winery Hosted by: Andy Borowitz. Stories by: Roger Angell, Adam Gopnik, Ariel Levy, Mark Singer, Judith Thurman
Sun, 10/18 Humor Revue at The Director’s Guild w/ Jenny Allen, Woody Allen, Noah Baumbach, Yoni Brenner, Ian Frazier, Patricia Marx, David Owen, Amy Ozols, Simon Rich, Paul Rudnick, George Saunders, Paul Simms, and Calvin Trillin. Hosted by David Remnick

No doubt I’m leaving some things out, but it’s pretty late and that’s all I can come up with right now.

Photos: Jessica Amaya

On Tuesday of last week I made my first foray to the Knitting Factory Brooklyn for their opening night festivities. I was pretty impressed by the venue itself; the 200 capacity performance space is just about the right size, the 4 foot stage was high enough off the ground to see from the back, but not too high as to be impersonal, and while I wasn’t personally amazed by the sound (it was night 1 after all), it was certainly more than acceptable and I’m sure will only get better as the club matures. Fans of the old Knitting Factory may be disappointed by lack of columns in the main space, but I’m sure most folks will be pleased with the lack of obstructions. On off nights, the front room bar will be open for drinks and on show nights, non-ticket buying patrons can look in on the main stage if the curtains are up, in fact, there is an even an option to pipe in the music to the bar if management so desires. The Brooklyn Knitting Factory is a welcome to the NYC music scene, and if the booking is solid, I don’t see any reason why people won’t go there in droves. Speaking of which, the KF schedule doesn’t have anything super exciting coming up as far as I’m concerned (Helado Negro is tomorrow night), but the club is still pretty new and the calendar still has quite a few holes in it. In three months time if things are still pretty weak, that might be cause for concern, but for right now I’m content to sit back and give them a little time to work on their bookings. According to talent buyer Chris White big things are being planned for the future and the eventual goal is to get the performance space up and running 7 nights a week.

Many more photos and a review of Les Savy Fav and Hannibal Buress at the new Brooklyn Knitting Factory after the jump.

As expected, Tim Harrington and Les Savy Fav kicked off the inaugural festivities at KF Brooklyn with a bang, not a whimper. Harrington stormed the stage dressed first as a witch (or maybe a pilgrim), then later as the policeman reject from the Italian Village People, and finally as a thrift store Carmen Miranda complete with red shorts and a faux fur boa. He gyrated on stage, dry humped the front row, spewed alcohol like a fountain, and in a move i’d not seen before, tipped over a beer on the edge of the stage with his bare foot, jumped into the crowd and then proceeded to lap up the spilled drink as he made his way back on stage… and that was just the first few minutes. There were many more moments like that in LSF’s highly charged and enjoyable show, including Tim getting up close and personal with the audience on several occasions, Tim dancing on the bar, Tim using the monitors as his personal chez lounges, and Tim belting out lyrics atop a movable staircase which he’d dragged into the middle of the crowd. While Harrington’s antics, outfits, wigs and indecipherable stream of consciousness (sometimes muttered into an imaginary cell phone) compete for your undivided attention, I also should mention that the rest of the band was in pretty tight shape, these guys have been at it for a while, they know what they’re doing and it shows.

“Like riding a horse bike. You’ve got the legs of a horse, wheels of a bike, and the pedals do nothing.” – Tim Harrington

Last but not least, comedian and newly minted SNL writer Hannibal Buress started us off with a 30 minute set that still managed to kill despite the presence of a heckler/douchebag in the front row. Up until now, I had only seen Hannibal do shorter sets at Union Hall and Comix, but I was really happy to learn that he’s got more than 10 minutes of great stuff. (My expectations for this season of Saturday Night Live are rising every day.)

Les Savy Fav at The “New” Knitting Factory (09/09/09)

Hannibal Buress at The “New” Knitting Factory (09/09/09)

The Knitting Factory Brooklyn

I’ve been meaning to post about The Bell House’s amazing upcoming schedule of events for a while now (and I still plan on doing so in the near future), but I think these two little gems merit a post of their own.

THE STATE
THU 10/1: 8pm / $15
Screening and hang session hosted by
DAVID WAIN & MICHAEL IAN BLACK.
Benefiting NEW YORK CARES.

featuring
*Previously never-before-seen footage & classic skits from the MTV show and The State’s CBS Halloween special.
Buy Tickets

OSSO QUARTET PLAYS THE BQE
SAT 11/7: 7:30pm (EARLY SHOW) / $12
Sufjan Stevens’ The BQE is a 40-minute symphonic and cinematic exploration of the infamous Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, a major traffic artery that severed neighborhoods and contoured waterways with the brute force of modern urban planning. Commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music as part of their Next Wave Festival in November 2007, the film tells a quintessentially American tale through an original film by Stevens and a live soundtrack by OSSO QUARTET.
Buy Tickets

Tickets for The State screening and Q & A session and The Osso Quartet’s live performance of Sufjan Stevens‘ The BQE both go on sale Saturday, September 12 at noon.

FYI, the CD/DVD version The BQE is now available for pre-order at Asthmatic Kitty for a very reasonable $15.00.

A couple of interesting shows have been added to the inaugural New Island Festival which started today on Governors Island and runs through September 20, 2009. Intrepid readers may recall that I wrote about the festival a little when it was first announced, but the schedule is now final and you can check out the whole thing over here. (Performances are in English, subtitled, or non-verbal. About twenty performances will be FREE each day.)

Armin Van Buuren
Saturday September 12, 2009
From 1 PM — 5 PM
FREE EVENT*
All Ages

Seth Meyers and Jason Sudeikis with Boom Chicago
Sunday, September 13, 2009
8:30 PM
Buy Tickets

Direct from Holland, the New Island Festival will set up stakes on New York City’s Governors Island from September 10–13 and again from September 17–20. The festival will kick off the fall with provocative theatre, stunning site-specific performance, dazzling visual arts and exhilarating DJ sets, performed by world class Dutch performers. More than 150 artists will perform during the festival. The Festival is part of NY400, an extraordinary celebration to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s voyage from Amsterdam to New York Harbor.

Read the rest of the press release after the jump.

The New Island Festival brings the greatest elements of European outdoor performing arts festivals to Governors Island. It will combine works that have previously been featured in the world-renowned Dutch “Oerol” and “De Parade” festivals and provide opportunities for artists to create site-specific works on the Island. All of Governors Island will be the stage for the Dutch, American, and other international artists who will utilize the waterfront promenade, historic homes, barracks and open green spaces to re-imagine this Island in the middle of New York Harbor. Performances will begin in the early afternoon and continue through the evening – this will be the first time Governors Island has been open at night.

The New Island Festival features a variety of free theatre, music and dance performances. However, to experience the full range of theatrical productions and events, the festival recommends the purchase of a $35 all-access one-day Passport.

See Ticket Info

The Festival is open to the public on Thursdays from 4:00 PM – 11:00 PM and Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays from 11:00 AM – 11:00 PM. All events are in English, subtitled, or non-verbal.

For the cineastes in the audience, I’m happy to bring back semi-irregular movie correspondent (in frequency, not disposition), Alberto DeSouza, for a review of a movie I thoroughly enjoyed, Robert Siegel’s directorial debut, “Big Fan“.

Big Fan Film Review
By Alberto DeSouza

“If you think you’re a sports fantatic, whether as a viewer, participant, or both, you ain’t seen nothing like Paul from Staten Island (Patton Oswalt), the seriously psychologically damaged goods in this very sharp and well-done independent flick on a super-low budget.

Here’s a guy who eeks out a living as a parking garage attendant (and who’s quite happy to remain as he is) but who has a profound obsession with his NY Giants team and is a regular on one of the sports radio programs. For the current season, he has an on-going feud with his nemesis, an almost equally twisted grown-up with no life, who’s an Eagle fan.

By chance, Paul and his sidekick spot the Jints superstar quarterback, Quantrell Bishop (hence the initials QB for quarterback – obvious but clever) somewhere in Staten Island. They follow him to Manhattan into a posh nightclub where a Bud goes for $9. An altercation breaks out when they approach QB and Paul ends up in the hospital. His idol QB is suspended pending an investigation.

But the obsessive fan that he his, he refuses to testify against QB to allow him to continue playing. Even his brother who wants to sue is pissed off and screams, “How does one get a concussion with no fucking brain?”

This is less of a story about twisted football fans, rather about a deeply disturbed and introverted individual who is incapable of communicating with other people who don’t share his passion for sports, particularly football. He has found his subculture of equally lost souls, who’s probably on the very bottom rung, and becomes its demented prisoner despite the masochocist punishment, physically and psychologically from his hero icon QB. He has no other interests: women, sex, drugs, whatever. His church is Giant Stadium and worships his team in the parking lot with a portable TV with his buddy every Sunday. Think of a short, pudgy Travis Bickle Lite from Taxi Driver.

His family, who genuinely loves him and tries to help him, tries the Good Guy approach and the tough love approach. But Paul is unmoved, detached and possibly lost permanently. His ‘family’ is the NY Giants, win or lose, and his father figure is QB since there’s no mention of his father in the movie.

There’s a screamingly hiliarious scene between Paul and his mother in the car. It was so funny and unexpectedly, I practically choked on my dessert.

With respect to films depicting real-life damaged characters, this flick is superb and a must-see.”

“Big Fan” is currently playing in NY, NJ, and PA and is opening in more theaters across the nation every weekend. Check this link to help locate a theatre near you.

The “early” yet official 2009 New Yorker Festival schedule was released today and while there a lot of familiar faces (as always), I think this year’s lineup is a lot stronger than last year’s. Highlights of this year’s festival include: Mad Men panel with Matthew Weiner, Lee Clow, Steve Stoute, Brooklyn Playlist concert at The Bell House with Dirty Projectors, A Conversation with Music with and Neko Case and Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Inside the Artist’s Studio with Chuck Close and Adam Gopnik, and the Humor Revue with Woody Allen, Noah Baumbach and a host of others. Tickets for The New Yorker Festival will go on sale at 12 noon ET on Friday, September 18, (the shows I just mentioned should sell out almost instantaneously).

View the entire 2009 New Yorker Festival schedule after the jump.

Friday | October 16

Fiction Night | Paired Readings by New Yorker Writers

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Yiyun Li
7 P.M. (Le) Poisson Rouge ($25)

David Bezmozgis and Jonathan Franzen
7 P.M. Cedar Lake Theatre ($25)

T. Coraghessan Boyle and Mary Gaitskill
7 P.M. Angel Orensanz Foundation ($25)

Daniyal Mueenuddin and Salman Rushdie
7 P.M. Directors Guild Theatre ($25)

Edwidge Danticat and Junot Diaz
9:30 P.M. Angel Orensanz Foundation ($25)

Joshua Ferris and Aleksander Hemon
9:30 P.M. (Le) Poisson Rouge ($25)

Jonathan Lethem and Colson Whitehead
9:30 P.M. Directors Guild Theatre ($25)

George Saunders and Gary Shteyngart
9:30 P.M. Cedar Lake Theatre ($25)

Brooklyn Playlist | A Special Concert Featuring Bands from the County of Kings

With Dirty Projectors, House of Ladosha, Jubilee, and Liturgy.
Curated by the New Yorker staff writers Sasha Frere-Jones and Kelefa Sanneh.
8 P.M. The Bell House ($25)

Take Out of School | New Yorker Writers on The New Yorker

The Moth and The New Yorker present an evening of stories about life at the magazine.
With Roger Angell, Adam Gopnik, Ariel Levy, Mark Singer, and Judith Thurman.
Hosted by Andy Borowitz.
8 P.M. City Winery ($40)

Saturday | October 17

Writers and Their Subjects

Ricky Jay and Mark Singer
1 P.M. City Winery ($27)

In Conversation With

Annie Proulx interviewed by Deborah Treisman
10 A.M. Florence Gould Hall ($27)

Rachel Maddow interviewed by Ariel Levy
10 A.M. Acura at Stage37 ($27)

Tyler Perry interviewed by Henry Finder
4 P.M. Cedar Lake Theatre ($27)

New Yorker Talks

Malcolm Gladwell | The Curious Case of Michael Vick
1 P.M. Florence Gould Hall ($27)

Simon Schama | Obama and History
4 P.M. Florence Gould Hall ($27)

Screen Gems | New Yorker Film Critics Present Overlooked Masterpieces

Alfred Hitchcock’s “Shadow of a Doubt”
With David Denby.
10 A.M. Directors Guild Theatre ($20)

Henri-Georges Clouzot’s “Quai des Orfevres”
With Anthony Lane.
1:30 P.M. Directors Guild Theatre ($20)

Jean-Luc Godard’s “King Lear”
With Richard Brody.
5 P.M. Directors Guild Theatre ($20)

Panels

New Math
With Nancy Flournoy, Bill James, Nate Silver, and Sudhir Venkatesh.
Moderated by Ben McGrath.
10 A.M. Cedar Lake Theatre ($27)

Mad Men
With Lee Clow, Steve Stoute, and Matthew Weiner. Moderated by Ken Auletta.
10 A.M. City Winery ($27)

The Music Biz
With Jace Clayton, Josh Deutsch, Melvin Gibbs, Danny Goldberg, and Livia Tortella.
Moderated by Sasha Frere-Jones.
1 P.M. Cedar Lake Theatre ($27)

The Political Scene
With Hendrik Hertzberg, Ryan Lizza, and Jane Mayer. Moderated by Dorothy Wickenden.
4 P.M. City Winery ($27)

Character Actors
With Christine Baranski, Joan Cusack, Luis Guzman, Richard Kind, and John Turturro.
Moderated by Nancy Franklin.
4 P.M. Acura at Stage37 ($27)

Early Shift

Loudon Wainwright III talks with Susan Morrison | A Conversation with Music
7:30 P.M. The Bell House ($35)

Wallace Shawn talks with John Lahr
7:30 P.M. City Winery ($35)

Ian Hunter and Graham Parker talk with Ben Greenman | A Conversation with Music
7:30 P.M. (Le) Poisson Rouge ($35)

Neko Case talks with Sasha Frere-Jones | A Conversation with Music
7:30 P.M. Acura at Stage37 ($25)

Saturday Night Sneak Preview

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
After the screening, Kelefa Sanneh will talk with Sapphire and the film’s director, Lee Daniels.
8 P.M. Directors Guild Theatre ($27)

Late Shift

Jason Schwartzman talks with Richard Brody
10 P.M. The Bell House ($35)

James Franco talks with Lauren Collins
10 P.M. Cedar Lake Theatre ($35)

Tilda Swinton talks with Hilton Als
10 P.M. City Winery ($35)

Steve Earle talks with John Seabrook | A Conversation with Music
10 P.M. (Le) Poisson Rouge ($35)

Justin Vernon of Bon Iver talks with Sasha-Frere Jones | A Conversation with Music
10 P.M. Acura at Stage37 ($25)

Book Signings

(Please note the schedule of book signings at the bottom of this e-mail.)
12 noon to 6 P.M. McNally Jackson Books (Free)

Sunday | October 18

About Town

Tailing Tilley
A live, interactive game drawing on eighty-four years of New Yorker history.
11 A.M. Galway Hooker ($15)

Morning at the Frick
Peter Schjeldahl will lead a tour of the museum before public hours begin, followed by coffee and conversation.
11 A.M. Frick Collection ($60)

Come Hungry
Calvin Trillin will lead a tasting walk from Greenwich Village to Chinatown, concluding with a dim-sum feast.
11 A.M. Ticket buyers will be contacted concerning the starting point. ($100)

Strings Attached
Basil Twist will lead a tour of his studio and talk about the puppeteer’s art with Joan Acocella. Drinks will be served.
12 noon. Ticket buyers will be contacted concerning the location. ($60)

Inside the Artist’s Studio
Chuck Close will show his work and talk with Adam Gopnik at his studio. Drinks will be served.
12 noon. Ticket buyers will be contacted concerning the location. ($60)

Bottoms Up
Sam Calagione will demonstrate the beer-brewing process and discuss his work with Burkhard Bilger. Tastings, paired with meats and cheeses, will be served.
12 noon. The Gate ($50)

New Yorker Talks

James Surowiecki | Tomorrow Never Comes: Why We Procrastinate and How It Matters
11 A.M. City Winery ($27)

Atul Gawande | The Death of the Master Builder: A Story of Risk, Medicine, and Skyscrapers
1 P.M. Directors Guild Theatre ($27)

Kaffeeklatsch | New Yorker Writers and Artists Up Close

Heroes and Antiheroes
With Donald Antrim, A. M. Homes, George Saunders, and Gary Shteyngart.
Moderated by Cressida Leyshon.
10 A.M. Conde Nast Executive Dining Room ($15)

George Booth interviewed by David Owen
12 noon. Conde Nast Executive Dining Room ($15)

Our Far-Flung Correspondents
With David Grann, Elizabeth Kolbert, and Ian Parker. Moderated by Daniel Zalewski.
2 P.M. Conde Nast Executive Dining Room ($15)

Master Classes

Master Class: Cartooning
With Robert Mankoff.
10 A.M. Conde Nast Auditorium ($35)

Master Class: Photography
With Platon.
12 noon. Conde Nast Auditorium ($35)

Master Class: Copy Editing
With Ann Goldstein, Mary Norris, and Elizabeth Pearson-Griffiths.
2 P.M. Conde Nast Auditorium ($35)

Panels

Radical Opera
With Lisa Bielawa, Nico Muhly, Peter Sellars, and Rufus Wainwright. Moderated by Alex Ross.
3 P.M. City Winery ($35)

A Humor Revue

Shouts & Murmurs Live
With Jenny Allen, Woody Allen, Noah Baumbach, Yoni Brenner, Ian Frazier, Patricia Marx, David Owen, Amy Ozols, Simon Rich, Paul Rudnick, George Saunders, Paul Simms, and Calvin Trillin. Hosted by David Remnick.
4 P.M. Directors Guild Theatre ($35)

Book Signings

(Please note the schedule of book signings at the bottom of this e-mail.)
12 noon to 5 P.M. McNally Jackson Books (Free)

How to Purchase Tickets

Tickets for The New Yorker Festival will go on sale at 12 noon E.T. on Friday, September 18th. There are several ways to purchase tickets:

Online: Get tickets at newyorker.com/festival.

By phone: Call 800-440-6974.

At Ticket HQ: Ten per cent of tickets to all events will be available at Cedar Lake Theatre, at 547 West 26th Street (between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues).
Tickets will be sold on Friday, October 16th, from 12 noon to 4 P.M. First come, first served.

At the door: A limited number of tickets will be sold at the door to each event one hour before start time, with the exception of Morning at the Frick, Come Hungry, Strings Attached, Inside the Artist’s Studio, and Bottoms Up. First come, first served. Cash only.

Book Signings at McNally Jackson Books

SATURDAY | OCTOBER 17
12 noon
T. Coraghessan Boyle – “The Women”
Aleksandar Hemon – “Love and Obstacles”

1 P.M.
Junot Diaz – “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao”
Mary Gaitskill – “Don’t Cry”

2 P.M.
Annie Proulx – “Fine Just the Way It Is: Wyoming Stories 3″

3 P.M.
Malcolm Gladwell – “Outliers: The Story of Success”
Bill James – “The Bill James Gold Mine 2009″

4 P.M.
Paul Rudnick – “I Shudder: And Other Reactions to Life, Death, and New Jersey”
Wallace Shawn – “Essays”

5 P.M.
Robert Mankoff – “On the Money: The Economy in Cartoons, 1925-2009″

SUNDAY | OCTOBER 18
12 noon
Tad Friend – “Cheerful Money: Me, My Family, and the Last Days of Wasp Splendor”
David Grann – “The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon”

1 P.M.
John Cassidy – “How Markets Fail: The Economics of Rational Irrationality”
Paul Goldberger – “Why Architecture Matters” and “Building Up and Tearing Down:
Reflections on the Age of Architecture”

2 P.M.
Daniyal Mueenuddin – “In Other Rooms, Other Wonders”
Colson Whitehead – “Sag Harbor”

3 P.M.
Adam Gopnik – “Angels and Ages: A Short Book about Darwin, Lincoln, and Modern
Life”
Hendrik Hertzberg – “One Million”

4 P.M.
George Booth – “About Dogs”
Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly – “The TOON Treasury of Classic Children’s
Comics”

The 2009 program schedule will appear in the September 21st issue of The New Yorker, on newsstands September 14th. The Festival schedule will also be posted on the same date on newyorker.com/festival.

Myself and the guy I work with are going on tour! Below are the first announced dates. There may be a few more to follow. On a scale of 1-1000, in terms of awesomeness, I think it’s going to be a 600!

Sep 19 YMCA Boulton Center, Bay Shore, NY (Black Only)
Oct 11 Royal Oak, Detroit, MI (Buy Tickets)
Oct 13 Metro, Chicago, IL (Buy Tickets)
Oct 14 Turner Hall, Milwaukee, WI (Buy Tickets)
Oct 15 Pantages, Minneapolis, MN
Oct 17 Ogden Theatre, Denver, CO (Buy Tickets)
Oct 23 Fox Theatre, Oakland, CA
Oct 27 Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ
Oct 28 Sixth & I Synagogue, Washington, DC
Oct 29 Trocadero, Philadelphia, PA (Buy Tickets)
[MichaelIanBlack.com]

While it may have been a little uneven at times, there were some pretty great moments in Season 1 of MMHI: Leo Allen’s unexpected line, “She wanted me to pee on her!” literally made me burst out laughing, Jon Benjamin and Rob Huebel were pitch perfect as the Michaels’ boorish rivals Jeff & Larry, and the understated, yet hilarious Kumail Nanjiani made every scene he was in worth watching. I hope they bring the show back for a second season, and if they do, I’d love to see more show behind the show and less of the sketches (in fact, they could probably even drop the skits and monologues altogether if you want my honest opinion). By all means though, I think they should keep the original product ads featuring Showalter and Black; I watched every one of those Klondike commercials, and I own a DVR.

Congratulations to Hannibal Buress, who for my money, has been one of the funniest guys to play the NYC indie comedy circuit (if there is such a thing) in the last year or so. I know it’s a tall order, but hopefully he can use his flare for “comedic jokes” to restore SNL to a little bit of its former glory.

It’s been a whirlwind of a month for Buress. He performed on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on Aug. 5, then continued a stand-up tour that brought him to Chicago to open for John Oliver last weekend; he sent out a tweet Sunday afternoon stating, “I’ll be writing on this season of SNL. Lots of elaborate poop sketches will be pitched this season.” He told The A.V. Club that the SNL job came about because of his Late Night performance, and that he’ll be starting on Monday, working six days a week, every week, unless the show is taking a break. He’ll continue to perform his absurdist, cerebral stand-up at night. [The Onion AV Club - Chicago]

Watch the video of Hannibal on Fallon that helped him land the writing gig after the jump.

PS Along with Kumail, Hannibal absolutely killed during his set at the ECNY Awards showcase show at Comix last night.

With Tearing The Veil of Maya on hiatus, I guess Monday night has become a the new night for comedy. Check out what’s happening in the city tonight (Monday, August 31):

ECNY SHOWCASE at COMIX
Monday, August 31 @ 8PM
Admission: $15 plus a two item minimum purchase in the showroom
Where: Comix, 353 West 14th Street

HOST: Jon Friedman (Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Rejection Show)

WITH:
Michelle Collins (Best Week Ever)
Sara Schaefer (Late Night with Jimmy Fallon)
Leo Allen (Saturday Night Live, Michael and Michael Have Issues)
Kumail Nanjiani (Michael & Michael Have Issues)
Harvard Sailing Team
and a very special Giant Tuesday Night of Amazing Inventions Reunion!

Videos by Nick Kroll & John Mulaney, Sean Crespo, Elephant Larry & College Humor.

Music by Valley Lodge (featuring Dave Hill)

---

WHIPLASH #2L2Q
Monday, August 31 @ 11PM
Admission: Free
Where: UCB Theater, 307 W. 26th St. (corner of 8th Ave)

HOST: Leo Allen (Saturday Night Live, Michael and Michael Have Issues)

WITH:
Hannibal Burress (Saturday Night Live)
Eugene Mirman (Flight of the Conchords, Delocated)
Marc Maron (Air America Radio)
Joe DeRosa (Last Call w/ Carson Daly), and
Rory Scovel

---

TELL YOUR FRIENDS!
Monday, August 31 @ 8PM
Admission: $5
Where: Lolita Bar, 266 Broome Street (Corner of Allen Street)

HOST: Daniel St. Germain

WITH:
Joe DeRosa
has appeared on on “Last Call with Carson Daly,” Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend,” and the “New Faces” showcase at the Montreal Comedy Festival.

Dave Hill
is a musician, writer, and comedian whose work has been featured in The New York Times, Blender, The Huffington Post, HBO, VH1, Spike TV, Sundance Channel, starred in the hilarious “The King of Miami” (which is now available on iTunes), and is featured in NPR’s This American Life Tour with Ira Glass

Victor Varnado
has appeared on Late Night w/ Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Premium Blend, My Name id Earl, in the movies End of Days, Pluto Nash, and Julien Donkey Boy, and is on his special/documentary The Awkward Kings of Comedy

Liam McEneaney
has toured all over Europe and has appeared on Comedy Central and VH1

Laura & Bradford
sketch comedy performers and great friends of show

and more TBA!

Will Dave Hill be cloning himself tonight?

David Cross actually plays a fair amount of shows in NYC, but when he does, they tend to be slightly under the radar affairs (Tearing The Veil of Maya, Tinkle, UCB etc). Well, all of that is about to change next month as David heads out on a theater tour and makes a high profile appearance at ATP NY on September 11 (where he is curating the comedy stage). However, if you don’t want to make the trek up to Kutshers Country Club, you can also catch David at Borders in Time Warner Center on September 9 where he’ll be reading from his new book, I Drink For A Reason, which is due out on Monday, August 31. IDFAR also has a companion website at IDrinkForAReason.com which is a bit lame on the whole (in my opinion), but the video of David dancing on stage at a Jim Belushi show is priceless.

More David Cross 2009 tour dates after the jump.

David Cross 2009 Tour Dates
09/09/09 Borders, Time Warner Center, New York, NY
09/11/09 ATP, Kutshers Country Club & Resort, Monticello, NY
09/19/09 The Warfield, San Francisco, CA
09/21/09 The Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA
09/23/09 Orpheum Theatre, Phoenix, AZ
09/24/09 Newmark Theatre, Portland, OR
09/25/09 Newmark Theatre, Portland, OR
09/27/09 The Centre In Vancouver For Performing Arts, Vancouver, BC
09/30/09 The Midland by AMC, Kansas City, MO
10/02/09 Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Toronto, ON
10/04/09 Congress Theater, Chicago, IL
10/05/09 State Theatre, Minneapolis, MN
10/10/09 Lyell B Clay Concert Theatre, Morgantown, WV (On Sale: 08/31/09 at 9AM)
10/11/09 Capitol Theatre, Columbus, OH
10/13/09 Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor, MI (On Sale: 08/31/09 at 10AM)
10/16/09 Lakewood Theater, Dallas, TX
10/17/09 The Tabernacle Atlanta, GA
10/19/09 Wilbur Theatre Boston, MA (Buy Tickets/Presale Password: CC2)