The Very Best of NYC Comedy /Variety

Homo Comicus, I Can’t Even Think Straight: Molly “Equality” Dykeman’s Big Gay Pride Show, BIG and TALL: An Evening With Bruce Vilanch and Judy Gold, 2nd Annual Pet Day, Zarkana

On Aug 1, Homo Comicus delivers the best queer comedy at the Gotham Comedy Club with A Midsummer Night’s Scream. Enjoy a hot night of high hilarity as some of the nation’s top LGBT comics—including the great and powerful Judy Gold as headliner, the fabulous Jennie McNulty from L.A. and a gaggle of other greats—hit the stage for a rainbow-hued laugh riot. Then, on Sep 5, nurse your Labor Day hangover with the outrageous, legendary leading lady of laughter Lea DeLaria. She tears the roof off the sucka in a rare NYC appearance with a gang of killer LGBT comics, including the hilarious Sapna Kumar from Chicago and more.

Just in time for Pride weekend, I Can’t Even Think Straight: Molly “Equality” Dykeman’s Big Gay Pride Show premieres at the Laurie Beechman Theatre Jun 21-23. Dykeman is a barely lucid poet/security guard at PS 339 and a lovable train wreck who launched her career to critical acclaim in the 2011 New York International Fringe Festival. She returns to NYC with her first gay Pride themed variety show—including home movies; new poetry about vaginas, nachos, and mullets; and Molly’s tribute to the many, many ladies she would like to do. Featured special guests include Xelle, Robin Cloud, Ariel Speedwagon, Lea Robinson, Brad Loekle and Marie Wallace from the original Dark Shadows!

Head out to Sag Harbor for a night of laughter as BIG and TALL: An Evening With Bruce Vilanch and Judy Gold plays one night only at the Bay Street Theatre Jun 30. Join multi-Emmy Award winner Bruce Vilanch (a writer for the Oscars for 23 years, the Center Square on Hollywood Squares, and Edna in Hairspray on Broadway) as he teams up with the queen of Off-Broadway, Judy Gold, for what promises to be a hilarious, side-splitting evening of comedy. Then stay after to party with the stars.

Take Fido on The Wonder Wheel at Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park’s 2nd Annual Pet Day Jun 16. Pets ride free when accompanied by their owners from noon-7pm. At 2pm, enter your pooch in The Coney Island Pet Costume Contest, hosted by The World Famous *BOB* and judged by proud pet owners Bambi the Mermaid of Coney Island, Miss Cyclone, Angie Pontani and Bunny Love. The contest is limited to 25 entries, and registration is on a first-come, first-serve basis. The entrance fee is two cans of cat or dog food which will be donated to The Sean Casey Animal Rescue.

Cirque du Soleil returns to Radio City Music Hall with the slightly twisted fantasy universe of Zarkana for a limited run through Sep 2. The show is an acrobatic spectacle that blends circus arts with the surreal to create a world where physical virtuosity rubs shoulders with the bizarre. The diverse cast of more than 75 international artists transports the audience into a fantastical and suspenseful world, blurring the boundaries between the real and imaginary.


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