Live from New York, it's... The Second City?
The famous comedy brand has arrived with high ticket prices and a lot to prove
Throughout my life, I’ve spent most of my free evenings out at the movies. My face even makes up half of a particular Instagram account dedicated to this interest. But over the last couple of years (pushed in part by the person whose face is that account’s other half), I’ve gotten more into live comedy.
Lately, I can be found more and more at Union Hall, or Littlefield, or (when I’m feeling fancy) The Bell House.
When I first moved to New York, I enjoyed going to shows at the NYC locations of UCB, which shut down early on in the pandemic. UCB was a comedy brand, boasting alumni who went on to have famous careers in TV and movies, and now, another one of those brands has seemingly slipped into UCB’s trademarked, mainstream-alt-leaning, classes-offering void.
The Second City has finally set up shop in the “first” city (but in Brooklyn, so “the second borough”), with classes and shows now in full operation.
I’m curious, but I wasn’t clamoring for this. The Brooklyn comedy scene I know is already robust, funky, and welcoming. There’s something instantly off-putting about asking $97 for “Premium” seats, $75 for “General Admission,” or $54 for “Value” tickets to see up-and-coming sketch and improv comedy.
Some of the most original and daring shows I’ve ever seen have cost less than $20 per seat (or at least per little square of standing room, careful to not knock the drinks out of the hands of my fellow standers). And look, it’s not all about ticket price, but I am truly wary of the Citi Bank of Sketch coming in and pricing out the comedy fan community that is already so established here.
Nevertheless, I have my eye on The Second City. If I’ll see a show soon, you know I’ll report back!
→On my radar: February 16-22, 2024
Star Wars Celebration totally “convention-pilled” me last year, so I am very much looking forward to checking out Cosmic Con this weekend, which also happens to be a 10-minute walk away from my apartment — major plus!
Friday, February 16
🎮 Mario vs. Donkey Kong
📺 Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin (Apple TV+)
📺 This is Me…Now: A Love Story (Prime Video) — Jennifer Lopez’s movie drops in tandem with her new album, This Is Me... Now.
Saturday, February 17
NYC: 🎟 Cosmic Con Day 1 — More info.
Sunday, February 18
NYC: 🎟 Cosmic Con Day 2 — More info.
Monday, February 19
NYC: 🎟 A live taping of the Too Far podcast (7:30 p.m., The Bell House) — More info.
Tuesday, February 20
NYC: 🎭 No More Stupid: A Fundraiser Show for Palestine Legal and eSIMs for Gaza (9:30 p.m., Caveat) — More info.
Wednesday, February 21
📺 Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+) — Three-episode season premiere. First new Star Wars (on screen) of 2024, yes please!
📺 Constellation (Apple TV+) — Three-episode series premiere.
🎬 Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete (Fathom Events)
NYC: 🎭 Teeth — Michael R. Jackson’s latest new musical. I cannot wait for this.
Thursday, February 22
📺 Avatar: The Last Airbender (Netflix)
🎮 Three video games that look great to me go live: Nightingale, Open Roads, and Pacific Drive.
Visit my complete listing of upcoming movies, TV shows and more.
ADDED THIS WEEK:
📺 Gender Agenda (Mar. 5, Netflix) — A multi-comic special curated and hosted by Hannah Gadsby. Featuring Jes Tom, Alok, Asha Ward, Chloe Petts, DeAnne Smith, Krishna Istha and Mx. Dahlia Belle.
🎬 Damsel (Mar. 8, Netflix) — Starring Millie Bobby Brown.
📺 X-Men ‘97 (Mar. 20, Disney+) — I didn’t watch the original series, but I’m interested in checking this out.
🎵 Beyoncé announced a new album, Act II, which drops on Mar. 29. Two songs are available now, “Texas Hold ’Em” and “16 Carriages.”
NYC: 🎭 The Great Gatsby (Begins Mar. 29) — A new musical starring Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada. More info.
📺 Renegade Nell (Premieres Mar. 29, Disney+) — Fantasy series.
NYC: 🎭 Cabaret at The Kit Kat Club (Begins Apr. 1) — Starring Eddie Redmayne, Gayle Rankin, and Bebe Neuwirth. More info.
📺 The Sympathizer (Premieres Apr. 14, HBO) — From Park Chan-wook and starring Sandra Oh, Hoa Xuande, and (in multiple roles!) Robert Downey Jr. (Fans of the 1993 film Heart and Souls rejoice: We’re getting RDJ playing a bunch of characters at once again!)
🎬 Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace (May 3) — the 25th anniversary theatrical re-release.
←Rear-View Radar
At the end of each newsletter, I look to — the past! — to mention recent culture I've been paying attention to, whether they were previously on my radar or not.
You might think I would use this precious space to hype up the unfairly maligned Madame Web, a movie I genuinely enjoyed and actively crave a sequel for, but I saw another hype-worthy movie this week (also starring Zosla Mamet — big week for her), and that was the sci-fi rom-com Molli and Max in the Future. This one has so much charm and humor and sweetness and downright weirdness (a combo I of course am here for). In the opposite tonal (and chronological) direction, I also really enjoyed Out of Darkness, which takes place in 45,000 B.C. And though it’s not a new release, I saw Alice Wu’s 2004 Saving Face, and it instantly became one of my new all-time favorites.
I attended two off-Broadway shows this week (I’m tired): Between Two Knees is an excellent dark comedy about a multi-generation Native American family story that also functions as a piercing satire of American colonization. And Russian Troll Farm tells the story of the 2016 presidential election through the perspectives of workers at a social media disinformation farm located in Russia. Both of these shows masterfully examine and interrogate difficult aspects of American history and politics through genuinely funny and surprising satire.
Speaking of American political satire, I was surprised (in a good way) by Jon Stewart’s return to The Daily Show, but getting into that topic sounds exhausting, so let’s just round out this paragraph on TV comedy by also just mentioning that I not only watched Taylor Tomlinson’s new Netflix special Have It All this week, but I also watched for the first time her preceding first two specials as well. I loved all three of them!
Thanks for reading! What's on your radar? Reply to this email or send me a message to let me know!
Derrick Clements writes the On My Radar newsletter. He lives in Queens, New York. Visit derrickclements.com for more.