Where to buy tickets for best shows

There’s a lot going on at the 2025 New York Comedy Festival.

The first thing one notices after checking out their expansive lineup announcement is the sheer amount of names on the poster.

Or in NYCF’s case, posters.

If you take a look at their nine-slide (!) Aug. 18 Instagram post sharing all the performers set to take the stage all over the five boroughs from Nov. 7-16, you’ll see name after name after name after…you get the idea.

So, we wanted to make your life easy.

Our team went went through the exhaustive, never-ending list and found 19 can’t-miss shows featuring electric stand-up comics, improvisers and podcasters.

While we likely missed a few — or a couple dozen — all of the acts you’ll find listed below are guaranteed funny.

To make sure you’re familiar before taking a seat at one of these NYCF shows, here’s a little bit about what to expect from household-name stars like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert to up-and-coming future headliners Usama Siddiquee and Sam Morrison that you won’t want to miss before they break big.

Now that the opening act is out of the way, let’s move on to the main course.

*Shows are not listed chronologically.

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Stand Up For Heroes
Monday, Nov. 10 at the David Geffen Hall
feat. Jon Stewart, Mike Birbiglia,  Jim Gaffigan, Idina Menzel,  more

The 19th edition of the star-studded show spotlights inspiring stories of resilience and service, while raising awareness and critical funds for the Bob Woodruff Foundation, whose mission is to ensure that our nation’s veterans, service members, and their families — those who stood for us — have stable and successful futures. Also, it’s very funny.

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For one night only, the show’s co-creators and stars celebrate the cancellation of their subversive Comedy Central series about 46-year-old high school freshman Jerri Blank (Sedaris), which ran for three season from 1999-2000. Expect dark, absurd humor unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.

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Chris Fleming
Saturday, Nov. 15 at Carnegie Hall

There’s no live wire stand-up quite like Fleming working today. While prowling the stage, the Boston native’s material flows less like traditional jokes and more like stream-of-conscious, meta social commentary about everything from Baby Boomers’ Bitmoji skills to the snacks at Trader Joe’s only women can see. It’s electric and must be witnessed live.

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Pete Holmes
Friday, Nov. 14 at Town Hall

While you likely know and love Holmes from his sometimes spiritual, often hilarious podcast “You Made It Weird” or thoughtful HBO sitcom “Crashing,” he’s also a gifted stand-up comedian who has been touring for 25 years sharing thoughtful observations that are sometimes wholesome, sometimes dirty and always hysterical. We’re big fans.

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Alex Edelman
Saturday, Nov. 15 at Carnegie Hall

You might recognize Edelman from his work on NBC’s “The Paper” but we’re partial to his mile-a-minute, punchline-heavy storytelling. To wit, while Edelman isn’t exactly a traditional stand-up per se, we beg you to find a joke funnier than his bit about Prince Harry’s cocaine problem from his intensely personal HBO special “Just For Us.” Nope, you can’t. It’s perfect.

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Jane Wickline
Sunday, Nov. 16 at Union Hall

“SNL’s” go-to Gen Z sketch player is taking time out of her busy 30 Rock schedule to perform with her sketch partner Liva Pierce at one of Brooklyn’s most beloved indie venues. Expect silly songs that you won’t be able to get out of your head and lots and lots of faux-seriousness.

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What’s that? Another SNLer? Darn straight. Slowikowska, who made waves in her third episode on the variety show as a singing dryer alongside Sabrina Carpenter will sling some make ’em ups with her pal Haley Stiel, Rachel Coster, Zach Schiffman, Richard Perez, Allie Viti and more on their ‘Improv But Good’ show. We can’t wait to let her see her freak flag fly.

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Emil Wakim
Thursday, Nov. 13 at Arlo Williamsburg

Pour one out for one of the cast members unfairly let go by SNL at the end of Season 50 when the show cleaned house. Heck, we thought he was a shoo-in to take over Weekend Update but that just wasn’t in the cards. Thankfully, you can pay your respects to the funnyman as he spreads his wings and goes longer than SNL would ever allow at this evening show.

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How Did This Get Made
Friday, Nov. 7 at Town Hall
feat. Paul Scheer, Jason Mantzoukas, June Diane Raphael

If you love bad movies and raucous chemistry between character actors, this is the show for you. The show — which is also an award-winning podcast — features the three aforementioned hosts discussing arguably bottom-of-the-barrel films and blockbusters like Hulk Hogan’s “No Holds Barred” and Ice Cube’s “War of the Worlds” until things go off the rails.

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Yet another familiar face. The funnywoman who fronted “Together Together” with Ed Helms and regularly steals scenes in Tim Robinson’s “I Think You Should Leave” is striking out on her own in Midtown. Expect unhinged and weird bits that will leave you confounded and inspired.

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Kerry Coddett
Sunday, Nov. 16 at Brooklyn Comedy Collective

And now for something completely different. Coddett is putting on a solo show called “Mudhole” based on “one hell of a true story.” As she puts it, her one-woman performance tells the tale of “how a valedictorian joined a gang, got kicked out of four different NYC high schools in one year and made an insane comeback.”

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This is a bona-fide treat. After a half-decade hiatus, Normand and Ruby’s classic Schtick or Treat returns this Halloween season- a fan-favorite comedy event that started in 2012. Comedians dress up and impersonate other comics, dead or alive, performing stand-up sets completely in character. Get ready for a night of hilarious tributes, unexpected twists, and spooky fun you won’t want to miss.

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Not every comic is as prolific as Joe List. Just this year, he dropped an excellent new special, released a potent documentary about his friend Tom Dustin and is still out and about touring all over the country. While we’re not sure which friends he’s taking to the stage with him at the Fest, we guarantee they’ll be heavy hitters if they’re in List’s company.

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Ismo
Sunday, Nov. 9 at Town Hall

Regardless of whether you’ve been working for years as a stand-up, sometimes your career is made overnight by an instantly iconic late night set. That’s precisely what happened with this Finnish oddball who turned heads with his unforgettable chunk about the versatility of the word “a–.” We can’t wait to see what else he has up his sleeve.

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Jay Jurden
Saturday, Nov. 15 at The Bell House

Very few comedians have the guts to stand up to the powers that be and speak truth to power. Jurden, one of the industry’s fastest-rising stars, has that fearlessness and a gift for speaking in misdirections. We recommend catching this one because it’s very likely the gifted artist will be playing much bigger, more expensive venues in the very near future.

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Ron Funches
Saturday, Nov. 15 at The Bell House

Excuse me for switching to first-person but sometimes essential stories need to be told. In January 2012, I saw Funches at the San Francisco Sketchfest and was so mesmerized by his set, which included throwing candy into the crowd, that I’ve followed the jolly funnyman for years. He’s a force to be reckoned with and must be seen live to be fully appreciated. So good, goofy and great.

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Sam Morrison
Friday, Nov. 7 at Littlefield

One of comedy’s most magnetic performers is back at Littlefield for the third year in a row. Morrison told The Post that the show has sold out the past two years and, this time around, he said he’s bringing some of his closest friends like Brittany Carney, Ashley Gaving, Jourdain Fisher and Sean Patton for “a night of great stand up…and after each of their sets we’ll open up for questions from the audience and some chaotic riffing.”

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Some stand-up comics are forces of nature. Siddiquee is a tornado. The swaggering, slender motormouth lights up any room he’s in and that shouldn’t be any different at this headlining set of his where he’ll be joined by funny friends Harshil Shukla, Pranav Behari, Zubi Ahmed and Mohtasham Yaqub. When asked about the show, Usama told us this one will be “straight stand up…in your face.”

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Wellie Jackson
Sunday, Nov. 16 at Littlefield

On the final night of the fest, the enigmatic picture painter will bring the goods. The man who can handle any crowd will close things out. There might be crowd work, there might be jokes, there will definitely be lots of laughs.

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Comedians on tour in 2025-26

Not able to make it to the NYCF this November?

No worries.

Here are just five of our favorite acts on tour these next few months that you absolutely won’t want to miss IRL.

• Steve Martin with Martin Short

• Maria Bamford

• John Mulaney

• Zarna Garg

• Seth Meyers with John Oliver

Who else is out there? Take a look at our list of all the biggest comedians on tour in 2025 to find the show that makes the most sense for you.

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This article was written by Matt Levy, New York Post live events reporter. Levy stays up-to-date on all the latest tour announcements from your favorite musical artists and comedians, as well as Broadway openings, sporting events and more live shows – and finds great ticket prices online. Since he started his tenure at the Post in 2022, Levy has reviewed a Bruce Springsteen concert and interviewed Melissa Villaseñor of SNL fame, to name a few. Please note that deals can expire, and all prices are subject to change

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