{"id":316810,"date":"2021-08-05T00:23:42","date_gmt":"2021-08-04T21:23:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/this-comedy-show-takes-place-in-quirky-nyc-locations\/"},"modified":"2021-08-05T00:23:42","modified_gmt":"2021-08-04T21:23:42","slug":"this-comedy-show-takes-place-in-quirky-nyc-locations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/this-comedy-show-takes-place-in-quirky-nyc-locations\/","title":{"rendered":"#This comedy show takes place in quirky NYC locations"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#This comedy show takes place in quirky NYC locations<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

The joke\u2019s on you if you think an Upper East Side gym, an Alphabet City art studio and a nearby laundromat have nothing in common.<\/p>\n

Since April, each spot has doubled as an after-hours venue for Underground Overground, a buzzy word-of-mouth comedy show popping up in unusual locations around town. It\u2019s luring in known comedic names, such as Mark Normand, Sam Morril and the late Jackie Mason\u2019s daughter, Sheba Mason, for sets. And although tickets are only available by messaging the event\u2019s organizers on Instagram<\/a>, they\u2019re selling like hotcakes.<\/p>\n

The next show, scheduled for Aug. 5, will return to that same Alphabet City laundromat, La La Laundry. The following week, on Aug. 12, Underground Overground \u2014 a name that nods to its surreptitious nature \u2014 will head to Invite Only Studios, a recording studio in Chelsea.<\/p>\n

\"Organizers
Organizers David Levine and Ethan Mansoor perform at La La Laundry.<\/figcaption>
Stefano Giovannini<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe want to create an experience,\u201d said 23-year-old David Levine, an Upper East Side native who co-created the show with 22-year-old Ethan Mansoor. The pair met as youngsters on the P.S. 6 chess team. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you walk into the venue, you\u2019re like, \u2018This is a comedy show? What the hell is going on?’\u201d Recently, the pair hosted a gig on a friend\u2019s rooftop on East 11th St., where the audience had a panoramic view of the skyline. Levine said that\u2019s what they\u2019re looking for in a spot: \u201cWe want that wow factor to surprise you.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Comedian
Comedia<\/a>n Josh Gondelman performs on a downtown rooftop as part of the Underground Overground series<\/a>.<\/figcaption>
William DeVito<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mansoor, who also grew up on the Upper East Side, added, \u201cI think it\u2019s interesting for the people who come to our shows regularly to see the range of places that we get to.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two say they\u2019re in talks with the East Village location of Staten Island pizza joint Joe & Pat\u2019s for a summer show, as well as with downtown streetwear shop Stadium Goods and a COVID-19 testing site for potential pop-ups down the line. But the latter will have to wait.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe COVID testing site said we would be good to go if it wasn\u2019t for Delta,\u201d said Levine of the coronavirus variant now spreading across the nation.<\/p>\n

\"Comedians
Comedians Eitan Levine (left) and Drexton Clemons (right) host a comedy show at La La Laundry.<\/figcaption>
Stefano Giovannini<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The idea for Underground Overground sparked in February, when traditional comedy clubs remained closed due to COVID. <\/p>\n

The two had long frequented city clubs, such as the Stand, and while Levine put on stand-up shows during his years at Syracuse University \u2014 Mansoor, who attended the University of Chicago, wrote jokes on his phone with the hope of one day telling them to a crowd. (Now, at each Underground Overground show, the two do a set together.) <\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Hey, we could put on a show,\u2019\u201d Mansoor said he told Levine at the time. \u201c\u2018Let\u2019s just do something for our friends. I bet we could find a space.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Two months later, they did \u2014 at Initium Novum Club, an Upper East Side gym opened by a trainer who helped Levine with a torn-ACL recovery five years prior. About 30 people came for sets by Normand, who has app<\/a>eared on \u201cConan,\u201d and comedian and writer Jay Jurden. Later that month, Underground Overground headed to an art studio, IDC Art House, on Avenue B, which included a set by \u201cSNL\u201d writer Nimesh Patel.<\/p>\n

\"The
Audiences don\u2019t seem to mind seeing shows in unconventional locations. <\/figcaption>
Stefano Giovannini<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThat [show] I think really cemented the idea of pop-up comedy \u2014 different places every time, cool venues,\u201d said Mansoor.<\/p>\n

All the while, the friends kept spreading the word in an effort to get more guests.<\/p>\n

As cool as the quirky venues are for the creators and their audience, they\u2019re just as fun for the comics. Phil Hanley, a Canadian comedian who\u2019s appeared on \u201cThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon\u201d and Comedy Central, has performed at two Underground Overground pop-ups \u2014 most recently in July at La La Laundry.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of fun to go from playing comedy clubs for 16 or 17 years, and all of a sudden you\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, jeez, I did my laundry here two days ago,\u2019\u201d said Hanley, who lives nearby. <\/p>\n

He added that the space\u2019s layout allowed for a more intimate atmosphere. \u201cIt was a low ceiling, the fact there are dryers and washers everywhere made it condensed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Comedian
Comedian Mark Normand performs at the Initium Novum Club, an Upper East Side gym.<\/figcaption>
Courtesy of David Levine<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(Levine and Mansoor ask for proof of vaccination and check IDs to make sure everyone is over 21, but there\u2019s no indoor capacity limit.)<\/p>\n

The co-creators book the comics themselves and approach individual businesses to ask if they can put on a comedy show in each space.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe set days during the week where we just walk around Soho, downtown \u2014 we walk into every store we think we could possibly do a show,\u201d said Levine. \u201cWe\u2019re not afraid of a \u2018No.\u2019 We\u2019ve been told \u2018Get out of here!\u2019 and \u2018What is wrong with you?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Each show lasts nearly two hours and puts on an amateur comic in the first set. Tickets cost $40 and include unlimited drinks, usually drawing a young crowd looking to pre-game<\/a> before a night out. The pair said that each show draws an increasing number of first-time attendees.<\/p>\n

\"Drexton
Drexton Clemons (left) and Eitan Levine (right) delight the audience at La La Laundry.<\/figcaption>
Stefano Giovannini<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe will absolutely get random texts, random DMs, like\u2026 \u2018I heard about your show, when\u2019s the next one?\u2019\u201d said Mansoor, adding there\u2019s more than just laughs in store for interested guests.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an experience that I haven\u2019t been able to find on my own in New York. We\u2019re trying to put on an experience that we would love to be given the opportunity to go to ourselves.\u201d\n <\/p><\/div>\n