310 stories by "Jason Zinoman"
In "Hyprov," audience members are hypnotized into performing sketches. The show's creators argue that the novices make stronger choices than pros would.
For a cultural critic, a sense of humor is integral to his Jewish identity. But these dark times raise existential questions about comedy and its uses.
The French master teacher Philippe Gaulier has worked with stars like Sacha Baron Cohen. But at 78, are his methods, which include insults, outdated?
As he turns 80, don't be fooled by his serious music. From the start, his work has been filled with a cockeyed humor that can range from corny jokes to dark wit.
Two online business models see a future post-pandemic, but success might depend on cooperating with actual clubs.
James Acaster's "Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999" is an outstanding show about the worst year in his life. (His girlfriend left him for Mr. Bean, and it went downhill from there.)
Crowds can be mindless, even dangerous. But that feeling of losing yourself as you experience art together hasn't been replicated since live entertainment went online.
We asked the scene partners Louis Kornfeld and Rick Andrews to walk us through their thought processes as they ad-libbed a double date.
Three rising comics share an aesthetic that marries crass physical humor with disarmingly sexual themes. They're unsettling and hilarious.
Gary Gulman's new special, "The Great Depresh," displays his signature contrarianism while also being a departure, since its darkly confessional style is firmly in keeping with what's in vog…
A fascinating love letter to "Fiddler on the Roof" asks: What makes the quintessentially Jewish musical speak to everyone?
The comic hasn't adjusted his material for the setting: he's still defending wealthy, famous peers and joking about transgender targets.
Jacqueline Novak is poised for a breakout with "Get on Your Knees," a new one-woman show Off Broadway.
"I Think You Should Leave," starring Tim Robinson, takes absurd premises to unpredictable places.
The new Michael Riedel column on Beetlejuice is a subtext-rich doozy. Time for a new Reidel translator.
In a loose-knit scene packing audiences into intimate New York spaces, comedians are getting big laughs with original songs.
Visionary stylist or one-trick pony? With "Network" on Broadway and "All About Eve" on the horizon, the multimedia-mad stage director is ready for his close-up.
This anarchic, unhinged 30-ish comedian with a demented weekly cable access show also pulls stunts for a podcast, including marrying a Tide bottle.
The Australian stand-up Hannah Gadsby examines a culture that excuses abuse and takes on comedy's pieties. Laughter is not good medicine, in her view.
In a rambling but dramatic and fascinating performance in Dublin, the comic addressed the fallout from her widely condemned Trump photo.
The experimental theater company stages the Bard's enigmatic "Measure for Measure" at the Public Theater.
On the wings of his Netflix comedy special, "Staying Alive," Mr. Morgan closes a stint at the comedy club with more of his near-death experience quipping.
These two outsider comedians haven't exactly gone mainstream, but they've had an outsize impact on communications from liquor ads to "Portlandia."
This Park Slope venue was shut down after a fire in March, but it has a strong slate of stand-up the week it reopens.
Meghan Kennedy's new play focuses on Italian parents and their three daughters growing up in Park Slope, Brooklyn, in 1960.
