By Eileen Katz
Upper West Side comedy fans packed the house at this week’s Ruthless Comedy Hour performance at Stand Up NY on Tuesday night. It was their last show at this venue, which has become their home, as the club will be moving to midtown. But don’t worry! Co-hosts Karen Bergreen and Cynthia Kaplan have a very strong connection to their UWS fans and promise to look to relocate in the neighborhood “for THEIR convenience.”
The show delivered on all its signature bits, including stand-up from Liz Glazer. Kaplan was in a good mood so allowed the audience to sing along with her to “We Were the Donner Party.” Bergreen had a hilarious back and forth with the audience, focusing her attentions especially on front-row audience-member Chad. Thankfully, he was a good sport and took it all in stride. Bestselling author Deborah Copaken shared stories from her popular NY Times Modern Love columns, her days as a war photographer, and her deep knowledge of women’s health. (“Vaginas are always a hit with the Ruthless audience,” Kaplan shared.) It’s the mix of these elements that makes the show special. The audience knows it’s not going to get typical stand-up — it’s a comedy-variety show and they come to play!
Then, it was time for the evening’s crowning event: the live, cold, dramatic reading of the comments section from an article in West Side Rag. Treat yourself to the hilarity in the video below:
Subscribe to WSR’s free email newsletter here.
Very well done, the reading of the comments were hilarious!
Next time try to get the comments that don’t make it pass the moderators. I’d pay money to see that. Bike lanes, unleashed dogs, bagels…etc.
I always thought that this was a hilarious concept when I read about it. Then I saw the video.
As if you would do it better!
Cute. I wish I’d known about this so I could hear how they read MY COMMENTS!
I guess you had to be there.
Love this review and so sorry I missed the show!!! Love these comedians!
Interesting how some folks don’t seem to believe that what they said, they said out loud and to other people, until the words are literally read out for them.
Am I in it?
Not too many people know about the other great comedy venue, the West Side Comedy Club (beneath “Playa Betty”) where you can see famous comedians (John Oliver, Al Franken) and a great new regular series called “Funny Over Fifty” hosted by UWS writer/performer Janice Maffei and featuring some of these same comedians (including Cindy Kaplan). Latest one was this past weekend; stay tuned for the next one!