Written by Laura Hillary Friday, 23 April 2010
Tarrytown Music Hall is presenting a live, stand-up comedy show featuring Russ Meneve, Dan Naturman, Lynne Koplitz and Sandy Marks. You may not recognize the names of these performers, but they are all national headliners who have performed around the globe. Between them, they have had dozens of appearances on The Tonight Show, David Letterman and Craig Ferguson, as well as numerous half-hour spots on the Comedy Central network. While these four comics may lack name recognition, they are truly soon-to-be-famous, up-and-coming stars.
The four talented comedians appear in Manhattan Comedy Nights—a show that sells out numerous times a year in a 1,200-seat theater in Morristown, NJ. “We started at the Mayo Arts Theater in 2001 with a small following of just a few hundred people, mostly through word of mouth. People talk about how great the shows are and we sell out almost every time now,” says Producer, Sandy Marks. Sandy’s philosophy is that there are so many great comics that people haven’t heard of or seen. “We have had some great comedians come through that went on to bigger things such as; Lisa Lampanelli, Greg Giraldo, Dimitri Martin (who now has his own hit series, Important Things, on Comedy Central). “We just felt that with the glut of reality TV shows, people haven’t heard from the last generation of comedians. These guys never got their sitcom so people don’t know them, but they are incredible.”
The concept of seeing four great comedians at a third of the price of a nationally known name is unique. “It takes years to write a great act, and to have four comedians like this all doing standup comedy for 20 years — you just can’t beat their experience, and they’re so talented,” Marks says. “It will be interesting to see how the show plays in Tarrytown. As we know, Morristown is a big market for the arts, but we don’t know Tarrytown, so we are just hoping.”
To quote the Associated Press, “Manhattan Comedy Nights is a truly hilarious comedy show with some of the best comedians that you have probably never heard of." It’s a must-see show for those seeking hysterical entertainment and for those who wish to be able to attest, “I knew that guy before he was famous!” Tickets are $20 each and can be purchased online at www.tarrytownmusichall.org.
