New York Shows - The Second City

The 6 winners from the second season of Wig Pageant Variety Hour come together to compete for the crown. Hosted by Toledo, Ohio D-List celebrities Vince Michael LaFontaine and Miss Charlés, you’re invited to join us as 6 character actors duke it out to prove to you, the voting public, that they deserve the title of #1 Character Actor in Ohio. Complete with live music, dancing, singing, glitz, glam, trash, and more!

Nationally touring comedian Will Abeles is no stranger to sleeping in his car. So much so that he did it on occasion just a few blocks from what is now Second City while chasing his dreams in the late 2010’s. Now housed in Nashville, he’s headlining across the country and opening for some of his heroes like Rory Scovel and Beth Stelling.

Join Will and a few of his hilarious friends as he makes his Second City debut, working out his new hour “Subaru Chic,” a dissection of how life can go from so right to so wrong and finding the humor in all of it.

Alongside Will are some of New York’s best including Gracie Canaan, Ash Diggs and Evan Berke.
*Line-ups are subject to change

Throw out the stale breakroom coffee and celebrate office holiday party season with Work Hard, Sleigh Hard, a brand new sketch revue from the alumni of the inaugural Second City New York House Company. From fantasy football leagues, to eclectic beat poets, to some rando you met at a bar, Work Hard, Sleigh Hard’s cross-FUNctional team delivers the best operational synergy this side of Wall Street. And best of all, you can expense the tickets – it’s team-building!

Bitter Ambrosia is a blasphemous retelling of the Garden of Eden that subverts the biblical narrative into one of queer acceptance and trans joy. This musical rendition shows the origins of the Snake, a fallen angel who journeys through Hell, making revelations about sin, piety, and gender expression along the way. Rather than vilifying the Snake for his seduction of Eve, Bitter Ambrosia commends him for attempting to save her from an ill-fated life of pious subservience. This original story celebrates different expressions of queerness and the trans experience, through boylesque, aerial lyra, circus hoops, live singing, and comedy.

A staged reading of Alise Morales’ new play A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (BUT BETTER) featuring the words of the iconic bard plus some extra stuff she cooked up.

This crossover event answers the question that’s on everyone’s mind: What happens when the ladies of Sex and the City encounter the dysfunctional dynamics of the Roy family of Succession? This comedic fever dream is the story of these two worlds colliding and seeing who’s still standing among the wreckage. This is an interactive staged reading of a work in progress.

To celebrate New York City’s 400th anniversary (1625-2025), we’re hosting a live comedy battle of the boroughs in the spirit of Def Comedy Jam – live at Second City in Williamsburg on Wednesday, November 19th.

Five boroughs. Five comedians. Three rounds. One champion.

From Staten Island to the Bronx, the boroughs collide as punchlines fly — and only one comedian walks away with the crown.

Round 1: The Opening Bell! Five comics enter in the ring. Three move on—two get KO’d.
Round 2: The Rumble! Top three battle head-to-head… only two survive.
Round 3: The Knockout! One minute each—no mercy, just mayhem.

Who’ll take the crown? Find out at New York’s funniest fight night— the Comedy Throwdown: Battle of the Boroughs celebrating 400 years of New York grit, wit, and laughter. Chris Redd (Host)
DJ Juanyto

Matt Richards (Queens)
Casey Jost (Staten Island)
Petey Deabru (Bronx)
Rachel Coster (Brooklyn)
Rosebud Baker (Manhattan)

More than a comedy show — it’s your Spanish prep for the halftime show! A celebration of Spanglish language and culture, hosted by Titi (the aunt). Stand-up comedians and improvisers bring their funniest stories and characters as they put their faith — and their jokes — to the test at Titi’s casita party.

Welcome to The Junction — The Second City New York’s new comedy meeting ground where the city’s best stand-ups, characters, improvisers, and clowns intersect for one unforgettable night of laughter.

Featuring fresh lineups every week, The Junction delivers a true mix of comedy with familiar faces and wild new discoveries. Expect the unexpected — The Junction has a way of rerouting your night.

They say Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil at a crossroads for musical genius. Lucky for you, The Junction offers you comedic geniuses at a much better price.

Dusted Company brings its wildly successful show to New York City. This is a stand up comedy show although the producer Mark Serritella made it all the way up to Level 2 (maybe 3) at The Second City in Hollywood.

*Featuring: Chris Distefano
Kam Patterson
Gianmarco Soresi
Sarah Cooper
Neal Brennan
Todd Glass
Ryan Long
Jon Rudnitsky
Natalie Cuomo
Dan LaMorte
Mark Serritella *Line ups are subject to change

Rachel Troy has a baby inside of her. But she’s not pregnant. It’s her, she’s the baby. BABY is a clown tragicomedy about the inner child, attachment theory, and therapy. Performed by a real-life therapist… Clever, yet totally stupid, this show is an absurd psychological carousel with fun audience interactions, and theatrical, comedic, and poignant surprises at every turn! BABY won Top of Fringe, Best World Premiere, and was nominated for Best Comedy at the 2024 Hollywood Fringe Festival and is thrilled to be making her New York Debut at Second City. Come see what audiences are calling “actually genuis, genre-breaking, fierce, and fucking hilarious!” Content Warning: Brief Partial Nudity

Sugar Sammy is one of the hottest comedians on the international circuit. The New York Times calls him “A fearless comic with a talent for provoking both laughter and outrage”. He has performed over 2,300 shows in 32 countries.

“Fluent in Funny” as the Washington Post describes him, he hits on cultural, social and political themes with great charm and finesse. He is a master of crowd work and audience interaction.

Sugar Sammy’s international TV credits include specials broadcast on HBO Canada, Comedy Central Asia, Comedy Central India, CTV, The Comedy Network, The Comedy Channel, Dutch TV and Showtime Arabia.

A television star on both sides of the pond, his accomplishments include his current role as judge on La France a un Incroyable talent, France’s version of America’s Got Talent.
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“A fearless comic with a talent for provoking both laughter and outrage.”
– New York Times

“Fluent in Funny”
– Washington Post

“Sugar Sammy is a provocateur”
– The Guardian

“The funniest man in France is a Quebecer”
“Le plus drôle des Français est québécois”
– GQ France

“Master of the punchline, rhythm and improv”
“Virtuose de la punchline, du rythme et de l’impro”
– Télérama

“Comedy’s new rock star”
“La nouvelle rock star de l’humour”
– Quotidien

Songs N Scenes is a vibrant collision of live music and unscripted theater—a uniquely immersive show where no two nights are the same. Each performance begins with an original song from a featured guest musician. From there, a cast of top-tier improvisers spins scenes inspired by the mood, themes, lyrics, or energy of the song. As the evening unfolds, songs and scenes weave together in unexpected ways, creating a one-night-only tapestry of comedy, storytelling, and musical spontaneity. It’s a joyful, emotional, and unpredictable ride—equal parts concert, improv jam, and theatrical experiment.

A huge, exciting, experimental monster of a comedy show, BoogieManja delivers an hour of fantastic sketch and character comedy from some of the sharpest writers and performers in NYC. Each week features two of eight stellar teams, each with their own voice and comedy style; no two nights are ever the same. Expect bold ideas, wild characters, and unpredictable laughs—BoogieManja is fresh, experimental, and funny.

Attention passengers of the Royal Princess Cruise ship! Tonight in the Lover’s Lounge we present to you a scandalous hit variety show, “All Aboard! with Benny Venito.” A provocative and powerful bass with a penchant for passiõn, Benny hosts a night of music, comedy, and entertainment that always leans a little more naughty than nice. With special performances by: Kento Morita Serah Bennett Tim Cerniglia “There are two eras in my life: before I saw a Benny show, and after” – A real person.

Catch the inaugural Second City New York House Company, made up of NYC’s fiercest, funniest rising stars, making comedy magic on the spot with a fully improvised show every Wednesday in the Blackbox.

Comedia Criolla es un showcase de stand-up en español que reúne a los comediantes más originales de Nueva York y Estados Unidos. Es un espacio de humor auténtico y cargado de identidad, donde hispanos y latinos encuentran una comunidad de risas, variedad y buen humor.

Comedia Criolla is a Spanish-language stand-up showcase featuring the most original comedians from New York and across the U.S. It’s an authentic, identity-driven comedy space where Hispanic and Latino audiences find a vibrant community full of laughter, variety, and great energy.

Chimp Cocktail is composed of the most brilliant sketch comedy minds of the post-World War II, pre-World War III generation. Every month, these courageous morons join forces to come up with one full hour of outrageous hahas. Whether you’ve been experiencing fever dreams or you would like to experience one for the first time, Chimp Cocktail is an absurd response to our absurd times. No two shows are alike, but every show will feature a monkey, and that’s a promise.

New York’s best variety show, Rat Candy, comes back to Second City for a perfect night of laughter, love, and friendship. This epic lineup is guaranteed to make you laugh so hard you pee your pants a lil. JUST A LIL. Good times guaranteed, tap dancing possible. All proceeds go towards bringing this show to Edinburgh Fringe Fest in summer 2026. Let’s get silly!

The Infinite Wrench: Tuesday 11/11 @ 7:00pm on the Mainstage as part of the NY Comedy Festival.

The Infinite Wrench is a dynamic, mind-bending barrage of 30 original plays that the NY Neo-Futurists try to perform within a single hour. Each play offers something different, be it funny, profound, elegant, disgusting, topical, irrelevant, terrifying, or a song. All are truthful and tackle the here-and-now, inspired by the lived experiences of the performers. With new plays and new combinations of plays every performance, The Infinite Wrench is the Neo-Futurists’ ongoing and ever-changing attempt to shift the conventions of live performance and challenge the fourth wall head-on.