Finally, Brooklyn is considered laugh-worthy.
After nine years of neglecting the borough of Dice, Murphy and Woody, the New York Comedy Festival has decided that the time has come to bring let headliners like Sarah Silverman and J.B. Smoove perform on a different island.
“In Williamsburg and Bushwick and Carroll Gardens, you have a younger demographic now,” said Caroline Hirsch, the festival’s organizer and owner of the legendary Manhattan comedy spot that bears her name. “There’s an audience there.”
Comedian J.B. Smoove, best known for his work as Leon on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” is filming his first comedy special for Comedy Central at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Sunday — a space he picked because of the neighborhood’s historically industrial feel.
“It’s a raw space, which is great. I want the audience to get dirty,” said Smoove. “I want them to get their shirts snagged, to sit on some gum by mistake. I want it to feel like life in New York instead of just some glitzy Showtime feel.”
Meanwhile, Silverman will bring her abrasive, hilarious and appropriately disgusting act to BAM.
“This year everything fell into place,” said Hirsch. “We thought the perfect show [for the space] would be Sarah Silverman.”
Sarah Silverman at Brooklyn Academy of Music [30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street (718) 636-4100], Nov. 11 at 8 pm; J.B Smoove at Music Hall of Williamsburg [66 N. Sixth St. between Wythe and Kent avenues, (718) 486-5400], Nov. 13 at 7 pm and 9:30 pm; Hannibal Buress at the Knitting Factory [361 Metropolitan Ave. between Havemeyer and Roebling streets in Williamsburg, (347) 529-6696], Nov. 13 at 9 pm. For info and other showtimes, go to www.nycomedyfestival.com.
Reach reporter Dan MacLeod at dmacleod@cnglocal.com or by calling him at (718) 260-4507. You can also follow his Tweets at @dsmacleod.
