New York Comedy Festival 2026: 15 Shows in a 40-Seat Room

The New York Comedy Festival takes over the city in November, and most of what you read about it happens in theaters — big rooms, big names, tickets bought months ahead. That is one way to see the festival. Here is the other one.

The Workout is the festival's official warm-up room, and it runs right here at Upper East Side Comedy Club: 15 shows between Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 14, in a room that holds 40 people. Every ticket is $20 online.

What a warm-up room actually is

Comics playing theaters during the festival do not walk on stage cold. They work the material first — in front of a real audience, close enough to hear every reaction, on a night where the stakes are low enough to try the thing that might not land.

That is what this room is for. It is the same reason big names drop into small clubs all year round, which we wrote about in our guide to surprise guest sets. Festival week just concentrates it: more comics in town, more new hours being built, more nights where someone with a theater date tomorrow wants a room tonight.

We publish lineups as they lock. Some names you will see in advance. Some you will not, and that is the nature of a room like this — a drop-in does not announce itself a week out. If you want the full explainer on the series, we covered The Workout here.

The full schedule

Fifteen shows across nine nights. Doors open 30 minutes before each one.

• Friday, November 6 — 8 PM and 10 PM
• Saturday, November 7 — 6 PM, 8 PM and 10 PM
• Monday, November 9 — 8 PM
• Tuesday, November 10 — 8 PM
• Wednesday, November 11 — 8 PM
• Thursday, November 12 — 8 PM and 10 PM
• Friday, November 13 — 8 PM and 10 PM
• Saturday, November 14 — 6 PM, 8 PM and 10 PM

Monday through Wednesday are the weeknight shows, and they are the ones to look at if you want the room at its quietest and the comics at their loosest. The 10 PM shows on Friday and Saturday run the other way — later crowd, longer sets, more swinging.

About the price

Every Workout show is a flat $20 online, $25 at the door. Our usual Super Early Bird and Early Bird tiers do not apply to these — festival shows are priced on their own, so there is no cheaper tier to catch by booking early.

Booking ahead still matters, and for a simpler reason: there are 40 seats. When a festival week fills a room this size, it fills it, and the $25 door price assumes there is a seat left to sell you. On the regular Thursday-to-Saturday calendar the early tiers do apply, and that is worth understanding separately.

How to pick a night

If you want the best odds on a drop-in: take a weeknight. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are when someone with a Thursday theater date is looking for a stage.

If you are bringing people who do not go to comedy much: take an 8 PM. It is the most straightforward version of the night — full lineup, reasonable hour, everyone home at a sensible time.

If you want the loosest room in the building: 10 PM on a Friday or Saturday. The crowd has had a drink, the comics are off the clock, and the material gets braver.

If you are coming from somewhere else in the city first: the Saturday 6 PM shows exist for exactly that. Early enough to be a first stop rather than the whole evening.

Before you come

We are at 206 E 67th St, between Second and Third, inside Bedford Falls NYC — the room is in the rear. The 6 train at 68th Street–Hunter College is two minutes away; the Q at 72nd is about five.

Shows are 21+ with valid ID. There is a one-item minimum per person — one thing, food or drink, from the bar. Not two drinks. One item.

Doors are 30 minutes before showtime and seating is general admission, so arriving early is how you end up near the front rather than against the back wall. In a 40-seat room the back wall is still close, but the difference is real.

See the full Workout schedule and book a night — or browse everything else we have coming up.