john f o’donnell – The Comedy Bureau

Pick of the Day: 17th Annual 50 First Jokes (in NYC) 1/6

December 18, 2023

2024, bell house, john f o'donnell, new year's, stand up comedy

Christmas harkens, which means the new year approaches, which means a new 50 First Jokes is almost upon us. That’s right 50 or so (probably more) of NYC comedy’s best and brightest do the very first joke they came up with since the turn to 2024 in a rapid fire joke extravaganza.

As always, John F. O’Donnell is hosting and The Bell House will be home to this mini-marathon of the shiniest new jokes of 2024 from such venerable NYC comics as:

Charlie Bardey
Kevin Iso
Shalewa Sharpe
Fareeha Khan
Zach Zimmerman
Moss Perricone
Kenice Mobley
Dan Perlman
Rojo Perez
Maggie Crane
Max Wittert
Casey James Salengo
Brittany Carney
Chloe Radcliffe

There will be two shows for 50 First Jokes this year at 6:30PM and 10PM (and maybe the 10PM will be more polished, but also, em, more unhinged?). Tickets are $20 right now and you best go get them here and here, respectively.

Pick of the Day: 15th Annual 50 First Jokes RESCHEDULED (in NYC) 2/18

Well, we had already highlighted NYC’s 50 First Jokes for 2022 as a #pickoftheday already, but that was when it was set for this month right as the year had started. Well, The Bell House had scheduled it before it knew how Omicron would overtake the world and spark a whole new series of outbreaks that would force the good majority of live comedy to go dark for most of December 2021 and January 2022.

Unlike some other shows that were slated for Jan. 2022 and opted to cancel altogether, 50 First Jokes is still happening, but will be doing so for the first time in its storied history in February, specifically on Fri. Feb. 18th at 8PM ET at The Bell House. That will very likely mean that everyone’s “first” joke(s) of 2022 will be much sharper than if they had only gotten a week to work on it (even though it’s a perennial good time).

Thankfully, the host is still John F. O’Donnell and the line-up is still stacked with NYC Comedy’s best and brightest including: Alison Leiby, Anthony Devito, Chanel Ali, Charlie Bardey, Devon Walker, Dina Hashem, Emmy Blotnick, George Civeris, Kate Willett, Kenice Mobley, Martin Urbano, Max Wittert, Petey DeAbreu, Rojo Perez, Sam Taggart, Shalewa Sharpe, Sonia Denis, and Tom Thakkar. More TBA!

Tickets are still available at $15 and hopefully, Omicron will have subsided enough so that we won’t have to write about this being rescheduled again. Oh yeah, it should go without saying at this point in the pandemic that proof of vaccination is required for entry.

Go snag tickets here.

Pick of the Day: 50 First Jokes (in NYC) 1/8

A gathering of 50 comedians, much less 50 audience members indoors wasn’t really happening at the start of 2021. So, it’s been awhile since we’ve had the legitimate in-person annual comedy kick-off to a new year with 50 First Jokes.

Perhaps, pending some variants, an actual in-vaccinated-person edition of 50 First Jokes will happen for 2022 in NYC. The Bell House in Brooklyn will host the bright and shiny new jokes from the best of the NYC comedy scene, which ought to have a different, more electric urgency to them considering where we are now and where will be three weeks from now.

On the bill thus far: Alison Leiby, Anthony Devito, Chanel Ali, Charlie Bardey, Devon Walker, Dina Hashem, Emmy Blotnick, George Civeris, Kate Willett, Kenice Mobley, Martin Urbano, Max Wittert, Petey DeAbreu, Rojo Perez, Sam Taggart, Shalewa Sharpe, Sonia Denis, Tom Thakkar, and host John F. O’Donnell.

Of course, as you can tell by the count of those names, there will be way more comedians shuffling onto the Bell House stage to get out their freshest bits (as we round the corner on nearly two years of this waking nightmare).

2022’s 50 First Jokes is set for Sat. Jan. 8th at 8PM ET. Tickets are $15 right now and you best get them here before they sell out.

John F. O’Donnell Shows How The Poorest President Gets By and Still Affects Change on “Redacted Tonight”

March 13, 2015

Uncategorized

john f o'donnell, lee camp, redacted tonight, uruguay

Did you know that, as a nation’s president, you could donate most of your income to charitable causes and be fine? The very funny John F. O’Donnell fills us all in about what the intentionally austere Uruguayan president is doing for Redacted Tonight.

If you can’t get enough of Last Week Tonight and are chomping at the bit between Sundays for a new episode, Redacted Tonight with Lee Camp might just be up your alley. They’re in the same spirit as The Daily Show and cover stories that are even more buried than the ones featured on most satirical news shows.

John F. O’Donnell’s report here is only the tip of the iceberg.

john f o'donnell

Pick of the Day: 17th Annual 50 First Jokes (in NYC) 1/6

Pick of the Day: 15th Annual 50 First Jokes *RESCHEDULED* (in NYC) 2/18

Pick of the Day: 50 First Jokes (in NYC) 1/8

John F. O’Donnell Shows How The Poorest President Gets By and Still Affects Change on “Redacted Tonight”

Pick of the Day: 15th Annual 50 First Jokes RESCHEDULED (in NYC) 2/18