Comedy-Themed Events in December

By Troy Segal

Anticipating the sentimentality of the holiday season with a shudder? Fortify yourself with a little wit. These upcoming talks, performances and events all have a comedic bent, ranging from slapstick to satiric, which will provide just the right amount of spice for the sweet days ahead.

Flying High: Operating within the effects of certain pharmaceuticals is a hallmark of filmmaker Caveh Zahedi’s work. Watch how things unfold—or, we suspect, unravel—at this showing of his new web series, Getting Stoned with Caveh/Not Getting Stoned with Caveh, in which he interviews directors while under the influence. UnionDocs, Dec. 5.

Stage Business: Edward Albee’s second major play, A Delicate Balance, has always been a surreal comedy of manners—think Noel Coward crossed with Samuel Beckett, as a Los Angeles Times reviewer recently wrote. Three stars of the current Broadway revival, Glenn Close, John Lithgow, and Lindsay Duncan, discuss their production, which provides more laughs than usual, some theatregoers say. The TimesCenter, Dec. 8.

Artful Pranks: Just because they were artists doesn’t mean they couldn’t have a little fun, or so the early 20th-century avatars of Cubism argued. Explore the inside jokes, puns and playful aspects—in short, the various “Games Cubists Play”—in this lecture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Dec. 9.

This Is The Year That Was: Author and New Yorker writer Andy Borowitz, whose Borowitz Report column satirizes the news (and news coverage) with deadly deadpan wit, appears in person to analyze the big stories of 2014. 92nd Street Y, Dec. 10.

Make ‘Em Laugh: To prove its point about Music, Comedy, & the Urgency of Justice, this philosophically minded theatre troupe performs an entire 1929 farce, along with commentary-enhanced Christmas carols. Aesthetic Realism Foundation, Dec. 21.