I’ve always appreciated New York’s nightlife . . . from a distance. The whole, “city that never sleeps, bars are open until 4 a.m.” thing seems proper lush, but not proper Kirsch. I’m used to East Lansing — where drinks are $2 and the bars worth going to are suburbanly situated (mere feet apart) — so, obviously, I’ve had some things to get used to.
The benefit to living in a big city like New York, is that there is almost always something to do. And while there are bars and clubs scattered throughout Manhattan, I’ve found that, for the most part, I’m more of a lounge/karaoke bar kind of person. I like to laugh, and I like to be able to hear what’s going on around me — I also don’t like paying more than $10 for a bottom-shelf vodka cranberry.
This past weekend, my friend Andy was in town. It had been over a year since we had last hung out — he was working in Lewistown, MT with Americorps, while I was stuck finishing up my senior year at Michigan State so that I could wrap up my life in the Big Green and move off to the Big Apple.
I love having visitors. But given the volume of people I’ve had visit me since my move, I had to do a bit more planning to find fun things for Andy and me to do, especially because his visit was 3 days before pay-day; if it was going to cost me, it had to be worth it.
On a whim, I decided to book a reservation at Dangerfield’s on the Upper East Side. I printed a 2-for-1 coupon for admission (normally $20/person, with a 2 drink/person minimum), and felt optimistic.
After a quick dinner at a midtown pub, we trekked back 10-or-so blocks to Dangerfield’s. The decor and comedy club environment were spot-on with what I would have expected of the late Rodney Dangerfield. Perfectly tacky, and clean enough not to pose a health hazard — coming together in a weirdly charming way.
There were 4 comics and the MC, all of whom were pretty funny. I actually felt that the MC was funnier than at least 3 of the performers. The sets were well-planned, and interactive enough to not have felt rehearsed.
The only drawback? A two drink minimum. Many of the drinks were priced $12.50 and higher. I feel like the concept of a two drink minimum could take over as a night slogan for NY, complementing the whole, “I <3 New York,” thing. I tend to joke that the city is so expensive, that you sneeze and spend $500, and going out one night, it could quite well be true. (If not $500, at least $93 for a decent comedy show and a couple of fruity drinks.)