We’re back for a new round of Best Weekday Bets! Each day will feature a top pick in the areas of 1. fitness (active), 2. comedy, 3. culture, 4. film, 5. food + drink, 6. free, 7. music and 8. staying in (because let’s face it, sometimes you just want to not leave your couch, especially when it continues to be cold AF outside).
Lots on the books this first couple of weekdays INCLUDING but not limited to the opening of NYC’s first Carl’s Jr., drinking and drawing at Anyone Comics, a West Side Story food pop-up, a free screening of Coming To America (our GIF theme, obviously) and MORE:
Monday, January 29
ACTIVE: I don’t know how many calories you’ll burn playing ping-pong (although I guess some matches are more heated than others), but it DOES count as active, and it is certainly v. fun, so head on over to Greenwood Park to play tonight with The Push League!
COMEDY: It’s a new round of Butterboy (with Maeve Higgins, Jo Firestone and Aparna Nancherla) over at Littlefield tonight, so if you can scrape together $10, you should most definitely grab a ticket for all of the LOLs.
CULTURE: Quimby’s Bookstore will host Independent Publishing in a Time of Disruption: Mag Mob Panel; it’ll be a talk about the business, impact and future of independent publishing, and should be a pretty interesting time.
FILM: I still haven’t seen A Ghost Story, but I’ve heard really good things, so you might want to go scope it at Videology tonight, where it’ll be screening for $12.
FOOD + DRINK: Butter & Scotch will be hosting a West Side Story pop-up ft. traditional Irish and Puerto Rican food under one roof! Pastellitos, meat pies…all of the things!
FREE: If you felt that ping-pong was an insufficient form of exercise, you can also always hit up a free yoga class tonight at LEIMAY!
MUSIC: Most definitely head to Brooklyn Steel for your tunes fix tonight, ’cause Kimbra is playing a show for $25!
STAY IN: Just join the rest of society by posting up on your couch and hate watching the hell out of The Bachelor!
Tuesday, January 30
ACTIVE: I’m never going to not suggest you go do drunk yoga // $35 gets you an hour of yoga and unlimited wine at Drexler’s, which sounds v. relaxing to me.
COMEDY: Wanna get drunk for free? Head to Ambush Comedy at good old Two Boots (the one on Driggs) and enjoy as much free beer as you can cram into your body between 8 and 8:30pm!
CULTURE: Strand Books is bringing the one and only Deepak Chopra to Cooper Union tonight, and you can attend for $30, or $35 depending on whether or not you want to receive a signed copy of The Healing Self.
FILM: Tonight check out IFC Center’s New French Shorts program ft. and in-person Q&A with dir. Ru Kuwahata, Oscar-nominated director of NEGATIVE SPACE for this year’s Best Animated Short Film! Tickets are $15 a pop.
FOOD + DRINK: Anyone Comics (one of our favorite comic shops in NYC) is hosting a Drink N Draw event tonight! Tickets are $15 and include supplies, refreshments, prizes and more, which (I feel) is a pretty excellent deal.
FREE: The editors of SELF and leading health and fitness experts are getting together for a night of guided meditation from MNDFL and a discussion about self-care and self-advocacy amidst institutional barriers. Free to attend w/ RSVP, and light (presumably healthy) refreshments will be served!
MUSIC: See Jimi Noel at Sunnyvale tonight for $15! He’ll be joined by others (TBA), and all of the goodness starts at 8pm.
STAY IN: The State of the Union is going to be on tonight, so I suggest turning it into a drinking game. (You could also just curl into a ball and scream-cry.)
Wednesday, January 31
ACTIVE: It’s free skate tonight at House of Vans, and there’ll be live tunes and (probably) sips ‘n snacks as well! Tickets are free, so RSVP to reserve your spot before it fills up completely!
COMEDY: Tonight the very funny Kondabolus will be doing a podcast recording at Littlefield! Get in on the action by grabbing a $10 ticket.
CULTURE: Investigative reporter Erin Banco will be at WORD to talk about her book, Pipe Dreams, which takes a look at the world of oil contracts and how they affect power and politics in Iraq!
FILM: Watch Coming To America for free at Brooklyn Bazaar tonight, you guys! (DUH!)
FOOD + DRINK: Carl’s Jr. is opening for the first time ever in NYC today! It’s almost like we’re in California! Rejoice!
FREE: Y’all should know by now that I love me some free Parks & Rec bingo at Videology, so it would make total sense that this is my free pick for the evening!
MUSIC: It’s Relative Tones Live at LPR tonight, and they’ll be celebrating Philip Glass’ 81st birthday with a new album release of his piano etudes performed live by superstar pianist Jenny Lin! Tickets are $15-$20.
STAY IN: Animals With Cameras: A Nature Miniseries kicks off on PBS tonight, and since I am all about animals and educational programming, I’m going to highly suggest we all watch it. Highly.
Thursday, February 1
We like 2 party LOL! So we count Thursday as part of the weekend. Sign up to receive our full weekend guide bright ‘n early on Thursday mornings!
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