Live comedy comes to Red Hook

Red Hook residents no longer have to leave the neighborhood to enjoy New York’s stand-up scene. On the third Wednesday of the month, Hoek Pizza (117 Ferris Street) will host a recurring free show emceed by comedians Candyce Musinski and Meagan Walsh at 8:30 pm for patrons 18 and older.

The monthly engagement began in January and continues on February 19. Musinski and Walsh have organized a comedy showcase called Not Right Now Comedy for the past five years in several venues throughout Brooklyn. Red Hook now joins Williamsburg and Prospect Heights as a regularly scheduled stop.

The show always features five comics, each of whom performs an eight-minute set, with Musinski and Walsh introducing each act and cracking jokes in between. “We switch up the comics constantly, and they’re all amazing,” Musinski boasted. February’s lineup – Kenice Mobley, Alex Pavone, Norlex Belma, Derek Humphrey, and Alison Lieby – includes stand-ups who have performed at the Comedy Cellar and Caroline’s on Broadway.

Musinski lives on Van Brunt Street. “I have been trying to get a comedy show in Red Hook for a long time now. I’ve gone around asking people, but nobody wants it,” she said. Fortunately, she knew a bartender at Hoek, who set her up with a meeting with the owner.

Hoek, a Roman-style brick oven pizzeria, had not previously featured live entertainment. “They were definitely a little nervous, but I guaranteed them a good crowd – people will be drinking, people will be eating, it’s going to be a great time – so they did it, and they were very happy, and they’re ready to do it again.” The first show on January 15 “was awesome, and I know the next one will be even better,” Musinski promised.

Not Right Now Comedy tends to feature an eclectic group of performers. “We go for diversity. Each one is different from the other,” she explained.

But if the show has a unifying subject, it’s the frustrations of daily life, especially the frustrations of living in New York City. “Not Right Now is about talking about things we don’t even want to talk about. That’s our whole theme of the show: why are we dealing with this?” Musinski described.

Longtime best friends, Musinski and Walsh met in college in Pennsylvania, where they studied theater and worked together on a production of Lysistrata. According to Walsh, they’re a natural comedy duo, with their differences of personality informing their on-stage dynamic. “I feel like the best description is good-cop-bad-cop, but in a way where we’re both criminals,” she observed. “I’m the good cop.”

Musinski likes to tailor each iteration of Not Right Now Comedy to the neighborhood where it takes place. For Red Hook, that means a cozy, laid-back show where her neighbors will feel comfortable on a casual Wednesday night. She recommends the Parma Cotta Pizza with cremini mushrooms and truffle or the Soppressata Pizza with fior di latte and tomato.

Three years ago, Musinski, who has lived in New York for a decade, moved to Red Hook specifically for its neighborly atmosphere. “People actually interact with each other. It’s almost like a small town outside of Brooklyn. Everybody knows each other and loves each other and supports each other. I love that sense of community because that’s what I grew up with in Pennsylvania.”

Brett Yates