OUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE BOROUGH OF KINGS
FRESH AIR FUNNY: The Tiny Cupboard has launched twice-weekly stand-up comedy shows
on its Bushwick rooftop. JT Anderson
COURIER LIFE, JULY 31-AUGUST 6, 2020 21
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Brooklynites looking for a laugh can
now fi nd twice-weekly standup comedy
shows on the rooftop of The Tiny
Cupboard in Bushwick! “Rooftop
Stand-Up Comedy Brooklyn:
Six Feet Apart Edition”
brings socially-distant fun for
comedy lovers and cooped-up
comics alike atop the performance
venue at Broadway and
Cooper Street, according to
the space’s founders.
“Our whole thing was
‘shows in a tiny room,’ and
we’re changing the vibe a little
bit, but we’re still preserving
the intimacy,” said Matt
Rosenblum, who founded The
Tiny Cupboard along with his
partner, Amy Wong. “It still
doesn’t feel corporate, it feels
like you’re hanging out, and
it’s pretty intimate.”
The north Brooklyn duo
had to cancel the venue’s signature
close-quarters shows inside
its pint-sized studio space
at the onset of the COVID-19
pandemic — forcing them to
shift to mostly-free, online
programming, like virtual poetry
open mics and digital blind dates
in front of an audience on Zoom.
On July 10, Wong and Rosenblum
decided to relaunch in-person events
by taking advantage of their rooftop,
hauling seats and a sound system to
the top of the building for double-bill
joke sets against the backdrop of the
Manhattan skyline and the rustle of
the elevated J and Z trains.
COMEDY
“On the day of the shows, we go to
the roof, put down 30 chairs, carry
speakers up there — we do everything
ourselves,” said Rosenblum. “It’s all
very DIY.”
And while the infamous din of the
urban New York surroundings presents
certain challenges, the white
noise often becomes part of the show,
said Wong.
“There’s always noise like the J
train passing by in the middle of a comedian’s
punchline,” she said.
One regular comedian and show
producer on the roof said that she was
delighted to perform in front of people,
and that audiences have been eager to
be in stitches again.
“The audience is so ready to be out
of their house, doing things again,”
said Malorie Bryant, who performs
and hosts a 90-minute show with half
a dozen comics on Fridays called Mad
Love Comedy. “It’s a bit awkward for
all of us. It’s like the fi rst day of school,
seeing people again, seeing your
friends.”
The shows run Fridays and Saturdays
with two sets each evening, and
the Bushwick artists plan to add dates
on Thursdays too due to popular demand.
“We either sell out or near-sell out
the shows this weekend and last weekend,”
Rosenblum said. “We’re thinking
of adding Thursdays.”
High comedy
‘Tiny’ Bushwick
performance
space launches
rooft op stand-up
“Rooftop Stand-Up Comedy Brooklyn:
Six Feet Apart Edition” at The Tiny
Cupboard 1717 Bwy., at Cooper Street
in Bushwick, www.thetinycupboard.
com Fridays at 7 pm and 8 pm, Saturdays
at 7 pm and 8:30 pm. $7 per set.
Masks required.
/www.thetinycupboard
/www.thetinycupboard
