Event Program

Uptown Showdown: Fall vs. Spring

UPTOWN SHOWDOWN: FALL VS. SPRING

THUR, FEB 06

FEATURING

Gastor Almonte, Janeane Garofalo, Dave Hill,

Pratima Mani, Jaye McBride, & Natalie Rotter-Laitman

HOSTED BY OPHIRA EISENBERG

Due to a scheduling conflict, Mia Jackson will no longer be appearing at this event.

Tag us on Instagram @symphonyspace to be featured!

The Debaters

Gastor Almonte

Gastor Almonte is a comedian and storyteller. On-screen, he has been featured in Comedy Central's This Is Not Happening, Vice Live, and Stories From The Stage on PBS, for which he won the 2020 Webby People's Voice Award for Best Individual Performance. He serves as a producer and board member for the science-storytelling non-profit Story Collider, produces and co-hosts the news comedy podcast The War Report, and co-hosts the monthly live comedy series Sandwich. Almonte recently toured the country with his one-man show The Sugar, and his debut special, Immigrant Made, is available to stream on Amazon Prime.

Janeane Garofalo

Janeane Garofalo is an activist, actor, and comedian known for her memorable and critically acclaimed roles in films such as The Truth About Cats and Dogs, Steal This Movie, Copland, Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion, Reality Bites, and Wet Hot American Summer. She was instrumental in the successful launch of the first liberal radio network, Air America Radio, where she hosted her own talk show, The Majority Report. Recent film and television credits include Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens, Harley Quinn, and Boys Go to Jupiter.

Dave Hill

Dave Hill is a comedian, writer, musician, actor, radio host, and man-about-town. He has appeared on The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Joe Pera Talks with You, The Tick, @midnight, Inside Amy Schumer, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, The Jim Gaffigan Show, and Comedy Knockout, among others. He previously hosted the radio show The Goddamn Dave Hill Show and several podcasts, including The Dave Hill Goodtime Hour. Hill is the author of the books Parking the Moose, Tasteful Nudes, Dave Hill Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, and most recently The Awesome Game: One Man's Incredible, Globe-Crushing Hockey Odyssey.

Pratima Mani

Pratima Mani is a comedic writer and performer. She has contributed to and appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, earning three Emmy nominations, and has written for Reductress, The Belladonna, and UCBT's Maude Night. Mani has performed for College Humor's Featured Players Program, was a semi-finalist at the Made In NY Writers Room, and regularly performs live across New York City. Her short film, Stitched, debuted in 2023.

Jaye McBride

Jaye McBride is the first openly transgender comedian to perform at Madison Square Garden and is a regular at the Comedy Cellar. She has also performed live at the Boston Comedy Festival, the Great American Festival, and the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, where she was featured as a 2021 New Face of Comedy. McBride was highlighted in Vulture's 2022 list of Comedians You Should and Will Know, appeared in Amy Schumer's Parental Advisory on Netflix, and recently served as staff writer for Life & Beth.

Natalie Rotter-Laitman

Natalie Rotter-Laitman is a stand-up comedian, actor, and writer, best known as the co-host of the monthly show turned podcast Exploration: LIVE!. She was featured on Vulture’s 2023 list of Comedians You Should Know, and has opened for Nick Kroll, Nikki Glaser, and Sonja Morgan. Her film and television credits include Flail; Going Dutch; and the forthcoming Sorry, Baby. Rotter-Laitman performs live from coast to coast, including regular appearances at Union Hall and The Bell House.

Host, Ophira Eisenberg

Ophira Eisenberg is a standup comedian, writer, and host of the award-winning comedy podcast Parenting Is a Joke. She also hosted NPR’s Ask Me Another, where she interviewed and played silly games with hundreds of celebrities including Sir Patrick Stewart, Rosie Perez, Yo-Yo Ma, Awkwafina, Roxane Gay, Nick Kroll, Chelsea Handler, and more. She’s appeared multiple times on CBS’s The Late Late Show, Sherri! with Sherri Sheppard, Comedy Central, HBO, The New Yorker Festival, and is a regular on The Moth Radio Hour. Her stories are included in three of The Moth’s bestselling collections. Her memoir, Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy, was optioned for a TV series, and her comedy special Plant-Based Jokes is streaming on YouTube. Eisenberg is a regular at The Comedy Cellar and other New York clubs, and her solo show, Leaving A Mark: A Comedy About Scars, made its Off-Broadway debut to rave reviews and won the Women in the Arts & Media Award for Solo Show Scripts.

MORE INFORMATION

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SUPPORTERS

Uptown Showdown is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Seedlings Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, Charina Endowment Fund, Susan Bay Nimoy, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, PECO Foundation, Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina, Michael Tuch Foundation, Jody and John Arnhold and the Arnhold Foundation, The Grodzins Fund, and The Isambard Kingdom Brunel Society of North America.

This program is also made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.

Symphony Space thanks our generous supporters, including our Board of Directors, Producers Circle, and members, who make our programs possible with their annual support.

Symphony Space Staff

Kathy Landau Executive Director
Peg Wreen Managing Director
Isaiah Sheffer*
Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director (1978-1990)
Artistic Director (1990-2010)
Founding Artistic Director (2010-2012)
Allan Miller
Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director (1978-1990)

Jennifer Brennan Director of Literary Programs
Drew Richardson Lead Producer of Literary Programs
Vivienne Woodward Producer of Literary Programs
Mary Shimkin Director of Broadcast & Literary Initiatives
Matthew Love Consultant for Literary Programs
Magdalene Wrobleski Literary Assistant
Leigh Reid Literary Intern
Mia Testa Literary Intern

*in memoriam

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