I have never had a bad time at any Upright Citizen’s Brigade event and last night was no exception. Comedian Aziz Ansari hosts an amazing night of fresh comedy. Though other comedians perform sets. Ansari is the star of the show, showing clips of his upcoming MTV sitcom, “Human Giants”, reading from unproduced terrible sitcom scripts that he must have found in Los Angeles trash cans, and performing comedy in an unscripted, off the cuff way that is rarely scene in NYC’s comedy scene. Ansari is smart and provocative, bravely using comedy to comment on the most taboo topics. He succeeds across the board, somehow walking the line between offensive and funny with grace and wit.

Ansari is relaxed and confident on stage, enjoying himself as much as the audience enjoys him, and telling stories from his life that are funny because of Ansari’s talent as a story teller, not necessarily because the stories are funny in and of themselves. But this is a relief. There is nothing staged, no corny punch lines, no stale stand up routines. Ansari and his guests are simply being themselves; self deprecating, sarcastic and fun loving. The result is one of the most enjoyable comedy shows I’ve seen, and best of all its completely free! The only downside was a late start to an already late (11pm) show, but this was quickly forgiven when the hilarity finally began.

The place is packed with alternative comedy lovers and UCB groupies. There is definitely an “insider” feel to everything; the same people clearly come to Ansari’s show week after week. But instead of being intimidating or uncomfortable, the community feel is comforting, and random UCB-ers were introducing themselves to me all night long, so that I, too, could feel part of the club. Add to all this the fact that you can drink beer or wine throughout the whole show, and its clear there is no reason at all to not attend “Crashtest” every single week. Ansari is growing in popularity and is probably close to beoming a mainstream, well known comedian, so catch this fantastic event now, before his show airs and he becomes a household name!