Caroline Hirsch knows comedy like she’s known New York: intimately and for a very long time. In 1967, at 15 years old, the Brooklyn native snuck into George Carlin’s stand-up show at Greenwich Village’s Bitter End, learning quickly that the city’s comedians have a special edge. And she certainly has an eye for new talent, spotting rising comedic stars from Paul Reubens to Jerry Seinfeld, who performed at her club, Carolines on Broadway, in the early 1980s. Despite the Midtown venue’s closing in 2022, she continues to spotlight comedians across all five boroughs with the New York Comedy Festival, which turns 20 this week. To celebrate the anniversary, Hirsch shares her key components to the good life. —Carolina de Armas
AIRLINE: XO.
AIRPORT: Teterboro.
ALIBI: “I was playing golf.”
APP: CNBC.
BAG: Celine.
BEDTIME: After the monologue.
BIKE: Pee-wee Herman’s red Schwinn.
BIRTHDAY: Cinco de Mayo.
BREAKFAST:The Breakfast Club.
CAR: 1970 Mercedes 3.5 convertible.
CHILD: A quiet one.
COCKTAIL: Don Julio on the rocks.
COCKTAIL APPETIZER: Pizza.
STREET:
Broadway.
COUPLE: Abbott and Costello.
DATE: Date night with Andrew.
DIET: Intermittent fasting.
DINNER, WEEKDAY: Lemon chicken with roasted potatoes and peppers.
DINNER, WEEKEND: Porterhouse steak, spinach, and cottage fries.
DISGUISE: Baseball cap and sunglasses.
DRESS: Any leopard Dolce & Gabbana.
DRIVE: 190 yards.
ENEMY: Evil or laziness.
ESCAPE: Water Mill.
FAMILY: Andrew and all my friends.
GOOD-BYE: “Ciao,” because it also means hello.
HIDEAWAY: The Golden Door.
HOTEL: The Peninsula Beverly Hills.
INDULGENCE: Cannoli in Sicily.
INSULT: Best by Robert Smigel’s Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.
JACKET: Toteme barn jacket.
LUNCH, WEEKDAY: Salade Niçoise at Michael’s.
MOVIE: The Women, directed by George Cukor.
NONFICTION BOOK: The War on the West, by Douglas Murray.
NOVEL: The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton.
PAIR OF SHOES: Carolyne, by Manolo Blahnik.
PEN OR PENCIL: Ticonderoga No. 2 pencil.
PETS: Bearded collies, Stella and Sybil.
PIECE OF ADVICE: “Keep your head down.”
PODCAST: Call Me Back—with Dan Senor.
RESTAURANT: Conca del Sogno, on the Amalfi Coast.
RIDE: The bus!
SAYING: “Can’t fix stupid.”
SINGER: Michael McDonald.
television series:
Seinfeld.
TIME OF DAY: Evening.
TOAST: “To life.”
VACATION: My friend’s boat on the Amalfi Coast.
VIEW: The Atlantic.
WAKE-UP TIME: Nine A.M. or when the dogs lick my face.
WEEKEND BAG: Goyard.
WORK OF ART: Joan Mitchell’s 1957 Ladybug painting.
Caroline’s Essentials
