Comedy in the Basement at Union Hall

Union Hall is a Park Slope bar dressed as a gentlemen's club gone to seed, with leather armchairs, bookshelves, a fireplace and two indoor bocce courts. The basement is the point: a small stage that has become one of Brooklyn's main rooms for alternative comedy, storytelling and odd variety shows, plus live music. Comedians workshop sets and run monthly series here, and the audiences are local and generous.

Tickets for basement shows are sold on the venue's site and are usually inexpensive; buy ahead for anything with a known name. The bocce courts upstairs are free on a first-come basis when there is no private event, so arrive early and play a game before the show. The bar is good for lingering afterward, and the fireplace room is one of the coziest in the neighborhood on a cold night. Fifth Avenue's restaurants are a block away, so dinner, bocce and a show fit into one easy evening.