• Channel 101: NY

  92Y Tribeca, 200 Hudson St., nr. Canal St.; ny.channel101.com

  Conan O’Brien may have left us for L.A. but New York screwball comedy lives on at the monthly screenings hosted by the web comedy network Channel 101 ($5; next screening is March 4). Over a hundred attendees, including participating comedians, rate a slate of five-minute viral videos by secret ballot. The top five get uploaded and are invited to post again the following month, while the rest are dubbed “failed pilots” (though win or lose, episodes remain on the site forever). The democratic process is pretty good at picking hits. Past screenings have landed actual TV deals, including Adult Swim’s “Fat Guy Stuck in Internet” and MTV’s “Human Giant.”

From the 2009 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine