Sketch Comedy Group Elephant Larry Love Maid in Manhattan, the Shake Shack, and Don Draper

We recently published our Best of NYC issue, the Voice's annual opportunity to give out awards like Best World Music Venue and Best Alt-Museum. In turn, we asked a few of our favorite New Yorkers to name their favorite local things.

They are: Chris Principe, Stefan Lawrence, Geoff Haggerty, Jeff Solomon, Alexander Zalben.

Elephant Larry won this year's Best Sketch Comedy Ensemble, mostly because of videos like Minesweeper: The Movie and "Where Do Babies Come From?" Their advice to aspiring comics? Don't try out your bits in Union Square on Saturday afternoons.

Favorite New York celebrity, for mocking purposes?

Alex Zalben: Bobby Flay, who I would like to roll in a blue corn tortilla and serve with a mango chutney.

Chris Principe: That crazy lady who wanders Park Slope and yells about hot dogs.

Best street performer?

Chris: Um, the hot dog lady, obviously.

Alex: There's this terrifying homeless lady on the R Train who's blind, and always sings "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" every time I see her. She may also be a man

Best place for an Elephant Larry after party?

Alex: Shake Shack! We usually hang out at The Triple Crown on 7th, since it's close to the comedy triangle of theaters, but the best after parties are when we hardcore get our burger and shake on.

Jeff Solomon: You walk 10 minutes, wait 60 minutes, and then you party with a cheeseburger for about five minutes.

Best New York sketch group, other than yourselves?

Alex: Too many to pick one-- the sketch scene in NYC is amazing right now--but I really dig BritANick, and The New Exc!tement, mainly because they've both found difficult ways of spelling their groups' names.

Best comedy venue?

Alex: The PIT! I've been working and performing there for years now, and they would kill me if I said anything else. I mean, they're great.

Geoff Haggerty: That's the People's Improv Theater for anyone who doesn't like acronyms.

Jeff: They've given us a platform to try out anything we can come up with, and that's a rare thing. Also, for a two-year period, there was a dentist chair backstage.

Worst place to perform sketch comedy?

Jeff: Union Square on a Saturday afternoon. We were stupid enough to do this when we first started out. Loud music and dancing attracts passersby; un-mic'd conversational sketches, not so much.

Best New York movie?

Geoff: It bent my brain when we went to see Spider-Man 3 and they destroyed a fictional building katty-corner to the movie theater we were seeing it at.

Alex: Maid in Manhattan. Duh.

Favorite New Yorker, real or fictional?

Alex: What's Jennifer Lopez's character named in Maid in Manhattan? Her.

Jeff: My favorite New Yorker is my best friend, Don Draper.