Review: Isaac Mizrahi's I KNOW EVERYBODY at Café Carlyle Is a Hilarious Escape

The legendary Isaac Mizrahi oozed charm at the opening night of his annual Café Carlyle residency on February 4, 2025. He stepped onto the stage wearing a sharp black blazer decorated with dozens of flowers, an appropriately chic look for the multihyphenate who’s made his career in fashion, among other things. His work as an actor, singer, TV personality, etc., has brought him into contact with a lot of famous people, forming the basis for this year’s residency, titled I Know Everybody, running now through February 15. In it, Mizrahi dishes the dirt and provides the audience with roughly 90 minutes of lovely diversion from the news cycle, with plenty of laughter and song along the way.

Accompanied by his wonderful jazz band, led by Ben Waltzer, Mizrahi owned the Carlyle stage, perfectly at home amid the iconic Ludwig Bemelmans murals. He opened with "Sing Happy" from Flora the Red Menace, perhaps a perfect song to fit the theme of the evening: to focus on the positive. The song showed off a wide range of emotions, showcasing Mizrahi’s acting abilities. “No need reminding me that it all fell apart / I need no lyrics singing of stormy weather,” he spit sarcastically.

Mizrahi briefly addressed the elephant in the room with a few funny comments about Donald Trump and his fears for the next four years, then quickly moved on to do what we all came to see him do: sing and share stories. I see so much comedy that it’s very difficult to make me genuinely laugh out loud – I can appreciate humor, but to make me laugh out loud something needs to be an extra special kind of funny. Isaac Mizrahi managed to do that multiple times during his show, starting with his cutting remarks about Trump, which I won’t repeat so that you, too, can be surprised by them if you haven’t seen the show yet. (Don’t wait too long if you haven’t bought your tickets yet: they’re going very fast.) Everyone was laughing: the audience, the wait staff, and even the band members on stage were suppressing chuckles. This Is a show where you get not just a good song and laugh, but also to know whether the drummer is well-endowed (he is) and what garments Liza Minnelli wore under her clothes.

Mizrahi straddles generations, moving from Noel Coward to Billie Eilish in the same set with ease. His clever lyric rewrites and eclectic song selection made the show truly him. A highlight of the night was his annual rewrite of Cole Porter’s “You’re the Top” about things that are good and bad for 2025. He also showed off his lyric-writing on an original song with a catchy tune, “Drop That Name,” cleverly rhyming celebrities names with each other, channeling Coward and Porter. Mizrahi’s rapport with his band was charming; he seemed to be very good friends with each member. They all got an opportunity to show off their stuff on a solo during a jazzy rendition of “I Whistle A Happy Tune.”

He sent the crowd off with "I Happen to Like New York" done in the style of Bobby Short, a moving choice. When Mizrahi stops being funny, you can take a beat to appreciate his lovely voice, which bears a remarkable similarity to Short's own raspy, husky pipes. Above all else though, he was delightfully himself onstage. Watching Mizrahi while enjoying the sumptuous food and drink menu at the Carlyle is a perfect Valentine’s week treat.

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For more on I Know Everybody, read an interview with Mizrahi about the show.

Tickets to Mizrahi’s residency through February 15 are available via Tock.

Visit Isaac's official site HELLOISAAC.COM for tickets and more

Follow Isaac on Instagram @IMISAACMIZRAHI and TikTok @IMISAACMIZRAH

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