This weekend marks the start of the NFL season, and Monday the beginning of Monday Night Football, and thus the onset of football-watching at local bars and eateries and pretty much any restaurant with a nice big flat screen television turned to the game. Henry's Hat, the new gastropub in Studio City, is making the most of their sports-friendly venue (3 flat screens, a 5-by-5-foot projection screen) to put on a half-time show for those of us who just can't wait until the Superbowl and the unveiling of Joe Pytka's latest Clydesdale beer commercial.

“Halftime Hilarity,” which begins this Monday night, will feature local comics performing a series of short sets during halftime of the game. Owners A.J. Gilbert and Martha Madison, who also own Luna Park, came up with the idea with Henry's Hat bartender Minnie Goode, who is herself a stand-up comedian. So while you're noshing on executive chef Nick Cobarruvius' upscale bar food (pulled pork sandwiches, mussels with Anderson pale ale and Fresno chiles, Niman Ranch burgers with Humboldt fog), tossing back seasonal cocktails and microbrews, and generally deconstructing the game, you can enjoy a show. As if a season with the return of both Michael Vick and Brett Favre weren't already a comedy show.

Henry's Hat: 3413 Cahuenga Blvd. West, between Barham and Lankershim), Los Angeles; (323) 512-2500.

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