Open mic experiences

[hobozero]

I think the most important thing is to get on stage, blah blah blah and all that. BPW, I live in probably a worse place for comedy than upstate NY and that is Lawrence, KS. Fortunately there are a lot of students so sometimes you can find interested people. My friend and I went to a Spoken Word/Poetry open mic night this summer and that was my first open mic (though I had performed a couple times before a long time ago).

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Now the club has given my friend a comedy showcase where I will be performing next month. That's how you get it going.
Now, what am I saying to you?

[BananapeelWilliams]

That's how you get it going.
Now, what am I saying to you?

To stop being a pussy and get on stage!

[Siggers]

Open mic tomorrow. Me and my friend does this thing. Ok so we broadcast live open mics, so help people get a behind the scenes look at comedy. You see me perform and such, if you guys want i can hit you with a link if me and my friend does this tomorrow because i am performing tomorrow.

[Jawa]

I think the most important thing is to get on stage, blah blah blah and all that. BPW, I live in probably a worse place for comedy than upstate NY and that is Lawrence, KS.

Well at least you have (had) William S. Burroughs. He would have been a great part of a comedy team.


Edit: I realize this is a stupid post. I would delete it if I knew how.

[Joe McAdam]

hobozero, i lived in lawrence for the four years prior to moving to chicago. i used to have to go to kansas city to hit the open mics. my favorite place was the brick, at mcgee and 18th street. it's "anything goes" and you get 15 minutes. tons of comics go there and its hosted by a really funny comic named teague hayes (reminds me of pardo). they do it on wednesday nights, i still do it everytime i'm back in town. the brick is a really cool bar, they even let and my comedy partner have our own 1.5 hour variety show and paid us. if you haven't been check it out.

The Jazz Haus is an awesome place, nice work setting up a show.

[Joe McAdam]

holy shit, i didn't even realize that was you ed, it's me joe mcadam

[Brian J.]

Thanks for that Louis C.K. post.
Bombing can be a good thing.
I remember the 1st and 2nd time I bombed, at the time I was really sad and depressed about it but I took a week of feeling bad and I thought about it and it was my fault.

1st time bombing:
I went up and started well, hitting them with like 5 one liners and the crowd was with me, but then I switched gears and went into a few stories that I wasn't sure about and that's when I noticed people decided to have conversations. By the time I was done with the stories I saw the one minute warning light came on so I was going to end with my good jokes so nonchalantly I said "okay I'm going to have to wrap this up" which I figured would just let them know that I had a little bit of time left, but the crowd just started applauding so that I couldn't talk and to let me know that they were done with me.

2nd time bombing:
I had about 15 jokes that I wasn't sure about so I decided to try them out at a bar. The crowd wasn't there to see comedy and weren't paying attention to the comedians but there was a couple of tables that laughed when they heard something funny, so i had to use them to gauge if something was funny. They only laughed at four out of my fifteen. So I was down at first but then I realized at least I've got four jokes that are keepers, because if it got that crowd to laugh they must have been good.

So basically now my goal of going to open mics is to use it as a filter and even if I bomb at least that lets me know it probably wasn't very funny but the ones that do get laughs, I should hang onto.

[Bucky_Sinister]

I just had my first good set at The Punchline last night, and it was my fifth time up there.

this is after officially starting standup in Jan 2007.

Mind you, I had tons of stage experience, and had done comedic performances in alternative venues, but usually under the guise of spoken word sets. Kind of a ranty, henry rollins type set.

It still took 18 months for me to get a good 7 minutes that worked in a real club. It's a different beast. Each set I had a really good reaction to one or two jokes, and the rest were mild titters or blank stares. So finally, I was able to take what worked from all the previous sets and Frankenstein them together.

What's worked best for me:
1) watching a headliner every week. I got a job at a comedy club to facilitate this. If you can't afford it, or they don't comp you in, work there. I've learned a lot watching Dom Irrera, Bob Rubin, Ron Shock, all of whom I wouldn't have seen if I hadn't done this. I would've watched my favorites only, not expanding my horizons.

2) write a lot. we're new. we have nothing to lose. try a bunch of different styles, ideas, etc. I wrote some wordplay carlin type stuff, some Match Game style jokes (He's so perverted his ____ is a _____."), observational stuff, anything I could think of, and then did it on stage to see which felt right when I was up there.

I should add that The Punchline Sunday Night isn't an open mic, but it's the only showcase at a comedy club in San Francisco, a place for the new kids to get up on stage.

[thanksagain]

I love bombing at open mics! I feel like most comics will do well to learn how to really eat some shit on stage with material they love. Don't tell people it's a new joke. Don't tell them it was funnier when you thought of it. Don't over explain the reference they didn't get. Just bomb. Hard. Then tell the next joke, or go grab a drink.

[hobozero]

I didn't feel like I ate too much shit for my first open mic. The crowd was small but they enjoyed themselves. The material, of course, was not top notch, this being my first show. I did one other performance at another bar where they let me on stage in between the trivia show and karaoke. They needed someone to help test the mics so I did a set.

Joe: I knew that was you because of the link. Plus I like the name. Fruits and Berries. What am I saying to you?

[Cameron]

Because I feel like sharing (and could use some feedback), here's a video of me at an open mic from tonight. I'm not sure how well it represents my stuff, as I did a lot of new stuff that I haven't quite worked out, but still. My friend was supposed to record my whole set, but forgot about it until about halfway through. And keep in mind this was only my 10th time on stage ever.

[youtube]mxf3_gTlcFk[/youtube]

[KevinLee]

The scrorpio thing about the panties: I liked it.
You could flesh it out more. Keep it up.

[Gene George]

My first open mic experience: this Monday UCBT LA open mic. Did not get picked. Damn.

[pauliophonic]

My first open mic experience: this Monday UCBT LA open mic. Did not get picked. Damn.

I had a similar experience at the Comedy Store a few weeks ago. Oh well. I'll sign up again soon.

[Siggers]

I have a open mic Thursday, ten to fifteen minutes! I am just hoping the club isn't 21 and up. Or i am fucked! Sorry for the profanity i am sleepy and working on joke notepads.

[Gene George]

I had a similar experience at the Comedy Store a few weeks ago. Oh well. I'll sign up again soon.

Yeah.

In other news WTF holmes? You doing the comedies? If you want into our little "I dare you to go into the spoooky haunted house and support you by ridicule if you do not" open mike club I will talk to the membership committee.

[Gene George]

I have a open mic Thursday, ten to fifteen minutes! I am just hoping the club isn't 21 and up. Or i am fucked! Sorry for the profanity i am sleepy and working on joke notepads.

Having been to Houston I know that 10 minutes there is like 5 or 6 hours in the real world. That's a LOT of stage time!

Break a leg.

[TimBuktu]

I did open mics around 30 times and I thought all the other comics hated me and thought my material was terrible.... I avoided the scene for about a year, but was stunned to find out they actually liked me and thought I was funny... and a lot of them encouraged me to do it again.

The point is, stand up is clichey and comics aren't generally nice to strangers, or each other. Also, don't be a pussy like me and let other people affect what you do.

[pauliophonic]

Yeah.

In other news WTF holmes? You doing the comedies? If you want into our little "I dare you to go into the spoooky haunted house and support you by ridicule if you do not" open mike club I will talk to the membership committee.

Yeah, I think I might be up for that! PM me about the next time you're going.

[Gene George]

I did open mics around 30 times and I thought all the other comics hated me and thought my material was terrible.... I avoided the scene for about a year, but was stunned to find out they actually liked me and thought I was funny... and a lot of them encouraged me to do it again.

Don't be so hard on yourself we all hate you and think your material sucks!

The point is, stand up is clichey and comics aren't generally nice to strangers, or each other.

Do you mean cliquish? Or cliche? If you mean cliche, that'd be awesome funny. Really, I'm not bagging on the typo per se, just thought the idea that doing stand-up is cliched is hilarious.

Everyone I have met currently in and out of the business so far has been good people and friendly.