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  1. #1

    Open mic nights?

    So i was wondering if anyone has had any stand up comedy or have open mic night experience?

  2. #2
    Death by snoo snoo
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    We do it on Thursdays at my job at Borders. Not sure if many Borders do it. It's usually the guy who brings in the PA system who plays all night, but the other night we had a new guy come in. Hoping since schools in we'll draw a bigger crowd.

  3. #3
    Sea Torques
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    I did stand up comedy for this big sales conference/old lady prom at my work in February. They had a 15 minute gap where they didn't have anything planned and my friend that I work with who was on the "Ball Committee" told them I was really funny and volunteered me to do stand up comedy because I always talk about wanting to do it. There was about 150~ people there from all over the country (So not just my co-workers) and I knocked it out of the park. I had people calling me up after they'd flown back to their office telling me how great it was, and to ask me if I was going to do it again next year. It turned out pretty sweet, I'd only been working at the company a year or so then and it made a huge impression on a bunch of my higher ups.

    I've written probably a good 30~45 minutes of material that I have strewn about on different computers and note pads, but I need to get it all together and practice to have a solid act. I'd like to have closer to an hour of material as well, even though starting out I think I'd be lucky to get 20 minutes of stage time. There's also very few opportunities to do comedy because I live in a smaller city. ONE club does Comedy Night on Tuesdays. It's especially hard to work in because I have a 2nd job and work week nights. Most of the open mic nights are at coffee shops, and I don't know how well it'd go over in that setting.

    Hopefully someone here has busted out on the comedy scene and has some good advice.

  4. #4
    CHELLLLLLLLLLLLL
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    A coworker of mine has done some stand up in the past and he complained that a lot of comedians who have regular gigs will come sit-in at open mic events to steal fresh material for their own shows, so beware if you're looking to be discovered. There are Mencias everywhere!

  5. #5
    preachy and pretentious
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    Open mic nights are nice, but I prefer coffee houses. More of what I like there.

  6. #6

    I've always wanted to do this, but I always feel like if I try and write my stuff down to recite later I'll bugger it up Alwayssss wanted to try though. How exactly do you all get started.. just write things down as you think of them and go back? Or?

  7. #7
    Sea Torques
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jotaru View Post
    I've always wanted to do this, but I always feel like if I try and write my stuff down to recite later I'll bugger it up Alwayssss wanted to try though. How exactly do you all get started.. just write things down as you think of them and go back? Or?
    If I come up with something funny, I write it down. Then later I go back and rewrite the joke so that it flows better. If it goes along with the theme of something similar I've written, I try to find a way to string it together. If its something I don't have anything about I try to come up with some material to compliment it. Though, I don't want to sound as though I have all my shit together, this is just how I do it.

    My second job is as a delivery guy, so I spend a lot of time in my car practicing skits. If I come it with new material I pitch it to the people at work when we don't have anything going on. It gives me a good chance to work on my delivery, and see what goes over well.

  8. #8

    Are you looking for advice? I'm not sure what to say so I'll just ramble...

    I did stand-up and open-mic stuff for something like 18 months or so? It was basically a hobby between work, FFXI while I was in America after completing my last job. I went to various places in Northern NJ and NYC, but never really pushed it as a career. It was something for my friends to come see mostly.

    I would say if you are considering trying out stand-up, then just go ahead and do it. People want to laugh, and unless you just freeze up and piss yourself, people will be rooting for you to be funny. Being able to get in front of people and entertain them is a great social skill and is applicable to so many situations. It's easy to stick to the internet with YouTube sketches or blogs, but being able to physically go out there will put you a cut above, I think.

    The first time I decided to try stand-up, it was at a very local bar that held Monday Comedy Nights. That week, I wrote up a bunch of jokes, organized them into a cohesive set and went on. It's a little scary, but I figure, no matter how hard you try to not make a fool of yourself, it's inevitable. Maybe you'll trip in public, get rejected by a girl you like, leave your fly open at school... So worrying about looking dumb seems pointless to me. Anyway, it went really well and I met a lot of interesting comedians during my time performing. Nobody famous but genuinely nice, funny guys for all sorts of professions just blowing off steam after work, or maybe trying to make it big.

    To make material, you just have to write your balls off. If you think of a joke, write it down. I have little notes in notebooks, saved in the cell phone, in e-mails to myself, or stuck in the little post-it note widget in Vista. Just get it down and fix it later. When preparing for a set, I rewrite them into a script that flows together that I can rehearse. The key though is just having as many ideas as you can to work with. Keep the ones that work and build off of them. However, don't be afraid to intentionally bomb with some bad ideas just in case they turn out to be gold.

    The best place to start would be a small bar/cafe that does casual Open-mic or Comedy nights. A place where you can go in and ask the guy running it about the setup, time limits, atmosphere. Somewhere you won't be shuffled on and off stage. Having some familiarity with the pace and the people involved will make the whole thing more comfortable. The places where everyone stayed around and chatted before and after sets were the most fun for me.

    That's all I can think of at the moment.

  9. #9

    Well, I pride myself on being able to get up in front of huge groups of people, forget they're there, and do what I need to do, whether its a speech, just being silly, whatever. And you're right, most of the time people seem to want you to be funny / have a successful speech, etc. I also find myself to be pretty funny IRL (I've had three different people on three different occassions tell me completely unprovoked that I remind them exactly of Michael Cera, I take that to be a good thing) but have never been sure how to take my spontaneity and turn it into a routine.

    Thanks guys, Elmer, that was very helpful

  10. #10
    Ridill
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    Well my experience wasn't with comedy (at least not intentionally), but I will say try to make sure you're comfortable with the environment and that things can be set up the way you want them.


    I played once (guitar with a friend singing) at a little bar I went to quite a bit, unfortunately they had it set up so that the voice monitors were pointed towards us and the guitar pointed towards the crowd... we couldn't get it set up right, and basically it ended up that I couldn't hear my guitar, we could only hear my friend's voice, and the crowd couldn't hear his voice at all, only my guitar. And, of course, not being able to hear myself, I'm sure I was playing like shit. It was all pretty embarassing.


    So yeah, just make sure you're not basically being set up to fail or anything heh.

  11. #11
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    i've always wanted to do stand up but i didnt have the balls to when i got the chance, i'd prolly be better off as a writer

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zalius View Post
    i've always wanted to do stand up but i didnt have the balls to when i got the chance, i'd prolly be better off as a writer
    I'm kind of the opposite. I've always loved being on stage (acting) and I know I could deliver jokes very well. But I can't write worth a damn :/ it sucks

  13. #13

    Have to say thanks to Elmer. The "Write notes" part is helpful already have a good 12 sticky notes lined up.

    But i see how some of you are saying try to find a place to be comfortable with. The only place i know around me that has an open mic night is a hookah bar filled with Guidos and well hipsters so i might look at other places.

    this all very encouraging. If i can i'll try and youtube it, when i find the right place.

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