Starting standup comedy: Second Set
For my second standup set, I had to find a new club. I did my first set in the Boston area a week before moving to Colorado. I found two places to go, but I chose one based on it being 18+ instead of 21+ so my oldest daughter could go and record it for me. HUGE mistake.
Speakcheesy Pub is a small elongated basement of a pizza parlor. Honestly, it’s really cool and an overall decent room. There were mostly just comics there, but also about 5-7 locals. It’s about that mix every week.
Pretty boss for a basement pizza dungeon.
I went in the back quarter of the list, so had some time to sit and think about it, which is never good for me. There was another event at the Comedy Fort, so half the comics were prioritized to be able to go over there and do both. I’d prepped 5 minutes about moving from Boston to Fort Collins. I actually wrote so much, I had to cut about a minute. Go, me!
Anyhow. I had two slices, BBQ-Pineapple and Spin-Art. If you’re ever in Fort Collins, those are the two slices to get. You’re welcome.
Anyhow, I eventually got called up. This mic has an on-deck and your next comic format, so you know when you’re going the set before you go. A couple bros bombed, which gave me that “You’re not gonna be the worst unless you coronary” energy I need. I did 5 minutes-ish. It was mostly regional stuff between Boston and FoCo (Fort Collins).
You can’t see it in this picture, but that’s cargo shorts with a fleece. Talk about confidence and swagger!
Here’s what I learned:
Don’t step on laughs. I totally kept going to cram in more content instead of giving people a moment to laugh.
Don’t write 5 minutes. I mean… I guess do, but be willing to cut some things. I did. But not enough and I was pushing the pace the whole time. Kind of a lesson I learned over time, not that night, lol.
Do record. Tape has helped me immeasurably in showing me where I’m derailing my own set.
Don’t bring your kid to work in comedy. I’ll get to that next.
Here’s what happened: So, I brought my daughter, who is 18 to the show. It was definitely not her scene. She’ll watch some big-time standup, and has been a huge force in getting me to not talk about comedy, but actually do it, so I wanted her to see it.
About 15 minutes in the waitress who came with my slices let us know the age limit was 18. My kid looks young. We explained she was 18. The waitress was like… oh. There were about 4-5 more awkward sentences explaining away her warning.
After my set, I waited for one more comic to perform to ask her if she was ready to leave. She was like, YEAH BRO! As we left– disaster.
So, we left as a comic was going on. He called me out and asked about our age difference. He said, “I couldn’t help but notice the age difference.” I said, “Yeah, she’s my daughter.” Now, my oldest is very much a Brown Colombian, so what comes next is hyper-shitty. He said, “Oh yeah I’m sure that’s what you told Logan TSA. I get it. We’ve all been to South America.” I said nothing, which I regret, and we left. When she got home, she cried for an hour straight. I contacted the host of the mic, who was apologetic and let me know he’d booted the guy. But, the damage was already done. I was pretty sure I just wouldn’t do comedy again, but a couple of days later, she and her mother talked me out of that.
The bottom rungs of comedy can be a little rough. To his credit, a couple weeks later he apologized and offered to apologize to her, which I relayed but declined. In some regards that’s the bare minimum, and in some regards, that’s leaps and bounds better than most people would do.
Anyway, here’s the clip. I redid the local stuff a couple of months later and it was WAY better. Have any crazy shit like that happen to you at an open mic? Hit up the comments.
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NOTE: Speakcheesy is a great room, and I’m not trying to crap on it with this story. The hosts are amazing and both are friends. They took care of the situation the best anyone could. I definitely recommend the room and don’t want to diminish it for a crazy one-off that everyone has learned from. I’m just chronicling my journey and that’s what happened at mic #2.