When you are a young comedian starting out having a local club that has a well structured open mic is invaluable. It’s where comedy starts, a place you can call home. The place where you gain the building blocks of what will become the comedian you want to be. I was lucky enough to have such a club when I started. They ran two open mics a week, and let you in for free on Friday nights so you could watch the professionals, so you could learn even more. It was the most important time of my comedy life. Fast forward 15 years, I am a married full time road comic, that has very little time, or a place to go for an open mic.
I am in Iowa this week, working Wednesday, Friday & Saturday, with Thursday off. Down days in this business are a killer, it’s just an empty day where you are not making any money, and spending what you’ve already made to have a place to stay. I usually don’t like down days very much, if I’m away from home I want to be working every day, except for last night. I’m in Cedar Rapids, home of Penguins Comedy Club. This is one of my favorite places, and I work there regularly. Turns out last night was one of the weeks where they had their open mic!!! The manager invited us down, I’m working with Jay Lafarr this week, and we are traveling together. I was excited to be able to go to one again. When we walked in, the place was packed with people, and a list of 17 comedians on the list. It was like a flashback to my home club. I rifled through my notebook looking for all the untested material I could do in my 5 minute set. I was put right in the middle (which is a really good spot) up after Jay. He killed by the way, then it was my turn. For 5 minutes I was a young comic again looking down at my little sheet of new bits, anxious to see how they would work. When I finished, I was a seasoned road comic again with a few minutes of new material that was worked out the right way. It was a great night, and if you are in Cedar Rapids, go check out their open mic night. They run it the right way, and they have a stable of good young comics that will one day be road comics coming through town, anxious for the opportunity to try their new material and feel like a kid again.