Tonight was my first time doing standup comedy. Three months after my 50th birthday, I’ve been saving this for the second half of my life.
Let me back up a little to share how I prepared.
I took a standup 101 class at Third Coast Comedy in Nashville a couple of months prior. Nashville comedian Carl Roberts III led the class of about nine students.
The main lessons I took away from the class were to write and perform as much as possible. Carl taught us the basics and had us take turns performing each night in front of the class. Sometimes we would have minutes in class to write; other times, we had writing homework. It was an excellent way to test material in front of a live, supportive audience.
My diabolical plan for taking the comedy class was to meet fellow aspiring comics who we could support and hold one another accountable. As someone who obsesses about networking (I wrote a book about this), I invited the class to exchange phone numbers so we could create a group to text one another.
I was out of town for our showcase debut performance, so I missed my opportunity to perform for the first time. During this period, I was texting with the group. I would propose a few open mics but didn’t get many takers immediately.
Finally, Caitlin Price suggested we hit an open mic at Café Coco. It’s too easy not to show up when nobody expects you, so having the accountability partner helped.
The host that night was standing in for the regular host; he didn’t want to be there. He opened the night with, “Ok, pussies; we’ll be getting started in ten minutes….”
I had signed up on the sheet and was in tenth place - yikes. Kaitlin was eleventh.
The purpose of open mics is to try new stuff out to see what gets laughs. I’ve often been intrigued by this notion; without trying your material in front of an audience, you have no idea if it’s any good.
Consider bands for a moment. They rehearse in their basements until they agree that the sound is good enough to perform live in front of an audience. A solo artist knows when their instrument is out of tune or the chords don’t go together well. Improv actors rehearse and learn one another’s talents to tap into during live scene work. A comedian must perform live alone to gauge whether the material is worth keeping, reworking, or scrapping altogether.
The comics were good. I started getting very nervous as my number approached… seven, eight, nine… I gulped as I expected to be called ‘on deck’ (be next), but the host didn't call my name.
Three quarters through the night, the disgruntled host announced he was going home, and a different host would take over. The second host, Bellybutton, was apologetic when he discovered we had been waiting all night.
It took about three hours before I was finally invited on stage - third from last. About thirteen people were remaining by then. Kaitlin was also waiting patiently for her turn. She noted this was a thing she had experienced at other open mics around town.
9:56, I was finally welcomed to the stage. My heart was pounding, and my adrenaline was racing. But I also felt great about it. I had rehearsed my set for hours to prepare. I brought a note card to the stage with bulleted topics from the set to remember. Note cards, pads, books, and phones are all crutches but acceptable in an open mic format.
I’m happy I learned to write the notes in large print from the comedy class because I didn’t want to wear readers on stage. Hello, 50!
Kaitlin kindly recorded my set so I could cringe, I mean, review it later. It was pretty good! Bellybutton asked me if it was my first time and encouraged me to keep going. I also met Andre, a local comic who had performed earlier. I’ll write about him more shortly. I met a few other people briefly before the show started, but they were gone long before we finally took to the stage.
The night felt invigorating and a tad horrific. As we returned to our cars, Caitlin and I chatted briefly about our sets and the Nashville comedy scene. I was hooked and ready to try again.
Welcome to the 50's! Gotta write big so you can see the notes. Would love to see your set. Keep it up and drop a link to some video!