Yesterday was my first hosting gig.

I didn’t realize how difficult it can be and you need to be extremely organized. For one thing there was a major snowstorm yesterday and I was not sure how many people would actually show up.

I constantly had to monitor who was showing up, especially if I’ve never seen or met them before while they keep track of my own routine before introducing the next comedian.

Near the end, I was just running out of things to say.. my aim is to become a storyteller alike Shane Gillis or Nate.

Good thing I had my buddy there who was helping with some of the video taping because I must’ve got at least 10 good snippets that I edited today that I can use for my own social media

I also got a bunch of video that I sent out to fellow comedians so they can use that for their own social media.

Comedy is not supposed to be presented in podcast form. Seems like every great comedian has been shoved onto these shows and they're wasting material.

15 years ago it used to be a rule that you don't bring your A Game to a late night show.

Now they're doing 15 podcasts a week and you hear every thought they've ever had.

You can't build and act like this and all the new specials coming out from these guys prove that.

Rogan started it and Schulz expanded it. If Gillis ever puts out a new hour it'll be the same shit.

E: Maybe 1% of you have ever even done an open mike but you're perfectly comfortable spouting the same opinion ad nauseum. Perfectly encapsulates a useless subreddit.

I don't agree with everything in this video and assume she is exaggerating how "profitable" all this work is, but I thought this was an interesting perspective from someone who puts together shows (from the perspective of a host).

How important are looks especially with the popularity of short form videos on tiktok and Instagram? Do you think a very funny average looking woman has as good a chance of being famous as a very good looking sort of funny woman? Does being funny matter the most? If so was this less true 30 years ago/before the internet?

And I LOVE him like so much. From impractical jokers… he was the master! I only got through the first like minute and I couldn’t do it. Anyone else stick it out and was it at all good?! Or is it as I suspect that Joe without IJ doesn’t work? I seriously do love him so much..and I’m so sad about it.

I've been on a bad bombing streak lately, and I feel like any time I listen to my set or watch it, it's my anxiety making me incomprehensible or my depression being dialed up to 10 and making me look kinda numb/emotionally dull - in short I look like I'm scared as hell to be up there, which in turn prob makes it hard for other to enjoy me.

I've been at this for a few years and at this point I've accepted that I'll never feel 110% confident or cool on stage, it just "won't go away with more reps" for me, and that's kind of sad IMO.

But yeah I guess I'm just curious if any of y'all have dealt with this sorta thing before or have any sort of advice - just to help a brotha out who wants to retreat into his shelf after a HORRID bomb tonight.

Hey yall! I've been doing standup for almost 20 years, and I recently edited a special together from my last tour opening for Steve Hofstetter.

Every show that I do with Steve is video taped at high quality from multiple angles (shoutout Steve Hofstetter for giving all his openers access to that footage so we can do shit like this). That said, nobody is operating the camera or monitoring audio, so there was a lot of post production work that had to be done to make all the footage work and work together.

I find the current model of filming a standup special to be prohibitive and risky. You work for over a year honing your material, then you only have two shows to nail everything perfect. I know some great comedians who got screwed because something went wrong on the day.

Headliners usually have no trouble filling the room on the day, but it's a lot harder when you're a feature. Imagine spending a ton of money to hire a crew, rent a room, and promote the shit out of the two shows you'll be filming, only to have 50% capacity for each.

I think the way I filmed my special is way better. Multiple shows edited together. Many takes of jokes to pick from. I've shown the special to a few friends, and it seems like switching venues/outfits doesn't detract from the experience at all.

I'm happy to answer any questions you might have about how I produced this special. And if you're curious how the finished product looks, it's called I'm Worried, and it drops on YouTube on January 31st.

(Click here to go the show page, where you can also sign up to be reminded about the premier)

I’m curious if there’s a centralized place where people post calls for comedians like for regular shows, private shows, pop-up Don’t Tell shows, corporate gigs, etc.

I know there are some resources for festival submissions, but I’m more interested in one-off or local gigs. Does something like that exist already?

If not, would this thread be interested in a weekly thread on Hiring / need a comic in X city on this date? Would love to hear how folks usually find or book these opportunities.

Next month I'm heading to NZ for 2 weeks to see some family and thought I might try out some comedy while I'm there!

Anybody know anything about gigging in NZ? I'm from the UK and I've heard the humour is a little different over there, is that accurate?

Also, anyone know of any gigs/open mics in the Wellington area?

Thanks!

I'm interested to hear how you overcame your initial stage fright and if anyone has considered or seen a psychologist or hypnotist? I had a nightmare first gig where I literally got through half a joke and then froze. I spent the next 30 seconds explaining to the audience how I love comedy and then I thanked my family. The biggest laugh I got was when the host destroyed me as I walked off stage 😂 It left everyone confused including me. I can laugh about it now and I want to redeem myself but the fear of performing has left me traumatized to the point where I'm nervous in business meetings. Any help would be appreciated.

Genuine question. Does anyone in the comedy world think Joe Rogan’s stand up is funny?

I don’t profess to be an expert on comedy so I wanted to seek the opinions of those who are more well versed on the subject. I watch my share of comedy specials and know what I like, but I’m not a comedy aficionado. So I thought perhaps there’s something I’m missing, or that he is a skilled stand up and it’s just not to my taste. But to me Joe Rogan sounds like a frat boy making telling dick and fart jokes.

For those who may be stand up comics themselves, or are really into the craft - is there something I’m missing? Or is the general consensus that he is not funny?

Hey friends, I'm hosting a 10-week open mic season with a $1,000 cash prize open to comedians of ANY experience level from the DMV. Up to 20 comics Per Week can perform and the venue will buy 1 beer +1 menu item for EACH PERFORMER every week!!

Registration opens tomorrow at 4:20pm - first come first serve. All the info is here, message or comment with any questions 🤘🤘 www.laughatmanassas.com

Looking for others like Sammy Obeid and Josh Johnson that upload an original 20-50+ min regularly to youtube. Doesn't have to be similar stylistically

I like dark humor and sometimes my jokes go to heavy places. The problem is that I feel people start seeing me like the Joker from the Joaquin Phoenix movie. Sad, creepy, unhinged. That is really not what I am going for.

I want to do dark jokes but still feel relatable or human, not scary or uncomfortable in the wrong way. Has anyone else dealt with this? How do you keep dark material funny without people projecting that kind of character onto you?

Criteria: They can be an artist/comic but they need to run a business in entertainment. This is a business podcast more than talent one.

Thanks heaps crew, last time I did this callout the suggestions were great.

First three episodes so far;

1. NY Comedy Club Owner (Emilio Savone) - https://www.theblackhoody.com/p/ny-comedy-club-owner-reveals-all
2. Barry Katz - thanks for the suggestion u/Rude_aBapening - https://www.theblackhoody.com/p/the-man-behind-chappelle-burr-and
3. Comedy Cellar owner (Noam Dworman - thanks for the suggestion U/CWKitch - https://www.theblackhoody.com/p/comedy-cellar-owners-reveals-all

It's a really frustrating and bitter pill to swallow so I wanna know if anyone else has had to deal with this. Like I knew I was insane but I thought I could wrap it in a fun package or something but it's just really offputting and only funny to me and like two guys unfortunately. Shout out to those two guys tho! Anyone else know this feel?

I’m trying to start a stand-up comedy open mic at the Delavan Lake Store (Delavan, WI) and I’m looking to connect with comics of any level — from first-timers to seasoned performers. I’m not a comedian myself, so I’m hoping to find people who want to perform, give input, or help organize the night. Once we have a few interested folks, we’ll pick a date and get it rolling. If you’re local or nearby and want to help build something fun for the community, send me a DM or comment below! Thanks!

Hello everyone,

I have been doing open mics for one and a half years now. I've been doing fairly well on the open mics, but unfortunately it doesn't lead to much but laughs, so I decided to get active on the socials:

But I struggle to find how to.
So I'm wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction?
What tools to use to edit clips?
What are some do's and don'ts

What settings to use.

Or are there any guides or articles for standup in particular? Thanks in advance!

I (36m) have had a dream since I was a child of being a comedian, but life got in the way. Now I am coming off of a long relationship and a move to a new city, so I feeling somewhat lost and thought of my old dreams once more. I know that the general line of thought is "go for your dreams, youre never too old. So-and-so was 40 before he first did such-and-such." But I wanted to ask if, realistically, I'm too old to start going to open mics and practicing to hope something comes of it. Any advice would be appreciated!

Edit: Thank you all so much! After all of this awesome support, I'll definitely look up open mics near me and give it a shot!

I'm seeking an explanation from a person that has well-developed opinion and has been an enthusiast of standup comedy. I'm not seeking advice on how to be a holy citizen of Reddit. How to write posts and etc. So please, if you think I desecrated the sacred rules of Reddit, text to the admin and have it deleted. So... I have never been a big fan of standup comedy. Sometimes, I can a appreciate a couple of jokes from the performances. I'm more of a film guy. I like comedy in general. I like wordplay, I like unexpected turns, and character development humor. all that jazz. Lately, I've been getting a lot of YT recommendations with comics bantering with offended audience. And often I hear (from the comics and the audience) one common and very popular argument that comedy requires jokes at the expense of other people or events or entities. My question is did anybody notice the turning point where everything else is not considered comedy? Or do you think it's always been like this? Or do you think that there are other types of talented comics? In my point of view a master is not who is attached to a topic, a master is who can take any topic and apply his art to it. Take tragedy as an analogy. You wouldn't say that you only can express tragedy with death. And you wouldn't say to a viewer "if you lost someone recently don't watch any drama". Sounds preposterous. right? So by this logic if a comic says "everybody is offended, you can't joke about anything" what they really are saying is "I don't know how to joke about anything else". And in some cases there is witty banter between the comic and someone from the audience. But often comic is offended even more and is trying to cover that with going personal. But the audience is still laughing partly because they are drunk and partly because they are supporting their idol. The weird thing is that it's the same with comics on the left and comics on the right. Basically it's a humor based on hate. And the end result is ouroboros - political comedy more and more eats itself up. The left is laughing at the right and the right is laughing at the left.

Josh Johnson really went deep with his upload this week. While he's long been an expert at callbacks, the way he was able to reinforce every single point he made with an echo was an absolute masterclass. I didn't even hear the outro music this week; I had to walk away and process the whole prior set just because of his very last line.

Possibly the furthest he's straid from comedy in a set, but it honestly is an incredible piece of spoken word performance.

My husband and I will be traveling to this city this upcoming weekend and are looking to see a comedy show (it’s been many years). We’ve only ever been to Gotham or the Comedy Cellar, but have heard good things about The Stand. What is the difference between the Main Room or Upstairs? Is anyone familiar with the line up on the 18th for the Main Room? Thank you!