There are some open mics that are run by comics who just host open mics for stage time as a host. Then there are open mics run by comedy production companies that produce shows like bringer shows and industry showcases where comedy club booking agents or various media casting managers are in the audience. These are not “companies” with many employees and casual Fridays, but rather one or few people who probably just run these things on the fly without an office.
Laughing Buddha is one of those companies. I’ve performed at a couple of its open mics, but they also have comedy classes that meet for a few weeks at a price of around $300 to $500. I have never taken those classes, but today at NYCC, they had a free workshop. Guests included a marketing person and a comedy agent. Since I barely know anything about this business, I went to the workshop hoping to learn something new.
I guess I did learn something, but it wasn’t much. They were things I either knew/suspected already, or had no use of until I get significantly better. One thing I suspcted, and confirmed by a guest tonight, was that comedy is 90% marketing and 10% funny. I will work on the funny part first so that I would have something to market. An idea thrown around was to post YouTube videos. Umm, I’m sure I won’t get many hits, and I don’t want others to steal my jokes.
The agent also said this: always tape yourself. I’ve taped myself twice but deleted them because I don’t like seeing or hearing myself. Odd, I know, as a person whose goal could involve being on TV. But it is something I have been considering. I have thought about buying a small camcorder, since a cheap but dedicated video recorder is probably better than lugging around a $500 digital camera. I haven’t bought one yet because it costs money and it’s a commitment that I would continue to do comedy. But I guess I will get one at some point.
After the show, I went to a nearby mic at Beauty Bar, which turned out to be a booked mic. But they did have lottery for walk-ins for 4th, 7th, and 10th spots. I figured I would wait, but I did not get any of the spots. Now I will be home at midnight without any stage time. Oh well.
I do have another actuarial exam coming up in one month, so I’m only going to do comedy once a week until then. See you next week.
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