THE MIC THAT WOULD NOT END

As I’ve said before, most open mics are forgettable. And last night was no different, but it was an important mic for me because it was the first time I’d been back on stage telling jokes since late September.

October was a busy month for me with my storytelling shows and with some travel for work. Then I got sick with pneumonia for two weeks! I’m still coughing a bit even now, but I feel much better so I didn’t want to miss last night! Plus, being the week of Thanksgiving, rumors on Facebook said it’s usually one of the best mics of the year.

Well, it definitely didn’t end up being the best. But it wasn’t the worst either. There were about 30 people in the crowd, and right from the start I could tell that it was going to take a while for them to warm up or they were going to be mediocre the whole night through. Turns out, mediocre was right!

There were about 16 people on the list, and that included 2 first timers. But then they squeezed in 8 pop-in comics – those are usually professionals, seasoned, or traveling comics that don’t have to sign up and usually get more time. On a typical mic, there’s only four! And these guys usually do at least 10 minutes each, if not more.

Comedienne Nikki Glaser is back in town and popped in and did at least fifteen minutes. I’ve seen her before at open mic and she burned the place down. Last night, she even had trouble breaking through and getting the crowd on her side.

I was next to last on the list. The show started at 7:30pm and two hours later I still had not gone up! I was afraid that as we got near the end they’d cut our time from 4 minutes to only 3 which has happened before. It’s an unfair attempt at speeding the show up, but thankfully that didn’t happen.

I had a whole new four minutes planned which I had written two weeks ago about getting sick and having to go to Urgent Care. This ended up actually being a great night to try it out. I only hoped the audience would give me some sort of validation. And they did. I got some laughs in places where I expected, and got a big laugh in one spot that I had not even thought about. So I know the bit is worth keeping and trying out again. Hopefully it will be even better by the time I get in front of a more responsive crowd.