Five Years In

Today, February 9th, is the fifth anniversary of my first comedy open mike. It was at the Funny Bone in Springfield, IL. They didn't use the actual show room for Wednesdays, so the "stage" was basically the raised perimeter of the dance floor in the bar area of the entertainment-plex that housed the club. There was a TV behind me that was on. There was a brass rail between me and the dance floor, which was empty. Around the edge of the dance floor were maybe two dozen people, half of whom were the staff and other comics. I did a bit about Larry King that was a little too long. I did another about alien abductions that was way too long. I don't remember the rest of my set, and I've long since recorded over that tape. But I got laughs. Not roaring laughs, but laughs. After the show, a complete stranger walked up to me, shook my hand and said, "That shit was funny, bro."

Thanks, bro.

I eventually made my way to Crackers in Indianapolis on Tuesdays and The Jukebox in Peoria on Thursdays. The other day I got a 1099 from The Jukebox showing $600, for two weekends of feature work (for you civilians, that's the middle spot). I made another couple hundred here, another hundred there - altogether maybe $1200 - hardly the kind of money to quit my day job for. Especially when you subtract the gas it took to get to Peoria, or Kokomo, or LaCrosse, or Minneapolis... But it's a far cry from doing five minutes for a dozen people with a NASCAR race on the TV behind me, so it's all good. Hell, I've made more money per night than some bands I know. I've met some very cool folks, made some good friends, and shared the stage with some top-notch comics.

But enough sap. I'm going to celebrate the completion of my fifth year in comedy the way any self-respecting comic would -- by drinking, checking my phone every three minutes, and staring at my own website.