About

It all started when…

Well…it depends. The first time I tried stand up was back in my college days at Kansas State University. I was walking through the infamous bar district, Aggieville, and noticed a flyer that said “Open Mic Night”. I had already dabbled in comedy being the co-founder of the On-the-Spot Improv troupe, but never attempted stand-up. I got my 5 minutes ready and told a few friends, who told a few friends, and next thing you know, the college bar was packed to standing room only. After the first joke landed I was hooked.

Now for the “it depends” part. I only performed stand-up every couple of weeks during my senior year of college, but the next chapter of my life was coming up and decisions had to be made. So I stopped! I moved to Kansas City for a job, tried one open mic in the bigger comedy scene, then didn’t touch the stage for 6 years. Yes you heard me…6 years. In fact, stand-up comedy was just something I enjoyed as a fan for most of that time. I’d write down jokes here and there saying things like “yeah, one day I’ll get back into it”, and “I really gotta start going up again”. But it wasn’t until my wife gave birth to our first daughter that something in me clicked. It was time.

So I went to an open mic the very next day…kidding. It was 10 months to the day that I went to my “second” first open mic. Unlike my first experience, it went horribly. I sat there by myself in the dingy bar showroom for hours, holding my notebook in my hands, just waiting for my spot. I was #27 on the open mic list that seemed to be more of a suggestion than a list, as local comic after local comic kept “bumping”, which is a term you don’t learn about until you’re offered it down the road. I left the house around 8 PM that night to sign up on the list. Open Mic was supposed to start a 9 PM, which was probably more like 9:30. After a couple hours I almost left, since all the comics began to bump and do what they wanted with the evening. Midnight rolled around and I didn’t even know if the Open Mic was going to continue as virtually every audience member had already left for the evening, but sure enough, the show must go on. Finally at 12:45 AM it was my turn, and the host of the Open Mic even made a comment about I had been sitting there in the same spot all night just waiting patiently for my turn. I go on stage…tell some jokes…no one is there to laugh, even if the jokes were remotely funny to begin with. After I get off stage I immediately headed to my car to drive home, at which point my wife called me in a panic because I wasn’t home yet.

From that point on, it was a lot of similar scenarios. Just trying to get better at open mics wherever those opportunities may present themselves.

Since then, I’ve performed in many cities for many different clubs and venues and look forward to adding much more to that list in the future.