Vegas

Las Vegas

The Greyhound touched down in Vegas at 7 AM on a Tuesday. I had 12 hours to kill until the first open mic. After spending the day exploring the Strip I walked two hours to get to what I thought was an open mic at The Urban Lounge. It turned out to be a booked show for music. They had a Tuesday comedy show as well, but only once a month I had just missed it. When one of the girls who helps run the show told me this I lost my shit. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME??? I walked two hours in the Vegas heat to get there. With no water lugging all my stuff! I was covered in sweat, looking like hammered shit. I’m Bipolar I so sometimes I over react. I immediately slipped into a “woe is me, fuck everything mentality.” She told me to calm down that Sparkle, the lady who ran the show, would be there soon, and that she would probably help me figure out where the next mic was, or give me time. She brought me water, and told me to sit. When Sparkle got there, she could tell I was upset. She told me to that one, or two acts would probably drop out last minute. So she could give me time since I went through the trouble to get there. She had me open the show with 5 minutes. I ended up crushing. Everyone gave me so much love. I got off stage grinning like an idiot. Sparkle told me to get back on stage with her. Taking my hand, she told the room “I don’t normally let people who I haven’t seen go up on my shows”, but she could see how dedicated I was to get time to do what I do. She went on to say that she was glad she had. “I didn’t think you’d be that good!” I won’t try to put down everything else she said. I lack her eloquence. She gave me a hug, then I got off stage. Everyone I walked by shook my hand, or gave me hug. Told me I was funny, and thank you for making me laugh. I’m embarrassed how I looked when I showed up. That place is classy as fuck. By the time I left to go to the next mic, which fortunately was only a 10-minute walk away, I forgot how much of a little bitch I was earlier.

            The next mic was called Rebar. The best way to describe it is if Salvation Army, and a dive bar had a baby. Don’t ask. Just check it out if you happen to be in town. I got there early. Introduced myself to some of the comics. One them by the name of Gil whips out a fat ass blunt:

“Alley?”

“Alley.” another comic Michael nods. Looks at me “Alley?”

“Alley” I replied

You know what happened next. I went up towards the end of the night. I gota few laughs, but they paled in comparison to the laughs at the lounge. Btw the show at Urban Lounge is called Flow Your Awesome. Definitely check out the have a website just Google it. Rebar was just rewarding as long as I get to go up I’ve had a good day. When my times up a lot of the comics/audience came up to tell me I was funny. A few people bought me drinks aa well. So 2 for 2 on good sets my first night. A great guy by the name of John let stay at his house for a few nights. So I didn’t have to unroll my sleeping bag just yet. I continued to hit one or more mics a night with the exception of Saturdays. Only day that doesn’t have a mic. Instead go to The “M” casino resort. There is a free comedy show that always has a great line up! I learned that most open mics in Vegas have a best set prize that usually comes in the form of cash. I Won $100 total from 3 mics. I was in Vegas for 3 weeks. I did around 40 mics while I was there and two booked shows if we count Urban Lounge. I only had to sleep outside 3 time. The last night outside I punched a mouse. That’s not a euphemism. I literally punched a mouse. He crawled across me while I was sleeping. I freaked out. I feel really bad about it. I hope he returned to his people a king, but it’s more likely a rattlesnake got him as he was trying to limp home. I told this story an open mic. It resulted in me being adopted by an ex-cop/marine, soon to be comic, by the name of Florio. I say soon to be because he hasn’t popped his open mic cherry. When he does he supposed to send me the video. He let me stay with him for the rest of my time in Vegas. Shout out also to Ryan and Sam for letting me crash with them as well. I loved all the mics I hit. If I had to pick a favorite it would Noreen’s Lounge. The hosts are awesome, it’s where most of the comics try to go, if you get stuck you can ask them to give you a question, the bartenders are complete bosses (Erick in particular), also the best set prize is $50! If I had to pick a least favorite. It would be Jackpots. The only reason I have is every time I went up I ate shit lol. Otherwise the host is great! Spiro is his name, and he sells badass koala bear shirts, the proceeds go to breast cancer awareness… So buy one or six.  All the comics have been added to my comedy family. Other things I love about Sin City: You can smoke cigarettes in most of the bars, weed is legal, no last call, most of the mics are spread out enough you can do 3 a night easy, alcohol is cheap.

            I survived with pretty much no cash. Made it work with some with tarot readings. Odd jobs on craigslist. Then my favorite way of making money that I discovered my last week there! Selling my spot for cash or beer! Another comic at Rebar was #16 I was 6. He offered me $20 to trade. I’d show early sign up then offer to trade spots for cash/beer/weed/cigs. Worked out pretty well. I got a ride to LA with some friends I made at a mic, who were going in the same direction. Thanks Gabby and Austin! I hope this is a helpful view of Vegas’s open mic scene. If you enjoyed this article then please like or follow here, or on Facebook. If your feeling generous you can drop a few bucks at the Go Fund Me page.

The Valley

The Phoenix comedy scene was not what I expected it to be. Just between us when friend/ comic Guisseppi Giovanni I asked if I wanted to join him in checking it out I was nervous about it, but at the time I was living in a homeless shelter, in Flagstaff, AZ,  where I was only allowed to go to one open mic a month. Any comic will tell you that the quickest way to get good is to go up as much as possible, and write as much as possible. To make up for the lack of stage time I wrote 2-3 hours a day, but without stage time it felt like I was living in hell. Ironic since it was a faith based shelter. My original plan was to get my driver’s license as I saved up for a van I could live in. Then from there save up enough to finally check out the Phoenix Scene. It was 6 month plan. A month into the plan is when I get the text from Guisseppi Asking if I wanted to live down there part time with him. I thought this through for about 8 hours straight before I decided fuck it what do I have to lose? The following weeks were me getting over bronchitis, planning, and stress vomiting. I told my friends where I was going, but failed to mention this stupid ass plan to my biological family.  December 13^th, 2017 1ish in the AM is when we made it to Phoenix.  Later that day we went to my first open mic in The Valley. Catalina’s Sports Bar & Grill. I don’t remember how well it went, just that I didn’t bomb. Having Guisseppi with me helped with my nerves. Something else that helped was I actually knew a few of the people there from Big Pine Comedy festival. I honestly thought no one would know, or care about who I was. My expectations were apathy and snide comments. I stuck by Giovanni when I wasn’t chain smoking cigarettes. I think I did the fake nice thing where I’m overly polite to people I don’t know well. Much to my surprise everyone was very friendly, and a lot of them remembered me. All this threw me off. Why are these strangers being nice to me what’s in it for them? A lot of my family is very negative and self-serving, so I’m used to working for everything. This eclectic group of people however was different a short list of things they did for me: Gave me cigs/food/beer, helped me get a job, put me on booked shows, and helped me find a place to stay. Unfortunately I’m a fuck up, so their kindness was wasted on me. I owe everyone there so much. They treated me like family. I definitely am going to figure out a way to pay them all back. There are a few people who I don’t get a long with there, but that’s to be expected when you’re in big place like Phoenix. If you move there, and a few people don’t like you it’s not the end of the world. Ignore them. Hang out with the people who do like you, and no one should fuck with you. You do need to be nice to people though. No one wants to work with you if you’re an asshole. If you walk customers from a venue don’t be surprised if a host asks you not to come back. Even if you do piss off half the scene. You can still find places to perform. When you go to The Valley try to go during fall to spring time. If you’re not used to the heat summer will fuck you up. My favorite Mics to hit up are “Punchlines on the Patio” located at Devil’s Advocate. It’s a Monday mic. Catalina’s is another favorite. As well as The Woodshed.  I don’t think there are any mics that I didn’t like, but the rough mics where you can get heckled/ignored/talked over are: Spinelli’s, Tempe Tavern, and Catalina’s. For more info on the mics in Phoenix go to the open-mics section of this website, and click on the link to Trevor Skies comedy. Also a really fun show to check out every Thursday is “This Week  Sucks Tonight” starts at 11pm. After the show you can go to Gracie’s Tax Bar, and meet the hosts/ by them a drink. Another great thing about this area is it’s somewhat close to the Vegas, and L.A scenes.  Keep checking back in for more articles. Next one will be on my hometown of Flagstaff!!! Thanks for reading.

Please like/follow us. Comments are appreciated.

A disclaimer, a warning, and an apology

This blog is a result of circumstance. Explicit language, drugs, comedy, mental illness, and sheer stupidity will be reacurring themes. The Road Comics Guide is part podcast; part blog. The goal is to interview comedians in different scenes throughout the US to give you an idea of what each scene is like. So if you decide to leave your home town/ go on tour you'll have an idea of what to expect. That being said I'm what you call an open-micer. Which is a nice way of saying I don't get paid for my efforts most comedians starting out don't. I'll be going on this journey broke and blind. This feels appropriate since my name does mean blind, and I was born to this world with my leg not in its socket. I'm still broke, my eyesight is shit if I'm not wearing my glasses, also my middle finger is currently fractured. I don't expect you to like everything you hear/ read from this. I'll take full responsibility for what I say and post. I don't work for the FCC so it's not my job to censor what my guests say. If you're ever offended by anything posted. You stop reading/listening, or let me know so you can vent. Don't expect me to do shit about it though. You're an adult you can find more pressing issues to occupy your time. If you'd like to be interviewed hit me up here, Facebook, Twitter, or email us at Roadcomicsguide@gmail.com.
I want to learn from other comics, as well as give them opportunities to tell their stories, promote shows, ECT. So there will be little to no editing. I'll never apologize for what my guests say. I will apologize for substandard grammar, overuse of the phrase fair enough during interviews, my annoying ass voice, my gross incompetence, and the sound quality in some interviews. Thank you for taking time out of your day to check us out. Everything we do will be rough around the edges at first, but hopefully you'll learn with us, Karina K. will be joining me on this trip. Thanks for reading!!!

Also this website uses cookies. For more details visit Blogger.com.

Site update

Hey all expect our first article June 10th!