Should I Move to New York City for Comedy?
I’m Back!
So I take another trip to New York City to see if it’s worth moving there as a comedian. Last time I compared it to Austin so read that if you want a closer comparison, this one is a year after and is about making the final decision whether to move or not. Let me start out by saying I’m excited and really prepared to move here. I’m shaking on the bus ride there, full of energy.
What Just Happened?
1st open mic I go to is my home territory from last year, The Creek and The Cave. I go there and it’s crazy. I see all my favorite NYC comics are hanging out front. Even though they’re not big names, I see and listen to them on youtube, podcast, and roast battles a lot. I didn’t talk to them, what am I gonna say? “I’m also a comic… and I’m from out of state… and I like your stuff…alright, well have a good day” I head down to the basement where the mics are and it looks like a show is about to start. Yeah, turns out Skankfest is going on and I just walked in like I was part of it.
The place slowly packs out and I’m the only person there without a lanyard on me. I feel kind of bad for getting into a show for free but feel kind of cool for how I just snuck in. It’s all about confidence, just walk into a place like you’re supposed to be there and no questions asked. I see a young headliner I worked with in San Antonio for a week. He told me to reach out to him whenever I’m in NYC, and even gave me his number. I tried getting a hold of him last year, but he was busy. Plus what was he going to do, give me a tour and put me on big shows? I see him this time and talk to him. Say hi and all that shit, and that’s about it. 5 sentences later I take my seat. Everybody’s got their own shit to take care of and I’m just an opener he met one time. I’m surprised he even remembered me at all. He was probably scrambling the first few seconds of talking to figure out who the fuck was in his face talking to him.
The show goes on and there’s a good host working the room. Pretty much uses all his material as crowd work by asking if any of the bros from the audience have done this or lived here. About 10 comics go on. People go in and out. I see a guy I’ve worked with a bunch of time from San Antonio as well. He’s surprised to see me. We say talk about the same length as the other guy and he goes on does his set. All I can think about is how I should be on this show as I know I could kill it. I’m a little jealous instead of enjoying the free show.
Finally, other open micers show up and they don’t know any better either and start an open mic. “I don’t know where the host that’s supposed to be here is, but we’re gonna start this shit since they decided not to show up and do their job”… Cause he’s not supposed to be here idiot. Audience members from Skankfest are still in the room watching the mic as if it’s a show. What a tragedy. I get called up and do my best stuff (as I was always told to do when going to a new town) and killed in front of a paid Skankfest audience. So that felt good. That would turn out to be the highlight of the whole trip though.
The Grind
I did nothing but free mics last time I was there. I was researching NYC mics this time and came across Jocelyn Chia’s website and she said to do the paid mics because they give you an audience and they’re worth it. I learned last time that all mics in NYC are nothing but other comics. Yes, the comics pay attention way more than other cities, and yes, some say it makes you better, but I disagree. That’s just playing to the back for a room on the regular.
The paid mics sucked. Stay as far away from Laughing Budha as possible. Some say they used to be okay but now have taken it too far. $10 I paid to perform in front of 7 other comedians at the basement they call the Greenwich comedy club. These people did it regularly too. They all knew each other. They can pay rent and for mics. WTF is their day job? Some people would go to the stage and not know what to talk about.
The mics that weren’t paid the hosts would strongly suggest you buy a drink. Strongly suggest.
You can do the Creek and Cave for free but it’s whatever. Some really good comics stop in there, most are bad. Normal ratio. Just everything amplified in NYC. Best of the best, and worst of the worst. I thought I wanted more testosterone in the scene but they take it almost too far. Every dude’s wearing a tank top, camo cargo shorts, and some are on the juice. I can see a little bit what women are complaining about when I was there. But it’s not like I didn’t get assaulted by the women comics. 1 girl threw dildos at the audience at a fucking mic and I had to swat it down before it hit me in the face. Most expensive open mic set of all time. She said they were donated…?
Comedy Shows…
A comic I know actually asked me to do a show since somebody backed out. And after showing up, I saw a lack of comics was not the problem. Like a lot of shows I’ve been a part of, there were way more comics than audience. The show I did was at the back of an Irish pub and only had 3 audience members. 1 the gf of the showrunner, 1 was her friend, and 1 was some patron there that thought he’d be nice and give it a shot. He left 2 comics after me. I had a great set considering, but I’ve got a lot of experience with shit shows. I almost specialize in it.
I was booked to be on 2 pretty good shows after that. Grisly Pear which I had a lot of fun at last time and was going to be even bigger this time since they film the show Crashing there now. Used to just be a vulture show that would bark in all the people that couldn’t get into the Cellar that night.
I Tap Out
The road agent I’m working with right now calls me at a time where I’m at my most frustrated and I take a gig in Alabama that I have to somehow get to within the next 24 hours. Worst decision of my life, but that’s another story altogether.
As for the place I was staying in the whole time, it was all Hasidic Jews which explained all the short white people staring at me all the time. As well as the people dressed like the blues brothers.
It was an hour to the nearest comedy mic, Creek and Cave, which was in Long Island City. That hour commute got old fast. I would read most of the time but was hard with my A.D.D. with all the weird people to stare at, and sometimes I’d get really into a chapter and miss my stop by 3. I might as well had been staying in Jersey City at that point. Got a good deal on a room for only $30 a night.
Final Thoughts
So weird. I remember standing at the train station in CT, so excited I’m shaking as I’m on my way to NYC. Days later I’m ready to get the fuck out. I see what all the NYC comics are talking about now. It only took me 4 trips to get it.
It’s hard enough to do comedy there, and a lot of mics want you to pay to do it. I don’t love comedy that much. Feel like it’d be better to move there when I’ve got some buzz on me, and some money saved up.
Compared to the other comics I saw, I know I’m ready. A lot of the shows and mics I do here I’m one of the best, though I heard that’s not good cause you want to be surrounded by people way, way better than you make you want to step up. But I can at least watch good comedy on YouTube and set myself to that level.
NYC would make me only focus on comedy because all the rest of my attention would be on surviving. Maybe a year or 2 later I could start adding other things like filming again and acting. But it would make me feel limited there. I know so many that move there and nothing happens. Dallas TX is just 3 hours away and I could get way more stage time. So basically this trip only added more doubt to moving.
The one good thing I got to do was see Aaron Berg do his Frantic show. He’s the best person I know at crowd work, and I wanted to watch him do it. He almost shit on me but didn’t. Went after the guy next to me. I talked to the guy next to me for an hour and Aaron found out more about him in 1 minute. Turns out he’s a bisexual gun owner from Kansas. Nobody on the show could follow his sets, he would do crowd work between every comic. Again, I got jealous I wasn’t on the show.
I know. “You were there for a week and you’re going to make a judgment on NYC. There are people that live there that have a better opinion.” Go listen to them then. I like to try before I buy. This is my 4th trip there. I saw enough. Don’t just go off my opinion. Ask others, try it yourself and see if you agree. But, remember most of all, I’m smarter, funnier, and better than you. So you should probably just take my word for it.
SUMMARY
Pros:
- Set to a higher standard when you’re around some of the best in the world. Which supposedly makes you better as you are who you surround yourself with (Great if you’re doing sets with those guys, bad if you’re doing sets with the worst open micers)
- Get to live in NYC
- A lot of your classmates will be a big deal one day
- Some industry there
- Roast Battles look fun
Cons:
- Life is a daily struggle
- You have to live in NYC
- Only the best shows are good, and you won’t be on them
- The rest of the shows are the worst, and you’ll be on those
- A lot of the comics I met there want out. They’re jealous of Austin.
Judgment:
- Not worth it to me. Comedy is tough enough without even shittier open mics and higher rent.
- Mid 30’s with a roommate or 3? No thanks.
- Yes, I may have burned myself out by doing so many mics in such limited time and having to commute so far away. But that’s the point. That’s how I planned on living there when I moved. If less than a week was draining, how would a lifestyle of it feel, with me working a day job on top of it?
- Get good anywhere else, unless you’re obsessed with only comedy, or got some hookups. The world isn’t how it used to be. You can podcast, twitch stream, youtube, and hundreds of other things instead of moving across the country in an attempt to get passed at the Westside Comedy Club.
- I’m doing tours around the Bible Belt on the weekends and getting paid decently for little driving and getting to do 45-60 minutes in front of large paying audiences. Why move to NYC to fight over a non-paid spot in a hallway?