January open mics post-mortem

I signed myself up to 10 open mics in January and February and I thought I would provide an update on how well the first 5 went (or didn’t!). And also provide some links to comedians who I watched that I really liked.

The first gig at the vaults went really well, it was my first time back on stage in several months so I stuck to my tried and tested 5 minutes. The vaults is a relatively new non-bringer night in an incredibly cool theatre bar in Waterloo.

The Vaults @ Graffiti tunnel, Waterloo
The Vaults, Waterloo

There wasn’t a huge audience, but with about 15 acts performing the place did feel very full. The audience and the MC were very supportive and this was a good friendly first gig back and I got lots of laughs. There was a really funny guy at this gig called Will… something. I’ll do better at remembering names!

Heavenly Comedy, Laughter Lab and the new Bar Malden open mic gigs were all non-bringers that went reasonably well. I didn’t get huge laughs but I did get some good feedback on the newer material, and more time practicing on stage. A performer who I liked was Hasan Al-Habib who I think will be famous one day. And another comedian called Felix… something. Ok, I’ll keep working on remembering names.

The next notable gig was We are funny project, where I absolutely bombed! Again the MC and other acts were incredibly friendly and supportive. I went up 3rd after two very experienced guys who both got great reactions. So when I went up and got the odd polite laugh, a random cough here and there, and people checking their phones, it was excruciating. I apologetically left the stage after 3 minutes.

To not be too down on myself I have re-watched a video of the gig since and I did get more laughs than I thought. I was also unlucky to go up straight after two of the funniest comedians of the night. Because lots of other comedians didn’t do particularly well either that night, I was just the first to fail. It’s harder to perform to comedians than it is a ‘real’ audience, so I’m hoping this is just a blip! A comedian I really liked, and another that I think will be famous one day is Luke Nixon.

I have a couple of weeks off now, and then another 4 gigs in February. I just have to get over Covid first and then go into these next 4 fully rehearsed and confident! One of the gigs is 10 minutes (I have about 6-7 mins) and two of the gigs are non-London ones, which historically I’ve done better at, so there is reason to be hopeful.