Adam Minnick

Adam Minnick is a clean comedian based out of Ohio.  In this interview, Drew chats with Adam about how to get involved in the comedy club circuit, being intentional about how you spend your time as a comedian, and giving yourself grace when you start.

For more on Adam, check his site here!

https://www.adamminnick.com/ 

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:17

Welcome back to the Clean Comedy Chat. I'm so glad you guys are here. Welcome to our conversation. This is a podcast where we interview different comedians who are in the Clean Comedy Collective, which is a virtual network across all of the US. We have 200 comedians all across the the United States. And each week we bring you a different one. It's an excuse for me to make a new friend. And it's also an excuse, hopefully, for you to find your new favorite comedian. What I always like to let people know about before we start the show and at the end of the show is if anything we do is remotely interesting to you, uh please check out the website cleancomedycollective.com. You can see all the comedians uh from our network in your state or in any state. You can check out old episodes of the podcast. You can donate and join our Patreon where you get full uncut interviews. If you're a comedian, you can apply to be part of the Clean Comedy Collective. And you can see what shows we have going on all across the country. So there's a lot just a lot of great things. Today, um, I'm very excited to be joined with my friend Adam Minick from Ohio. Adam, how are you doing today?

SPEAKER_01 1:13

Yeah, I'm good. How are you, Drew?

SPEAKER_00 1:15

Man, I am good. It's it's great. I I've it's good to say I'm enjoying your for our people listening who don't see, I'm enjoying your backdrop with the guitars. Do you play guitar? Are you a guitar guy?

SPEAKER_01 1:26

I do, I do play guitar, yeah. Um, I play when I can. My four-year-old usually tells me to quit playing. Uh, and my wife's like, it's not all about you. And I'm like, if we work together, it can be. It can be all of you.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

That is that has to be that has to be humbling, having a four-year-old being like, just stop.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

You gotta, I felt like I know what like now it's like to be a musician when you first start out, everyone tells you to quit playing. So uh I'm getting that feeling. So yeah, there we go. I do yeah, I do like playing. It's fun, it's fun to play. So I I enjoy it.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Well, keep playing, don't listen to your four-year-old. Um, listen, listen to me instead. Adam Minnick has worked in corporate comedy shows and comedy clubs all across the US cities, as well as the comedy lounge in Perth, Australia. He has also performed at the Holland America Cruise Ship in called Zandam. I'm I'm not sure if I'm saying that correctly. Uh, he has a dry bar comedy special and is the author of a children's book, The Adventures of My Crazy Uncle Adam. So he's done a lot of stuff, and we're gonna get into it today. Uh, but before we get into the bio, Adam, we're gonna ask beyond the bio, who is Adam Minick? Who are you past the stuff that we can read about online?

SPEAKER_01 2:37

Who am I? Uh I'm a I'm a dad of a four-year-old who is so who's feral, who's quite feral child. Uh, married, married guy. So um, and on top of all that and doing comedy, so uh that's kind of that's kind of who I am, I guess. Um yeah, I get home from the road and then I'm I'm I'm taking care of a four-year-old and uh and trying to listen to my wife's demands. So that's kind of where where we're at. Um, but yeah, that's kind of like that's I guess that's who I am. I've never really been asked that question before, but uh I do. It's a good question.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

Do you have you given yourself structure so that and because you're traveling a lot with comedy, but you need to like be home to like be with your four-year-old? Have you created a system where like you're not missing him growing up, or or is there do you have any advice for comics who have to do the similar on that?

SPEAKER_01 3:24

You know what? It's um I what I do is during the week, um, I just do I know comics do open mics every night or almost every night. I pick basically two nights a week to go out. Um, I'm I'm gone on the weekends, you know. I don't want to be gone every single night of the week. I want to be home with my kid. And then it it's tough when you're walking out the door to go to a mic and your kids like, oh, don't go, I'm gonna miss you. And like, it kills me. Um but I'm like, you know, I'll be home. I try to hit the early open mics, and like I'll be home to you know, put you to bed, read some books to you. And I'm trying to we do that. If I if I have a happen to have a show in the middle of the night, middle of the week, you know, I just do one open mic.

SPEAKER_00 4:06

Um, and I go to music open mics for the most part because I get 20 minutes as opposed to they give you they give you longer time, and I I mean, at least it feels like this here in Nashville, those music open mics tend to have uh bigger crowds, and they do, and there are people who are not there are people who are there.

SPEAKER_01 4:25

I mean, because you know how comedy open mics are, there's pretty much just comics, and maybe some people who are there listen to comedy. Um, music open mics, they got people who are there to listen to music, and there's a lot of people that show up to that because their friends show up, their family. Um, and then and and sometimes kids will do some like play guitar or piano, and then the kids' family comes out. And since I do clean comedy, I'm not afraid of offending anyone. So I I get 20 minutes, I get 20, sometimes 25 minutes. Uh I once had 45 because there's no one behind me in the list, so they just told me to keep going. Um, it's so like it's kind of working smarter, not harder. Um, it'd be great to go out every night, but I I don't I don't want to do that with my kid and my wife. Right. Uh I I have to say my wife as well. I just can't I can't think legally have to say my wife. Um, but that's just what I do. I I get my time is very limited. So I get two sometimes. I've if I plan it, if I get out the door early enough, I make dinner for the family, and then I get out the door. Uh, if I'm out early enough, I can get three mic mics in for one night, and that's that's an hour right there. That's an hour of of practicing of working on stuff. Um, so yeah, that's kind of what I do. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:33

Trying to figure out, Adam, when did we uh when did we meet? I I was trying, I was really trying to figure out the first time we ever uh did comedy together. Uh the the I don't think this is the first time, but it's like the first time I remember it was we did we did the international storytelling festival in well not festival but the center in Jonesboro, and then followed by Ally Ray's in Knoxville. But I wonder if but I feel like we knew each other then, so I was like, well, where the heck did we meet? And I don't know if you remembered that, and it's okay if you didn't.

SPEAKER_01 6:02

You know what? I think it was international storytelling theater. I think that was the place we met. Well, okay. Had to been it, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

I can't think of earlier than that, but uh but for some reason I felt like I knew you before that show, so but maybe not, maybe I'm wrong.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

We we had chatted before that, I think.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

Um but uh but yeah, so I use that I use that second show, the Alley Ray. I actually when I uh work with and consult and I and talk to people about feature sets and headlining sets and stuff like that. I use that second show um some often as a reference because I don't know if you remember it, but um it was it was kind of a rough crowd for clean comedy, like it was no that show is a weekly show or was a weekly show for and usually they were open to whatever comedy. Um, and they booked us specifically for a clean weekend. Uh and I remember I was featuring in your headlining. Um, and I was remember thinking as I was featuring, I was like, these people probably want a little bit more spice to the comedy. And but what when I talk about it and I teach about it, I talked about as the feature, um, I realized that wasn't my call. I was like, so I stayed clean in my set, even though I kind of knew the venue well enough to know like that you could get a little bit more blue if you wanted. Um, but since I was not headlining, since I wasn't the main event of the show, I was like, I don't want to make that call. And so as a feature, that's a good thing to realize is like you are not the center of attention kind of thing. And so um, and then like and then I I think uh I think you stayed pretty clean. Um, but like the the what I use what I use as a teaching experience to people is like like, but I realized like I'm not gonna be one that breaks the not clean seal at a show that's you know branded clean, unless I'm headlining and unless I know from real confidently that it wouldn't be a bad thing, you know.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

And it's a I mean it it it's a good lesson in comedy that you're never gonna have the perfect crowd. Um I've been booked at a at clubs that you know like they put on the website clean show, and uh and it's a clue the club in Chattanooga, that comedy club. I can't think of a name.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

Uh the comedy catch in Chattanooga, right?

SPEAKER_01 8:10

Yeah. So they the manager, yeah. The manager reached on to me. She's like, Do you want us to put clean comedy, clean show on the website? Like, yeah, that'd be great because that's when people will know, like, that's what they're getting. And they came in Friday, and it was, I think, beginning of summer, so it wasn't even it was like it was on Father's Day. That's remember. And um, it was Friday night was not a good show because and I had asked the crowd, do you guys want dirty or clean? And they go, Dirty. I'm like, okay. But then in this show, it was a it was a tough show, and the manager happened the woman's death show. Um, and then Saturday was a great crowd because they bought tickets for the clean, they went to the website, saw as a clean show, and it was a great show. And unfortunately, she wasn't there for that show. Um, so yeah, it's it, but it's like you you have to you have to just you do your time, you do your time. Um, to me, I don't really change my act because that's the I've I've promoted myself as a clean comic, clean-ish. Sometimes I I'll dip in a little bit with uh more of the adult humor, which I I like to do, it kind of throws people off guard and they they seem to like that. Um, but if I'm promoted as a clean comic, I'm gonna do a clean show. And if the crowd came in for dirty, well, they didn't look at the website, they didn't do the research, you know. Navigating.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

When it's a small enough room, I'll to occasionally ask at the beginning of the show, and if it just doesn't resound in like and even I've learned even my not clean stuff is clean by a lot of standards. I don't I don't have a face for crass comedy, it makes women very uncomfortable, and so I just I just learned to just uh and just just my authic uh the stuff I write uh is uh but some of it's like a little spicier, some of it is like I wouldn't do at a church show or whatever, and it's just we especially with clean being such a subjective term. Um, you want to know whoever booked you when they say say clean, what do they mean? And some people it's gonna be a little bit more buttoned up than other people, even when even in your feed in your brain, it's like, well, this is clean, you know, because we as comedians, we really do know what not clean is. We've seen it at the open mics, we've seen that at the shows, we've seen when someone says, Oh, just do whatever you want, what doors they're opening, right? You know, so yeah, um, but let's talk about comedy clubs here. So, you're in your bio and on your website talks a lot about the different clubs you've worked at. I know I've heard and and and seen you online performing a lot of different clubs. Uh, and so I kind of this may be like an open-ended question, but I'd love to hear kind of like the process or like how as a comedian do you get booked with comedy clubs? And then, like, maybe just you know, what what's if someone's wanting to, you know, go the club or out, what kind of things can they expect? I know we were talking about a a show earlier. I don't know if you want to share more about that, or just you know, I'm kind of giving you a topic and be like, hey, go for it, you know.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

No, not worries. Um, uh, getting into comedy clubs is a it's a difficult thing because club managers get emails, so many emails every day. You have to, you kind of have to know somebody's work in the club to get in, to give you a guest spot or bring you along to maybe host or open for them. Um like the funny bones have a process. You have to go to Columbus to get passed. And I've I've done that, I've gotten passed. So then they book you in the funny bones nationwide. Um, the Brad Garrett's comedy club in Vegas is a very difficult room to get into, and they don't do guest bonds, they don't do showcases, they do shows every single night, one show a night. Um, but I knew the manager when she was in Chicago at at a comedy club there. And so I that's how I got in. But I also since I also work clean, and she's like, I'm looking for clean comics. Um, and and I would not recommend any comics to try to message her because she's she probably won't respond because they did so many submissions, they have to have you also have to come have a comic vouch for you to get in there. Um, the Comedy Castle in Detroit is another really tough room to get into. And for a couple years, I can never get in. Because if you don't send, if you don't get booked in September, you're not gonna get booked for the year. They do. Mark Ridley does his bookings for the year. However, I had booked a guy who does their booking. I booked him to do a show, a headline for me for a show, and he saw my stuff. He's like, Hey, have you tried getting in? So, yeah. So a lot of it is you have to have patience. It's it's emailing to do showcases. If you happen to be in a city where the comedy club, ask if you can get them do like a five-minute guest spot. Um, they'll sometimes say, be cool with that. Some a lot of clubs will are kind of cool about that. Yeah, and it just depends on the comedy club. There's clubs that message over email once a month. Nothing. Um so and and yet in comics have to keep in mind you have to be you have to be persistent, you have to be patient, but you can't be annoying. You have to send your veils once a month, you have to hit up once a month. They don't want bombardment every every they don't want to email every week because they're gonna you're gonna be basically blocked and they're gonna write you off as annoying. So that's a real it's a very I gave you a lot of information on how to get in the comedy. It's still good though. If you if there's a club in your town, hang hang out at the club, go hang out, get to know the manager, get to know the people, the comics who are working there. So that you know, they'll have booked open, they'll have a showcase night, they'll have a booked open mic night. Go bananas in Cincinnati. Um, that's the club you gotta hang out at, and and they can see you, and they do a booked open mic, which is a great open mic on Wednesday nights. Um, and and they all watch you. So um it really is just getting, and and this is what I found really helps is getting a great electronic press kit, an EPK, having it professional, having it like I I do them for comics, uh a short bio, uh a professional headshot, two cut two clips, two short clips of your comedy, of your act, um, your socials, the links to all your socials. They don't I used to send out emails with links to a couple videos, like, hey, my name's Adam Ick, blah, blah, blah. And then I found out doing electronic press kit, you can send that to them, and he just click on it, it takes them right there, instead of doing control, copy, whatever.

SPEAKER_00 14:15

When we're talking about comedy clubs, I liked what you were saying about uh, and because it really comes down to it's a business of relationships. Who you know, connecting to the right people, and the longer you do it, the more you build those relationships. And I I even tell like new comics like, don't just build relationships with you think with the people you think are like up top, and like build relationships with your contemporaries because if you keep doing comedy while that person you've been doing with open mics may eventually be touring, may eventually run a comedy festival, or may eventually book a room. And those people who are just your buddies will eventually have, and then then just like you were seeing with your friend who needed a clean comedian, they're like, Well, I know Adam works clean, so I'm gonna reach out to them. Uh, because yeah, it does come down to uh and uh and the truth is is we you know we have to send our uh veils and our we have to regularly reach out to places. Uh and I know for me it's hard not to take it personally when you don't get those answers back when you don't. But the truth is it's very much not a personal thing. Oftentimes, if you know, if a room doesn't book us, uh in their defense, maybe they're looking at us and like, oh, that's not what I know would work in my room. And you know, yeah, comments. Maybe you're not addictive.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

Maybe you're not right for a fit, you're not right fit for that room. I mean, they would think you'd be a successful comic because that that's not the type they there's a club around here that you can they they just it seems like every week if you go to a show, it's gonna be a a dirty show. It seems like that's the type of all comics they're booking. So I'm like, I'm not I'm not getting bent out of shape because I'm not getting booked. Um and it's not even you have to just and it's hard not to take it personal, but you have to just like like this is a business, and and if you don't get booked, you don't get booked, and then maybe I've gotten booked just because I've stayed patient with just emailing a veils and they finally got back to me. It's like, hey, I'm so sorry I missed this. Sometimes they don't even see the email.

SPEAKER_00 16:04

Um it's also out of sight, out of mind often. If you if you get to the point where like, well, I'm just done. I always tell people like uh like if you stop emailing a place to get booked, like maybe if you were emailing them, you only have a three percent chance to get booked, but if you stop emailing them, that's a zero percent chance. There's no like that that's you know, there so yeah, I get that. Now you um on one of your uh one of the other things we read about on your bio is you've done uh you did at least uh one comedy cruise. Do you do frequent comedy cruises or have you you did one to Zam Zam them? Or uh and and what was what was that like?

SPEAKER_01 16:39

Yeah, Zandom was it was good, it was interesting. I'd never done a cruise ship. Um and it's it's interesting because it's not like a typical comedy show. You are you are an entertainer. I the guy I worked with, he's a ventriloquist. He was like, you're you're not a comedian, you're a ventriloquist. So I know a lot of comics, he said I know comics, and their entire set is all street jokes, and they make a living doing street jokes on cruise ships. You don't do uh you should as a comic, you shouldn't be doing street jokes in a comedy club. You have to be doing your own stuff. But in cruise ships, they they don't care, they just want to laugh. Um, you know, the money they always say the money is great, and it is. Um Holland, America, you have to do they have to be completely clean shows. A lot of cruise ships do a clean and a dirty. You have to do all clean, it's gotta be squeaky clean. Um, so it's interesting because you you know you're doing these shows and you see the people all the time, and I had two or three guys that keep stopping me, telling me these dirty jokes, you know. Uh, and it's I was on for 10 days. It was a lot, a lot of time to be away from family. Um, I will do another one, and I'm sure I'll do another one. Uh, if I didn't get a contract to do another one, I'm okay with that because it is a lot of time away, you know, on a ship, and it's a cool way to see places you're getting paid, you're traveling, you get to eat great food, you're on a cruise ship. Um, so I I yeah, I'll do it again. But if I don't do another one, I'm okay with that. You'll you'll be good.

SPEAKER_00 18:09

I have not yet done a cruise ship, but I want to at least do one. Um, I've I've heard like mixed reviews, but anytime people talk about the things that they don't love about the cruise ship gigs, I'm like, that sounds fantastic. I could they're just like, yeah, you're just around people all the time, you're just always having to perform, and it's like every day. And I'm like, okay, sounds sounds good, you know.

SPEAKER_01 18:31

Wait, I felt like you know, they were very like the people very nice and very complimentary of my set. And I was like, Great, you know, they the cruise director told entertainment director told me to let you know, like, put that in your review of how I did, what you liked. Um and they're very friendly, and a lot of times I'll just sit at the I'll sit at a table, have brunch, have breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and people look at me and wave, and I'd wave back and just keep eating. They don't really bother me. A couple of times I'll walk up, like, hey, we really enjoyed your show, and then they they just go on the way because they're they're on vacation, they want to go do their own thing.

SPEAKER_00 18:58

Yeah, they have they have plenty of other things going on. They're on vacation, yeah, absolutely. Um, and then also I didn't know this about you, but you published a book, The Adventures of My Crazy Uncle Adam. Tell me, tell me about that. Is it a children's book?

SPEAKER_02 19:11

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:13

I had no idea this was a this is a new this was news to me.

SPEAKER_01 19:16

So yeah, this kid's book, and I I self-publish it because just trying to go through a publisher like like the companies like Penguin and all those, you have to get an agent, and just getting that's difficult. Um, I would recommend anyone who wants to do it, do it. But this is what you're gonna get uh following the after you publish it. You're gonna get constant, like I'm gonna say, you're gonna get harassed by these scams that want you to pay two grand to get the books printed and made out, and they'll come up with some lie. I keep getting lies like uh bookstores in Toronto, love your book. I'm like, Oh, really? What's it called? And they go, um, low pay and disrespect. And I go, That's my I'm thinking that's my dry bar comedy special name, not my book. And so I just play along with them, and then they just blah blah blah, like I oh, by the way, I've been wasting your time. This is a complete I'm not even interested in your scam. Um, but they just keep they just call in the email. One lady, I just this is a new one that she emailed me, said that she's an agent and she's looking them turn my book into a movie, and and they would like me to send my manuscript to them. And I'm like, ah, these people, they're they're uh they're they're also they're also very persistent, but there's enough people out there desperate to get a book published, they'll pay the money, and it happens. People pay them like and I they call they when they say, Hey, we want to publish a book and contract, okay. Just what you do, you send me a contract and you send me a uh a check as um uh the money to pay ahead for my for the deal. And I think, oh well, we don't do that. You gotta send us some like it's very annoying. I'll say that right now. So if you ever publish a book and you can do them, you gotta find a printing company, find a good deal, get it done, sell it. Just do something. I I just want to do it because I've always wanted to do it. Yeah, check off the list. Um, I would do it. I probably would do it again. Um, probably not kids' book again, something else for fun. Yeah, um, but yeah, it's the constant harassment from these scams that just and agencies aren't yeah, they're they're not gonna want you to send them money. Any any legit agency is not gonna have you send them money, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

And that's just it's just so important to keep note of that on so many factors of entertainment and in stand-up comedy with trying, you know, because you're trying to get books, you're doing the cold calls, you're reaching out to every opportunity, and what you learn the more you do it is not every opportunity is an opportunity. Uh, it may look great when you see it on social media or when you see an email about it or whatever, but you start learning like the red flags um that as you're doing it, you're like, I think a while back, maybe a year or two ago, there was like a uh a guide, you know, it it looked like it was like a brand new festival, uh, brand new comedy festival. And then I mean, I I could tell pretty early on, and I got out of it, but I was still on the mailing list. I still got mailed, but then comedian after comedian after comedian is like, Oh yeah, this is like a scam. This is a big one. Um, but and it's just for new comedians, uh, that's just something you want to watch out for. Not everyone is, you know, and it's for any kind of entertainment. I mean, I I know people who do modeling and acting who say you know the same thing. It's just you gotta uh it's so tempting because we're always shooting our shots, and we just and then you you get you get enough people ignoring you because they you know they're busy and they're not reading their emails and stuff like that. Um, and then when fun someone finally pays you the attention, you're like, oh my gosh, this is my big break. And sometimes it's just not.

SPEAKER_01 22:41

So the festival I got into, and I'm not gonna say the festival because I'm sure that was fine, but uh, it looks like it was uh fairly new, but I didn't go because my wife had something to come up with work, and so I had to be home with our four-year-old. I couldn't leave because then she had to leave. Um, and I would read, I would read like the Facebook posts going on during the festival, like, hey guys, get down here. There's nobody in the audience. So come down and try to fill these seats. Like I'm not flying to the city to do a festival for just comics in the seats. I I need like people who are from the industry who are booking, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 23:15

Yeah, there's there's yeah, there's oftentimes with festivals, it's like that you you there's different reasons why people do festivals, and sometimes it's like, well, which you know, what who from the industry is gonna be there? Because that would dictate if I'm gonna fly all the way to this, you know, place to shoot my shot, kind of thing, you know.

SPEAKER_01 23:31

That's the thing. Like, you want to find the festivals with the industry, and the tough thing is the ones that have the industry are the hard ones to get into.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 23:38

Unless you just want to do a festival just to hang out with comics. And as much as I love hanging out, if I see a comic at a party, I'm gonna hang out with them. Yeah, but as much as I love hanging out with comics, I don't have time to pay money and go to a festival and just hang out with people. Right. I'm I'd rather take that weekend to find a book gig, or I'm gonna be home with my family, you know.

SPEAKER_00 23:58

You know, I will add to that though, for newer comics, so maybe that is when you those kind of festivals you look for the ones that are closer to home. Uh there are because you're building your network. You're those comics who are just coming to the festivals, they may eventually book their own stuff. So you might still be able to get work from it. It's just and very true.

SPEAKER_01 24:17

And and those are good to go if you're if you're if you're within like if you're still under 10 years, those are good to do that because you're getting stage time, you're getting reps, you're working with comics. Maybe some comics on on that festival will have um will will give you some nice advice. You can do some writing, you can do some cool things, see a new city. Maybe you've never been to it, a new town. Um, and it's good to get those stage reps, you know, and and it's so important to do that. I'm at this point of my my career where I just want to find, I just need to get into festivals that get me into clubs or theaters, you know, and I you know, again, practice is practice. Any stage time to me is valuable. That's again, that's why I do open mics at music because I I need stage time, no matter where it is, is is so valuable, whether it's a good show or a garbage show. Like I I bump if I bum, whatever, is still valuable, you know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:09

And there it's interesting. Uh, I think this might have come up in one of the earlier interviews I did, but uh there are points in your comedy career where you learn it's important to say no or I don't do those things anymore, or I've just because you're consolidating where you're putting your time and energy and effort in, you know. Well, I so like you know, when I first started doing comedy, I was all about I'll take every single gig all the time, constantly. There's more stage time, more exposure, meeting more people. Um, I didn't feel like I had a product yet that was worth paying tons of money for, you know, like I was still getting to that point. Um, now um I I don't do as much free stuff, especially when it involves traveling, or if you know, if someone's wanting me to produce a show, especially locally, um, you know, I started with one free show that I did, and now it now it's not a free show anymore. It's grown to the point. But after I did that one show, whenever people would be like, Hey, could you come produce this show for me? Um, I'll say, you know, this is the budget for it. And and then if they say no, I don't like to be like, well, then you can't afford me, uh, which is kind of true, but usually the way I phrase is like, well, I can help I I can't do that for you for that budget or for no budget, but I can help you find a newer comedian that would want to, you know. Uh, but then the but the the subtext is you get what you pay for. Um, and as any comedian, as you're developing your act, as you're developing your career, there gets to a point where it is okay to say, like, no, if I'm gonna go to a festival, it's gonna be ones where there's gonna be people in the industry where I can get booked at a club or I can um and and there's nothing wrong with it, you know, nothing wrong with you know deciding to charge extra than what you were before or that kind of things. But um, it I know for me in in those kind of decisions, I've often felt guilty about it. It's like, oh, I don't know if I want to turn down this gig or increase what I charge or like whatever. Uh, but what I I feel like people do as you grow in your act, um but anyway.

SPEAKER_01 27:07

There's these booking websites that will have like a this is their budget, or they'll say don't really have a budget listed. And there's one I go through, I get I get a pretty decent amount of work out of it. And I I don't really post this on there, but the other one I do, um I tell the people, I go in my email to them, I go, look, I go, if you don't choose me, that's fine. Don't do not pick the cheapest comic. Right. Because if they're willing to do 45 minutes for 20 bucks, there's a reason they're willing to do 45 minutes for 20 bucks because no one will book them. Maybe they're so new, or maybe they've been doing it so long they just they they're just not good at it, and they're just desperate to work, and they'll they'll drive the hour the 20 bucks for 45 minutes, you know.

SPEAKER_00 27:55

Then it's and and then assuming they do bad, which honestly they probably will, uh, it just sets such a bad taste of comedy in the mouth of that venue or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 28:04

Like it's it's it does more harm. If people if the people at the party or the celebration, whatever, has never send a seen a comedy show, never seen comedy double like this is stand-up comedy. Um, but um, but yeah, I mean it's but it's um like I might not be a fit for you, but just don't pick the cheapest person, you know. Or I can even I can let you know, uh I can recommend, I can guide you if you need some guidance on how to set the show up, let me know. I'll be happy to do that. Yeah, I won't charge you for it. But uh again, don't don't pick the cheapest person because you will you will regret it. You gotta again, you pay for you get what you pay for.

SPEAKER_00 28:39

Yeah, which we understand this in all other facets of life, like when you're picking out new tires for your car, like when you're like, Do I get the gas station hot dog or do I go to this place? Like, we we understand like all these things, but for some reason when it comes to comedy, a lot of places when they start the con uh when they start the conversation. Um, I mean, I literally saw it in an email where it's like we could talk about budget or you guys could do it for just tips and for free. And I'm just like, I mean, we could, but we're not gonna drive that far just for tips and free. Like, that's just like we're not gonna uh and and even if you're a community who's you know, because you you talked about how you make time for your family and you for your kids, and if you're gonna go out to do comedy, it's gotta be a good reason because you're taking time away from your your your family.

SPEAKER_01 29:23

Um my wife's like, Are you willing to drive the two hours to do a show for 50 bucks? I'm like, first of all, I'm not gonna do that for 50 bucks, yeah. It's gotta be enough for me to leave my my family for the night and then be on the road. You got gas, you got miles, you got you gotta get a hotel. I mean, uh I try to work that in with I try to work the hotel into the contract, and if not, they gotta pay a little extra so I can get the hotel. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 29:43

I I I'll always I'll always add when I tell them it's this much if I don't have a hotel, or this much if I do have a hotel, the the without hotel is always like way more expensive to instigate them to be like, oh look, what we can find you a hotel, you know. You know, but um, so we were talking a little, I mean, briefly, you were talking about uh just kind of well, I don't know, I don't know if this is something you've talked about, but this is something I think it was a good tie-in, and then we got talking about something else. But uh, I'm just interested, do you have any current um comedy goals for yourself? Things that you know you'd like to see this year or just in general, it does you know, it does have to be a time frame on it.

SPEAKER_01 30:21

You know, I I one of my goals I want to do is is get into like one of the bigger festivals. Um, because we get into one of those that can really open to some really cool doors. There's the tonight, there's possibilities of a tonight show, do a tonight show set. That's really my my next goal would be like a great festival, and then being ready to get into get get something get some kind of late night set. Because I I feel very, I don't know, I I've been headlining, which is I'm very if I look 20 years ago, if I started and if I you know, if I knew where I would be, I'd be like, no way I'm gonna get there, no way I'm gonna be headlining theaters and and some clubs, some kind of you know, comedy clubs. What am I ever get passed by fun funny bones or whatever? Um, you know, and so I've I feel like I've done all those things I wanted to do, but I feel like I'm I feel very stagnant right now. I feel like I need to do I need to go try some bigger things. So I'm I'm kind of getting I don't want to say bored, but I need to I feel like for me, I just need to do more career-wise, I need to do more. Um so I think that's kind of where I'm at now.

SPEAKER_00 31:26

Um I I just need to do if you could you what would be your um I sorry, what would be your ideal festival to get in like Big Pine, uh the laugh out loud, which I don't know if they're still a thing. Um, but yeah, what what are the ones that you're I think Laughing Skull is one of them.

SPEAKER_01 31:43

Um Big Pine is another one. That's a really it'd be a really cool one because I mean those festivals they don't take a lot. Um, those are the festivals I want to get into. Um, and if I don't get into them, I at least want to have a really great set I can send in. And then maybe maybe though, maybe if something happens, someone can't make it, they're like, look, look, you were the next stop, we'll put you in. Um, you never want to.

SPEAKER_00 32:06

I feel like a lot of the best things I've ever had in my comedy career. I wasn't the first pick and I wasn't the second pick, but things fell through, and then they got to their third pick, and they're like, Drew, come on.

SPEAKER_01 32:16

And and that's great, do a great set, and like, man, we should have had you in the top list, you know. Um I just need to know that like if I if I I just knew no, I need to know that I tried. I I didn't, I I gave it a shot. Um, but um I I think I I think it'll happen. I just have to have a nice solid five, like a nice five-minute set. And getting at that is hard because you're you're head when you're headlining or featuring, like it is hard to get those five minutes. So I'm kind of trying to build my set around a five-minute set, you know. Yeah. Um when I and I I don't mind, I like hosting, so hosting's a perfect spot to get that tape, you know, because you have 10-15 minutes where you can easily do, you know, two or five minutes.

SPEAKER_00 32:59

It is interesting with those different time frames. You're breaking, you do. I've learned the importance of you, it's a different game doing like a 45-minute set than doing a type five, right? Like you, you're it's almost like you're playing a different instrument or a different version of the instrument. I mean, we we saw earlier in your your other room the you had different guitars. How you played an acoustic guitar is different than how you played an electric guitar. Um, I I host I hosted at a show last night, uh, and I went into it with a completely different mentality than if I was headlining the show or if I was featuring it. I've just learned like I have like my host mode and then I have my feature mode and my headliner mode, or just my guest lot mode, which which often uh I give myself more leniency when I'm doing like a uh uh if it's a showcase or if I'm just doing like a short 10 to 15 minute, like I'll throw in some stuff in the middle that's like maybe mid, you know, like maybe we're working on it, you know. And you know, if if they're if they're paying, if I'm headlining and they're paying good money, I don't feel as comfortable doing brand new stuff. It's like the eight paid tickets.

SPEAKER_01 33:56

I want to, you know, you gotta do it. You gotta do stuff. Here's here's my theory, and I always do this now. Like, I I always do new material, like if I'm doing a feature set, yes, Sebastian. I am very sorry. Okay, thank you. My son told me I got vinegar on his dinosaur. Um dare you uh next question.

SPEAKER_00 34:16

How do you live with yourself?

SPEAKER_01 34:17

Um I'm sorry, go ahead. I don't know, I don't know how I do it. I don't know how anyone lives with me, Drew. Uh um, but like I as I say, when you're doing a feature set, I'm doing two new jokes. If I'm doing a headline set, I'm doing three new jokes. And if I'm doing a hosting set, I'll do one or two new jokes. I my theory is like if you are doing a show and a captive audience, that is the best time to try a new joke. Um, and in I I'll I'll even tell the audience, hey, mind if I try a new joke, and they're like, Yeah, they're actually seem more excited over that than the stuff I've been doing. Because to them, a brand new joke is such a cool thing for them because they're the first to hear it. Yeah, so I was like, so I tell I saw I people who open for me or people hosting, I go, Are you doing a new joke tonight? No, I'm like, do a new joke tonight. Work something you're working on, just get it out there. Just get the premise out and see if it works.

SPEAKER_00 35:08

You know, you got you gotta grow that's I mean that's that's how we that's how we grow. That's how otherwise you're doing the same 10-15 minutes for the rest of your life or whatever. Um, so yeah, that that makes sense. Um, I am better at being okay experimenting. I I used to be very much like, this is my set list, this is what I'm gonna do. Um, I've learned to be a little bit more, I feel like I'm better at being more organic in the moment with the crowd, um, especially in the longer routines. Like I don't set, I know I know all my stuff, and we're gonna start here and we're gonna see where it goes, kind of thing. Um, but okay, cool. That was um that was helpful. Um, and then just uh the other question I had for you, comedy related. We'll we'll zoom out from comedy from a little bit in a bit, but um um what is how did I phrase it? Uh oh, easy phrasing. What is your favorite thing about being a comedian?

SPEAKER_01 35:59

Oh my gosh, there's a lot of cool things about being a comic. Um, I think the one thing is it's um you know, getting those laughs is just it's like the bad you even on Joe Killer. I did Niles, Michigan, the club Underground Laugh Lounge.

SPEAKER_00 36:15

Oh yeah, I mean I'm going there in June, I think.

SPEAKER_01 36:17

Uh Saturday was sold out, and it was just uh and I'm very tough on myself with shows. Um but uh this show just was just it was it was a killer show. It was one of the best shows I've had. Every everything hit. Um like a new joke, a couple new jokes hit. Um and I would say 98% of it hit great. And it's one of those nights like everything lined up perfectly. Um and you leave you like if I had any type of cancer, it's been cured. Like it's that the laugh just to feel all that, you felt like you were on just like the best. It felt good. But I was doing this theater uh in Maumee, Ohio, beautiful old theater. It's uh um Art Deco, which I love Art Deco. And the show was okay, it was a much older crowd, but there was a lady stage right, an older lady, she just laughed at everything. And then after the show, she came up to me and she's like, you know what? She's like, I really needed that. I had a really hard two weeks, tough two weeks, and just coming tonight, just it was such a good thing for me to come out and laugh. And to me, that's that's a great feeling because they they she had something's going on in her life, and she chose to come out, and then just we were able to help her feel better about herself, and yeah, and as much as that show didn't go how I wanted to go, because it could have gone a lot better. It was an okay. I gave my if I gave myself a grade, I would have said I gave myself C. Um, but um, but then knowing she did that, like there's no grade for that, but just knowing I'm I made her feel better, um, that's probably one of the reasons why I love doing it. Um, and then there's a cool room to get into like the fact I got I got in the do Brad Garris Comedy Club, and I did a week in Vegas. My name was on the on the main strip in Vegas on the huge MGM billboard. Like to me, like that's a really cool thing to know that like I've felt like I've come a long way to get to that point, and like doing dry bar was a great thing, you know. That's a really cool opportunity, but at the same time, I also consider myself very lucky, I feel very lucky. So in this business is so much based on like luck and who you know and the timing. I mean, you know, anyone will tell you that. Ray Romano talked about that on Conan's podcast. He was saying like he really wanted to be a head writer for Conan's show, and he didn't get it. And then if he didn't, if he had become the head writer, he may never have gotten everybody loves Raymond. Yeah, that's right. And he did he was in the pilot, he was in like the pilot of news radio. Remember that one of the favorite sitcoms of all time, one of my favorite sitcoms of all time, but he was let go. He's like, career's done, like I got fired from a TV show. Like, this is you know, but he said, Uh, had those things never happened, I may never have gotten Raymond.

SPEAKER_00 39:08

So, yeah, all those sometimes those doors closing leads you to shoot for another shot, and then that ends up being the big one, you know. And but that's a that's a good point. But also, I I I think it's so important that we acknowledge, you know, I like how you talked about the person whose night you made with your show, uh, even though you felt like the show overall might have been a mid-show, because um it's so important to remember the the the essence of what we're doing as comedians is we're providing laughter and entertainment and sometimes escape from rough weeks or a rough day or something like that. And you know, that you know, we forget about it because we do it so often. I don't know, I don't know about forget, but like I kind of lose sight of that sometimes. It's I'm you know, every I, you know, I'm doing comedy shows five, six, seven, you know, well, five or six times a week. So like just the whole making people laugh thing, it's like, well, yeah, that's what we do. Yeah, but when you take a moment and zoom out a little bit, you can really appreciate the I you know, it I hate to sound arrogant, but I'm not saying about this meaning specifically about all of us comedians, the gift that we're giving people by entertaining, you know, that that can mean a lot in a lot of ways.

SPEAKER_01 40:15

So that's well, I I am God's gift comedy, Drew. Come on, we're I mean, I it's true, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:21

So yeah, it's not it's not arrogant if it's just true, you know. It's you're not bragging if you're just being honest, you're just not lying when you say it. Uh well now, aside from comedy, Adam, what are you currently nerding out on? What is the thing that's taking up your brain that's not stand-up comedy related?

SPEAKER_01 40:42

Gardening. It's coming up, spring is coming. I get gardening. I love I love plants. I love uh we get to do I get the plan out of landscaping for the backyard. I'm gonna build a a tree house fort for my son, play thing in the backyard, and uh I'm I'm excited to do all that planning. I I enjoy all I enjoy that stuff. I enjoy being outside doing that. Um, that's kind of what I'm on right now.

SPEAKER_00 41:04

Um I love that.

SPEAKER_01 41:07

I love that. It's cool. Yeah, it's it's you're out in the fresh air and the trees and see the butterflies and the bees. I love all that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 41:14

Very cool. I I wish I loved that stuff. Here's the thing uh I ever since I've even as a small child, I had severe, intense allergies. Like any outside sport, I'd you know, have trouble breathing, any yard work, I'd you know, have to go in and like Benadryl up. So like I always feel like nature's trying to kill me. So like I've never gotten into like the beauty of just being outside and hands in the dirt and all. And I like I see it on TV and I think like, oh, that would be cool. Uh or I hear people like yourself talk about like, oh, well, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 41:45

But um, well, we have a creek, we have a creek in our backyard and it's been a lot of rain. So my son is down and I said, do not go in the creek because it's all runoff from the roads. It's like act like he's fishing, and like, and I'm a germophobe, so like seeing that just like ooh, yes. I've gotten better. Just let him wash off with a hose, you know, and then he'll be fine, right? Uh I'm getting better at being with germophobe once my son came along. Like the P doesn't bother me and a poop doesn't bother me. I gotten used to it.

SPEAKER_00 42:14

Uh so listen, if anyone listening to this is a germophobe, just have a kid. That'll help you overcome your germ phobia.

SPEAKER_01 42:22

Just pure poop. I mean, I'm like, yeah, it's just pure poop. But I mean, if it's in the liquid, I'm like, what the hell is that? Uh yeah, but it's like that shouldn't be in a person. But I like I like being in the dirt. I like doing that. I don't mind, I don't mind that. So um, but yeah, that's kind of what I'm working on. I'm gonna go after this podcast, I'm gonna go out and dig some holes. I gotta move our fig tree over. It's it's just I planted it last year, I gotta move it over to where there's more sunlight. So I like all that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 42:47

That is awesome. Well, now we've reached the portion of I mean, that's awesome for you. I'm never gonna touch dirt ever in my life. Um, I'm probably I'm I mean, I'm kind of kidding, but also like maybe not. Um, anyway, um uh we're at the portion of the show where uh we're gonna ask you some audience questions. Uh, here's the way it works, folks. You might know this. And uh you can send us in questions at any point. You can uh you know, mess the Instagram or Facebook or Threads, any of the Clean Comedy Collective or my own things, uh, because we frequently ask for ask a comedian questions. You can uh whatever you're listening to this right now, there's an option where you can send us a message. So if you're like, I would love to ask, I would love for a comedian to answer this random question, just send it in and we will add it to our list. But um, Adam, the way it works is I have uh I'm gonna give you you can pick, give, give me three numbers between one and forty one, and that is gonna dictate which random questions I'm gonna ask you. So um whenever whenever you're ready, one through forty one. Well, what do we got?

SPEAKER_01 43:50

Let's do number seven.

SPEAKER_00 43:52

Number seven, all right. This is a random question. So then so this comes. On threads from uh fellow national comedian Ethan Johnson. Uh and it simply says, How does British comedy make you feel?

SPEAKER_01 44:12

British comedy is I like it because you I I feel like you can do you can make more you can make fun of yourself more than you can here. Um you know it's it's state that you enjoy. I grew up I part of my childhood grew up in Australia, so like I understood British humor. Um I think you can I feel like you can joke more about yourself than than what you can do here. Um I did shows I did in Australia, I did jokes and the audience played well with it, but then I do a joke here where um when my wife was pregnant, she had cravings, and she she most women crave like chocolate or cookies or ice cream. My wife craved other men. And so uh and so like here people have grown, they're like they'll go, oh, they want to feel bad for me, like but you do it overseas, and and they they find that funny. So I I I appreciate the humor more because you can be more honest. I feel like you can do you have more liberty to do what you want in with uh with the English humor. And I you know, grew up watching Monty Python and and um uh comedies like that. So uh Mr. Bean is another one. Yeah, it's classic. Oh good question. I like that question.

SPEAKER_00 45:19

That was a good that was a fun question. Um, okay, another number one through 41, but not seven. Thirty. Thirty. Let's see what we got on 30. Uh uh this is from uh Craig Erwin, who's a comedian in uh Louisville. Um, and he also he also uh booked some shows and just a cool guy. Um his question is why oh this one's uh this one's like uh meta thinking. Why do some comics think they did well when the audience barely laughs? We've all seen this before where you you were in the room, you saw it, no laughs, it felt awkward, but then the the comic gets off the stage is like I've never killed more than I just did. I felt pretty good about that set.

SPEAKER_01 46:03

I think it's denial. Um I think it's knowing you you thought you didn't hope you did better than what you did, because no one, none of us like the bomb. It happens. We all still have bad shows. Um, and most times I'm gonna blame myself. Um, but I I again like I was telling you when I did Louisville on on Thursday, like the jokes I was doing, they're all jokes I have just killed in the clubs. They've done they've done great in theaters and clubs, and which is why I picked them out to do for my 10 minutes on Louisville. And then when I did them at the show, like it it was a tough show. I got some laughs, but not like it should have been. Um, and uh I know like I I I feel like I ate it. Um, I will blame the audience on that one because they there was a bringer show. Everyone, all the comics brought their friends, it's five comics, so clearly I wasn't for them. Uh, but most times, I will say 90% of the time, if I I don't have a good show, I blame myself. Like, I'm I'm just not their I'm not their type. So I think when a comic does great on stage, they think they did great, but you could tell they they struggled or they ate it. I think part of it's denial. Um if you if you if they're telling themselves what they need to tell themselves to keep going, it's you have to they they need to hear that they did great, even though they didn't. Um, it's just kind of like, yeah, you don't want to hear that you did you never want to you never want to know you did poorly, but in all reality, like you didn't have a good show, and it's so it's okay to not have a good show. You just tomorrow's another day, get up, do another show, do better. Um, I think that's that's what it is. I think you again, no one wants to bomb, and uh no one wants to admit they did that, but you yeah, it's part of it sometimes sometimes happens. I've over I've overheard, I've eavesdropped on some comics telling you comics like, Oh, I've never bombed. Like, you've bombed, you just don't want it, you don't want to be on. And it's not and it's not it's not good advice because when you do that, then if this comic bombs and think, Well, I'm I shouldn't be doing comedy. No, everyone bombs, yeah. Um, very rarely do you do great the first time you get up, right? Um, but some I've seen it, I've seen comics do great the first time they get up, but then they do that same set over and over and then they struggle.

SPEAKER_00 48:05

Yeah, so it could it could be I had that that was part of my experience was the very first open mic I ever did. In hindsight, I did pretty good for a first time on stage, but I had no expectations, I didn't know what to be nervous about. I didn't, I just went up there and had a good time. Uh and I'm I feel like I'm not exaggerating when I say, but then I probably bombed for about a year or two. Well, I did do well the first game.

SPEAKER_01 48:28

So so so yeah, the first one seemed okay, but then after that it was uh Ray Romano talked about doing the first time he got up, he did well, and then after that, he did poorly and he he quit for a year, got up again, bombed, quit another year. I mean, he it took three tries to stick with it. Um, the first time I got up, I I bombed, I ate it. It was bad, it was just silence. So uh I will admit that. I'm not afraid to admit that. It's it's not it's almost like you're you're afraid to admit that you're wrong when you when you do badly on stage, you know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:58

Or that it makes you some kind of failure. But I mean the truth is like there's so many factors that can lead to a bomb, and some of them are internal. Some of them, you know, some of them it's it's some it's sometimes it's how do you how do you make that joke better? What do you need to change? How are you feeling? But some of it, you know, and then some of it is like, oh, well, that was the room I was in, that was the circumstance, or that was and so um yeah, it's yeah, we you we just gotta you know learn as we go. Okay, let's do one more question. One through forty forty one. Uh yeah, like this this is my favorite part of the show. One through 41, not the other ones you mentioned.

SPEAKER_01 49:29

Let's do 23.

SPEAKER_00 49:31

23. All right, here we go. Uh Facebook from Catherine Rogue, who's uh also a comedian in the clean comedy collective. Um, what do you do in your scene to help lift other comics or venues um or other skilled folks up?

SPEAKER_01 49:48

Okay, uh good question. Um, so I remember doing a get uh it was a booked mic at Go Bananas. Um, this is probably maybe six months ago, and there's a comic. I'm not gonna say her name. Not I I like her, I think she's funny, uh, but she's still fairly fairly new, is like a few years in. Um, but at the end of this the night and the show's over, everyone's the lights are on, everyone's getting up, leaving. She I I could see her. She was beating herself up. In her mind, she's beating herself up, as we all do when we don't do well, especially when you're new. You it's really it's you're really hard on yourself when you're doing new, when you're first when you're fairly new at it. And I I I'm like, look, I go, what are you are you disappointed? She's like, yeah. She's like, I I didn't do well at all. I I I really bombed up there. I go, I've been doing this over 20 years. I pretty much bombed up there. I mean, the guy who did well, all his friends came. The the place was packed with his family and friends because it's his first time getting up. I go, you know, your stuff is funny. I've seen your stuff, it's funny. You gotta give yourself a break. When you have a show like this, it could be anything. It could be the fact that they might have wanted clean, you did dirty, or you did clean and they want it dirty. It could be and it could be anything. Um you know, and it's it's just it's just one of those things like you you have to you have to be easy on yourself. Um, and I always tell this to a lot of comics who start out. I go, look, I go, back in the day, if I had a great show, I'd be on Clown 9. Um, I got really dark in here.

SPEAKER_00 51:23

I know. I was like, it look, it looks like we have you in a documentary where we're hiding who I saw him murder.

SPEAKER_01 51:29

I wasn't part of the Epstein files. Um that's part of the Venus bedroom.

SPEAKER_00 51:34

Um so I told a lot of did the sun go down or did the light turn off, or did you lose power?

SPEAKER_01 51:41

Like we moved to this house like a year ago. Maybe it's still haunted. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 51:47

Uh maybe.

SPEAKER_01 51:49

Um yeah, it got real dark. Jeez.

SPEAKER_00 51:52

I wasn't gonna I wasn't you were I wasn't gonna let you keep going. I was like most of our most of our people are listeners, uh, but for the three or four of them watching YouTube, they're gonna be like, what happened?

SPEAKER_01 52:03

We go, here's another bedroom. Um, but no, I tell I tell a lot of comics. I go, I go, you know, back when I had a great show, I'd be on cloud nine, and when I had a bad show, I'd beat myself up over it. And you have to realize, like, okay, if you have a bad show, the next day there's another day, and when you wake up, the sun's gonna shine, um, you're gonna have another show coming up. So there's so many things you have to just if you have a great show, be happy with it. If you have a bad show, man, this whole sucks.

SPEAKER_00 52:37

You are right though. I mean, and I I feel like the best thing you can do if you're able to after a bomb or a bad show is to as soon as possible get back get back on the horse, go do another show. One of my biggest bombs ever. I felt terrible afterwards. It was it was awkward. I uh I I it was a uh middle school conference, youth conference. I was performing, I was supposed to do 45 minutes. Um and uh long story short, I I and I nowadays I would I would have handled the I would have picked different jokes. I wouldn't have done because you you with church clean, you know, there's some things you don't even do that are like regular clean. I didn't have that knowledge yet, so I probably did jokes that I shouldn't do, but they also mistook them and they didn't even like listen. I I mean, like the people that booked me misheard the jokes. They they also didn't you know screen me beforehand. So um I was supposed to do 45, they cut me off at 15, uh, and then called me the next day and said I was racist, sexist, and homophobic. I was feeling really bad and really guilty and really, and then like I was telling that to one of the comedians, he's like, Great, do you want to come do my show tonight? I'm like, and I didn't want to say no. And and but in hindsight, that was the best thing because it got I put me in front of a new audience, I got up, I did it again, and so now I always tell comedians like if they want to quit comedy, wait till after you like don't quit after you bomb, like quit on a high note, wait till you like see if you still want to quit after you do well at a show, you know.

SPEAKER_01 53:58

Yeah, I mean you have to take you have take the highs and the lows, and then if you have a great show, be happy with it. If you have a bad show, you can be disappointed and bummed about it, but don't let that consume you, don't beat yourself up because I told I told this comic I go, this this what we do is hard enough as it is. I mean, and then you and then make it worse is laying like just beating yourself up, like just is you have another show, you'll do better. Um, again, this crowd was not for you, this crowd is not for me. And I mean, I've been doing this over 20 years. Um, I've done a lot of rooms, I've worked a lot of rooms. Uh it's it's not it's not you this time, it's it's the crowd. And I I think I'm I'm probably gonna misquote this, but I am going to misquote it. But George Carlin says something like, if the jokes work, if they've worked over and over, um, but then you do a show where the the crowd doesn't like it, it's not you, it's them, like it's the crowd. Yeah, that's why what we do is so hard, you know, because you can't you can't predict what they're gonna want. They might want clean comedy, but you might not be clean enough, right? You know, or you might not be they maybe you're too clean and they don't want it squeaky clean, they want it clean, PG 13. So um that's the time.

SPEAKER_00 55:07

Yeah, we can just do our best, you know. Like we just do our best, we we learn and and and and adapt as we can because reading the room is important too. But sometimes you do your best, you're you gave an educated guess on the material, and afterwards you're like, okay, that wasn't the best for that room, or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 55:24

But yeah, just just yeah, be easy on yourself. Just just take it easy on yourself if you have if you're if you're new, be patient, be easy on yourself, don't beat yourself up if you don't have a good show. That's kind of what it is. Just write get up, write get up, you know, tweak.

SPEAKER_00 55:39

So yeah, I love it. Well, uh, first of all, thank you so much for uh being on this podcast agreeing to especially coming back when I had the wrong day. This was uh our set I completely forgot. Uh and then what it worked out for you completely forgot.

SPEAKER_01 55:52

I forgot as well.

SPEAKER_00 55:53

So I'm glad you guys maybe the Lord just didn't want us to have a podcast that day. It was it was a great Wednesday and it it was it freed up. Um uh before we let you go, is there anything you would like to promote, Adam, uh in general or specifically, or you know, the floor is yours to tell us.

SPEAKER_01 56:11

Just just follow me. That's really what you know. If I'm in your area, come do a show, be great. Um, if you want to if I'm if you're a comic and I'm in your area, you want to do some writing, hit me up. I'm happy to write during the day with you. If you know comics, we have nothing but time during the day when you're doing a weekend at a club. So um happy to do some writing. If you want to pick my brain on writing, happy to do that. Um, so yeah, I'm open. I love I love talking comedy, I love talking shop and and all that. So but yeah, but um, but yeah, look on my website, adaminic.com, check out what I'm gonna be.

SPEAKER_00 56:41

So and if you guys uh whatever you're listening us onto, you can look at the uh episode notes, the description, and you can just click the link and you'll be able to go to Adam's site, his Instagram, and be able to follow him and keep up with him. And then um, I always say this at the end of every episode, but uh feel free to check us out at the Clean Comedy Collective. Uh, we have a website that's where you can see our earlier episodes, that's where you can see all the comedians who are part of the clean comedy collective. You can see what shows we have going on this month. We kind of have all uh mostly in Tennessee and Texas, but we have stuff all over the place. Whenever a clean comedy collective comedians have shows that they want to connect us with, uh they just post it and we put it on our website. Uh, we you know you can donate, you can join our Patreon, you can hear you can hear our longer episode, which will probably include you could it'll probably include a special guest appearance from Adam's son, this one with dinosaurs. So if those are like if you're listening to the regular one, you don't get to hear the dinosaur. But hey, sorry, it's it's it's in the Patreon. So sign up for that. Uh lastly, if you're a comedian and you're interested in being part of the Clean Comedy Collective, there is a submission form, uh, that's something you can fill out on our website, cleancomedycollective.com. Uh, thank you, Adam, so much for uh joining us on this episode. And thank you, everyone else, for listening. And we'll see you next week.

SPEAKER_01 57:53

Thanks for having me. See ya. Yeah, you're welcome.