Join us Nov. 16 for our popular Comedy Night at Gravely Brewing Co.
November’s show features a trio of top comics from Indianapolis — Gwen Sunkel, Dyke Michaels and Dustin Burkert. Plus Louisville comics Holly Kennedy and Johnny Doss.
You’re going to love the comedy, great craft beer and delicious burgers and more from Lil Toasty’s.
Join us at TEN20 Craft Brewery for a special show as beloved Louisville comic Danny Hucks celebrates his 40th birthday.
Danny invited some of his favorite comics from near and far to entertain you, including Chris Scriva and Justin Powers of Morgantown, WV; Phil Pointer and Jon Holmes of Cincinnati; and Will McKenzie and June Dempsey of Louisville.
It’s going to be a blast. Plus, enjoy great craft beer from TEN20 and delicious food from MozzaPi and Happy Belly Bistro.
Admission is free. Reservations ensure seating and help determine how many seats to set out and how much cake we need.
A list of the upcoming comedy shows and open mics in the Louisville area.Look for GIVEAWAY! for the opportunity to win free tickets to select shows. If we missed your event, let us know. (Information on how to sign up for open mics at bottom).
7 p.m. — Sunday Night, Live!, all-entertainment showcase with Uncool Randy, 21st In Germantown. Free
TO SIGN UP FOR OPEN MICS
Sundays — Sunday Night, Live!, all-entertainment showcase with Uncool Randy, 21st In Germantown Message @UncoolRandy on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter
Sundays — Comedy Attack! open mic, Kaiju. First Sunday of the month. Show up and sign up
Mondays — The Planet of the Tapes Monday Mic, Planet of the Tapes. Show starts at 8 p.m. To sign up, email planetofthetapesopenmic@gmail.com
Tuesdays — Comedy open mic, 21st In Germantown. Show up and sign up. List out at 7:15 p.m. Show at 8 p.m. Message Ehrin Dowdle with questions.
Thursdays — Variety Open Mic (comedy, music and poetry), Frank’s Whiskey Place. Signups at 9 p.m.; show at 9:30.
Thurdays — Jack Off Joke Off XXX Comedy Open Mic, Love Boutique, 140 W. Jefferson Street. Every 1st and 3rd Thursday. Signups at 7:30. Prize to the winner.
A list of the upcoming comedy shows and open mics in the Louisville area.Look for GIVEAWAY! for the opportunity to win free tickets to select shows. If we missed your event, let us know. (Information on how to sign up for open mics at bottom).
UPCOMING SHOWS AND OPEN MICS
Wednesday, Oct. 18
7:30 p.m. — Laughs In The Lounge Comedy Open Mic with guest host JB Smith and special guest Jake Hovis, The Caravan Louisville. TicketsTo sign up to perform, email CaravanOpenMic@gmail.com
7 p.m. — Sunday Night, Live!, all-entertainment showcase with Uncool Randy, 21st In Germantown. Free
TO SIGN UP FOR OPEN MICS
Sundays — Sunday Night, Live!, all-entertainment showcase with Uncool Randy, 21st In Germantown Message @UncoolRandy on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter
Sundays — Comedy Attack! open mic, Kaiju. First Sunday of the month. Show up and sign up
Mondays — The Planet of the Tapes Monday Mic, Planet of the Tapes. Show starts at 8 p.m. To sign up, email planetofthetapesopenmic@gmail.com
Thursdays — Variety Open Mic (comedy, music and poetry), Frank’s Whiskey Place. Signups at 9 p.m.; show at 9:30.
Thurdays — Jack Off Joke Off XXX Comedy Open Mic, Love Boutique, 140 W. Jefferson Street. Every 1st and 3rd Thursday. Signups at 7:30. Prize to the winner.
A list of the upcoming comedy shows and open mics in the Louisville area.Look for GIVEAWAY! for the opportunity to win free tickets to select shows, including Jim Gaffigan on Oct. 21 at The Palace.
If we missed your event, let us know. (Information on how to sign up for open mics at bottom).
UPCOMING SHOWS AND OPEN MICS
Wednesday, Oct. 11
7:30 p.m. — Laughs In The Lounge Comedy Open Mic, The Caravan Louisville. TicketsTo sign up to perform, email CaravanOpenMic@gmail.com
Sundays — Sunday Night, Live!, all-entertainment showcase with Uncool Randy, 21st In Germantown Message @UncoolRandy on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter
Sundays — Comedy Attack! open mic, Kaiju. First Sunday of the month. Show up and sign up
Mondays — The Planet of the Tapes Monday Mic, Planet of the Tapes. Show starts at 8 p.m. To sign up, email planetofthetapesopenmic@gmail.com
Thursdays — Variety Open Mic (comedy, music and poetry), Frank’s Whiskey Place. Signups at 9 p.m.; show at 9:30.
Thurdays — Jack Off Joke Off XXX Comedy Open Mic, Love Boutique, 140 W. Jefferson Street. Every 1st and 3rd Thursday. Signups at 7:30. Prize to the winner.
A list of the upcoming comedy shows and open mics in the Louisville area.Look for GIVEAWAY! for the opportunity to win free tickets to select shows, including Jim Gaffigan on Oct. 21 at The Palace.
If we missed your event, let us know. (Information on how to sign up for open mics at bottom).
UPCOMING SHOWS AND OPEN MICS
Wednesday, Oct. 4
7:30 p.m. — Laughs In The Lounge Comedy Open Mic with host Jay Champion and special guest James Tanford, The Caravan Louisville. TicketsTo sign up to perform, email CaravanOpenMic@gmail.com
10 p.m. — Comedy Attack open mic, Kaiju. Show up and sign up starting at 9:30
TO SIGN UP FOR OPEN MICS
Sundays — Sunday Night, Live!, all-entertainment showcase with Uncool Randy, 21st In Germantown Message @UncoolRandy on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter
Sundays — Comedy Attack! open mic, Kaiju. First Sunday of the month. Show up and sign up
Mondays — The Planet of the Tapes Monday Mic, Planet of the Tapes. Show starts at 8 p.m. To sign up, email planetofthetapesopenmic@gmail.com
Thursdays — Variety Open Mic (comedy, music and poetry), Frank’s Whiskey Place. Signups at 9 p.m.; show at 9:30.
Thurdays — Jack Off Joke Off XXX Comedy Open Mic, Love Boutique, 140 W. Jefferson Street. Every 1st and 3rd Thursday. Signups at 7:30. Prize to the winner.
You’re working on perfecting your best 5-minute comedy set. Who knows what’s around the corner when that’s ready — Fame? A Netflix special? A drink ticket?
Here are some things to work on.
Know where you expect the audience to laugh. Often newer comics will do material about an amusing topic and expect that to have the audience cackling. It won’t. You need punchlines to get a response. You should know exactly in your set where the audience will laugh.
It’s also possible they’ll laugh at unexpected parts and won’t laugh where you expect them to. That’s comedy. It’s hard.
But if you think the whole dang bit is hilarious and the audience will be laughing from start to end, odds are they won’t laugh at all.
Extend your punchlines. You have a joke that works and gets consistent laughs. You’re not done yet. What can you do to tag that joke and keep the laughs going? Can you do a callback to it later in your set?
I do a bit about taking my wife to Waffle House when she is expecting a fancy dinner experience. A punchline is “So I took her to Waffle House.” (Laugh) I could quit there. I add, “She experienced three fights in the parking lot.” (Laugh) “She won all 3.” (Laugh). “Two were with me.” (Laugh).
Your jokes should always be a work in progress. Keep tinkering and adding laughs.
Avoid racial jokes. If you have been doing comedy less than three years and have jokes that rely upon, the race, nationality or skin color of someone else, ditch the joke. Wait until you have more experience and hard-won judgment if that’s the direction you want to go.
Keep the audience on your side. Generally, audiences bond with comics who are likable and confident. Among topics that can quickly lose half or more of the audience are political jokes, using the r-word and making jokes at the expense of the homeless.
You can feel the audience pull back when these bits are trotted out. So, unless that’s your goal, be careful with them.
Let the audience know you. Try to write jokes that are true to you and your unique experience. Anyone can tell a joke about dating apps. You can connect better with the audience if they get a sense of you. It will also make it less likely that you wind up with jokes similar to other comics.
Be open to feedback. You may love your joke, but it’s the audience who ultimately decides. When on stage be realistic. Did your punchline get laughs? Or was that really a sneeze? It’s fascinating how so many comics think they crushed when hardly anyone laughed for 5 minutes.
Be open to asking for or accepting suggestions from more experienced comics. Strongly consider doing what they suggest. Or at least thank them for their time.
Get on stage. The best way to get better faster is to get on stage. Take advantage of the open mics and other opportunities to work on your material. You’ll be increasingly more polished, confident and comfortable the more you do it.
7 p.m. — Sunday Night, Live!, all-entertainment showcase with Uncool Randy, 21st In Germantown. Free
TO SIGN UP FOR OPEN MICS
Sundays — Sunday Night, Live!, all-entertainment showcase with Uncool Randy, 21st In Germantown Message @UncoolRandy on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter
Sundays — Comedy Attack! open mic, Kaiju. First Sunday of the month. Show up and sign up
Mondays — The Planet of the Tapes Monday Mic, Planet of the Tapes. Show starts at 8 p.m. To sign up, email planetofthetapesopenmic@gmail.com
Thursdays — Variety Open Mic (comedy, music and poetry), Frank’s Whiskey Place. Signups at 9 p.m.; show at 9:30.
Thurdays — Jack Off Joke Off XXX Comedy Open Mic, Love Boutique, 140 W. Jefferson Street. Every 1st and 3rd Thursday. Signups at 7:30. Prize to the winner.
You’re performing at an open mic and running through your jokes, but you decide to go off script. Maybe you lost your place, you were distracted, got brave and decided to try crowd work.
It happens, but if you decide to wing it, don’t do these things.
DON’T complain about the crowd not laughing. You tell a joke and there is silence. Just move on. Don’t say something like, “Hey that was funny. What’s wrong with you guys?” Think that’s going to make them laugh at your next joke?
Work on making sure you have jokes that people will laugh at. Leave the crowd alone while on stage. You can complain about the crowd being terrible off stage with the other comics like everyone else.
DON’T do crowd work that goes nowhere. If you ask the couple up in front how long they have been together, they say this is their first date, and you say, “Cool” and move on, that’s not crowd work. It’s just awkward. Leave the audience alone until you are ready with a funny response.
DON’t ask people to repeat what they said. You’re on stage and hear someone in the audience say something. Unless you asked the audience to respond, don’t ask the audience member to repeat what they said. Why would you do that? You don’t want them talking at all. Either ignore them or ask them to keep it down.
DON’T come unprepared. Open mics are a chance to work on your material. And stage time is precous. Have a plan, tell those jokes. Maybe improvise a bit. But don’t go up there trying to wing it off the top of your head, unless that’s your whole zany act.
Also, notes are frowned upon but sometimes necessary. But avoid reading your jokes off your phone while on stage. It just screams you weren’t ready. Don’t do it.
DON’T run the light. It’s bad enough when someone who is doing well goes over their time. But when someone is over their time and still struggling and trying again and again to maybe get a laugh, it’s torture. Cut your losses, get off stage and work on what you can improve next time.
A list of the upcoming comedy shows and open mics in the Louisville area. If we missed your event, let us know. (Information on how to sign up for open mics at bottom).
UPCOMING SHOWS AND OPEN MICS
Wednesday, Sept. 20
7:30 p.m. — Laughs In The Lounge Comedy Open Mic with host Creig Ewing and special guest Dick Dickerson, The Caravan Louisville. TicketsTo sign up to perform, email CaravanOpenMic@gmail.com
7 p.m. — Sunday Night, Live!, all-entertainment showcase with Uncool Randy, 21st In Germantown. Free
TO SIGN UP FOR OPEN MICS
Sundays — Sunday Night, Live!, all-entertainment showcase with Uncool Randy, 21st In Germantown Message @UncoolRandy on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter
Sundays — Comedy Attack! open mic, Kaiju. First Sunday of the month. Show up and sign up
Mondays — The Planet of the Tapes Monday Mic, Planet of the Tapes. Show starts at 8 p.m. To sign up, email planetofthetapesopenmic@gmail.com
Thursdays — Variety Open Mic (comedy, music and poetry), Frank’s Whiskey Place. Signups at 9 p.m.; show at 9:30.
Thurdays — Jack Off Joke Off XXX Comedy Open Mic, Love Boutique, 140 W. Jefferson Street. Every 1st and 3rd Thursday. Signups at 7:30. Prize to the winner.
A list of the upcoming comedy shows and open mics in the Louisville area. If we missed your event, let us know. (Information on how to sign up for open mics at bottom).
UPCOMING SHOWS AND OPEN MICS
Wednesday, Sept. 13
7:30 p.m. — Laughs In The Lounge Comedy Open Mic with host Jon Bass and special guest Ty Leach, The Caravan Louisville. TicketsTo sign up to perform, email CaravanOpenMic@gmail.com
7 p.m. — Sunday Night, Live!, all-entertainment showcase with Uncool Randy, 21st In Germantown. Free
TO SIGN UP FOR OPEN MICS
Sundays — Sunday Night, Live!, all-entertainment showcase with Uncool Randy, 21st In Germantown Message @UncoolRandy on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter
Sundays — Comedy Attack! open mic, Kaiju. First Sunday of the month. Show up and sign up
Mondays — The Planet of the Tapes Monday Mic, Planet of the Tapes. Show starts at 8 p.m. To sign up, email planetofthetapesopenmic@gmail.com
Thursdays — Variety Open Mic (comedy, music and poetry), Frank’s Whiskey Place. Signups at 9 p.m.; show at 9:30.
Thurdays — Jack Off Joke Off XXX Comedy Open Mic, Love Boutique, 140 W. Jefferson Street. Every 1st and 3rd Thursday. Signups at 7:30. Prize to the winner.
