Comedy Festival Diary, Day #3: How to Survive in Comedy (Have a Headshot and Don't Be a Dick)
Working front-of-house in a bright yellow shirt, unlearning the TikTok hustle, and surviving Day 3 of the Traverse City Comedy Festival.
Friday, 11:00 AM – The Masterclass in Not Sucking at Being A Comedian
Location: The Booker’s Workshop
I dragged my throbbing head downstairs for a panel with various comedy club bookers from around the region. I sat at the back of the room with Roger Paul, an agent who used to send me out on the road years ago.
The premise of the panel was simple: a room full of industry professionals telling us idiot comedians what not to do when submitting for gigs, weekends, and one-nighters.
You’d think the advice would be complex, maybe rooted in advanced psychological audience dynamics... It wasn’t. It was staggering how basic it was:
Have a headshot. Show up on time (or, better yet, early). Don’t be a dick to the waitstaff or the booker. Watch the other comics. Hang out after the show and thank the audience so they actually want to come back. The bar for basic professionalism in the comedy industry is so low, it is practically subterranean.
But the most fascinating part of the morning was hearing how the landscape of booking rooms is shifting.
For the last ten to fifteen years, if you had a massive social media following, you could skip the line. It was infuriating for the lifelong road dogs who spent decades honing their craft, only to watch a 22-year-old with a viral TikTok account sell out a room three nights in a row.
But the tide turns... Bookers are then seeing that just because a kid can edit a 30-second crowd-work clip doesn’t mean they can sustain an hour on stage. They sell out the room once, but they never get return audiences because they don’t have the stagecraft, the pacing, or a fully developed voice. Selling a bunch of overpriced drinks and wings is one thing; putting on a professional show so good it gets people back to do it again is another.
The takeaway of the morning was this: Success in comedy isn’t getting booked. It’s getting rebooked. There is such a glut of comedians right now that some clubs are on an 18-month rotation. The algorithm won’t save you. The only thing that will save you is a mailing list and actually being undeniable on stage.
Friday, 4:00 PM – The Yellow Shirt (Golden boy)
Location: The Hotel Theatre
I went back to my room, did some writing, and then headed down to the hotel theatre. In a deft move by the festival organisers, all the comedians were asked to volunteer for a shift this year. It gives everyone a sense of ownership over the weekend.
I was assigned to work front-of-house for an improv murder mystery show. I put on a bright yellow volunteer shirt and helped seat the flood of people coming through the doors. Once the crowd was settled, I grabbed a drink with my fellow volunteer, Mark.
Naturally, we immediately started talking about New York. All of his kids live in the city, and it sounds like they’re going through the exact same existential dread that I am regarding the catastrophic affordability issues. It doesn’t matter if you’re in Northern Michigan; if there are two people with ties to New York in a room, it will only take four minutes before they start kvetching about real estate.
Friday, 8:30 PM – The Roy Wood Jr. Masterclass
Location: The Opera House
I kept my yellow volunteer shirt on, bumped into my new friend Rosey Catherine on the street to talk shop, and then snuck into the back of the Opera House. The lineup was stacked. Derek Richards opened, followed by Johnny Mocny, and then Nthenya Ndunda. All of them crushed. But then, Roy Wood Jr. took the stage.
If the morning workshop was the theory of how to be a great comedian, Roy Wood Jr. was the practical exam.
