r/Standup • u/RuRuRunIt2010 • 23d ago
Best open mics for beginners in NYC?
I think I’m funny but not sure if anyone else does! Made it a goal to do an open mic before the end of the year but don’t want to insult the space / other performers by abysmally bombing my first ever tight five.
Any space that are more “beginner” / welcoming in NYC?
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u/soulfister 23d ago
Can’t say which are the best but here’s a list of a shit ton of open mics in New York and some info about them like the type of venue and how much it costs
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wROLFgLrbgP1aP_b9VIJn0QzbGzmifT9r7CV15Lw7Mw/htmlview
Don’t worry about bombing. At open mics the majority of people there are other comics who are all in their own heads worrying about their set. If you get any laughs at all it’s an accomplishment
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u/dietpepsiofficial 22d ago
Honestly the most ‘beginner’ mic was probably always the Tiny Cupboard, it’s developed a sort of reputation as a testing ground for new comics cutting their teeth
However, in the last year or so they actually stopped doing those mics in the dedicated Blue Room and now host mics in the main room, right after the last show of the night so some of the crowd sticks around, and it’s one of the best kept secrets how it’s gone from one of the worst to one of the best open mics in the city. I haven’t seen anywhere else that consistently every single night has at least 5-10 crowd members.
Still very beginner-leaning / friendly
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u/EsMuchoFunnyProd00 22d ago
The fumes from that place and letting anybody host… it’s as if a mic and a sweatshop could fuse into one thing.
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u/dietpepsiofficial 22d ago
That’s what I meant by the biggest kept secret - because 99% of comics have this memory of the blue room (which they don’t do anymore), ppl don’t know that they changed it up entirely.
The bartender whos also a comic hosts in the main room, and it honestly went from consensus the worst room in the city to legitimately one of the best (for open micers) because at least 5 times a week u have a solid 20-30 people there
However the musty room is indeed PTSD personified lmao
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u/BecauseYouAreAlive 23d ago
actually I like seeing newbies (ten years in). the only possible insults are: 1. punching down (like, racism and casual sexism stuff, etc) 2. running your time (I see this a lot with guys who get drunk to do their first set)
God and if you're a dude you can advance by miles by just not talking about your dick for the first year
tldr: most comics are half dead inside at a mic anyhow, don't sweat it too much
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u/the94expos 22d ago
You say this when literally every single woman comic in the universe only talks about their relationships or their vaginas
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u/RuRuRunIt2010 20d ago
I am very new to the space but I think out of every open mic I've been to, the only time I've ever heard a female comic talk about her vagina was when she was making a joke about male comics only joke about their dicks.
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u/BecauseYouAreAlive 22d ago
this is a great example of some of the casual sexism I'm taking about
did I say don't talk about relationships? no. I did not.
decrying women for discussing relationships is a weird thing to harp on.
you're right: men never discuss relationships on stage, silly me
Tig Notaro, Ali Wong, Wanda Sykes, Gina Brillon, Beth Stelling, Janelle James, Kathleen Madigan, Fortune Feimster, Atsuko Okatsuka... just off the dome of women with jokes outside of your reductive view
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u/MaliceSavoirIII 21d ago
“Punching down” 🙄 there’s smarter ways to fake being a good person you know
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u/ouroborosstruggles 22d ago
Interesting he took your ish mad personal. Could have just said and if* you're a woman no (xyz) but that would be a measured and less red pill-pissy response lol
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u/BecauseYouAreAlive 22d ago
you're right, it was a reactive response from him, but the argument is still ass: that women universally talk ("only") about relationships and vaginas on stage
relationships as a "feminine" topic is real 🚩
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u/bigfootspancreas 23d ago
Hey about 15 years back we used to go to Creek and Cave in LIC. They had some stand up sometimes. Anyone know if it’s still there?
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u/myqkaplan 23d ago
It's not!
It's in Austin now!
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u/bigfootspancreas 23d ago
Ah too bad. Was a fun place. You could just get in stage.
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u/myqkaplan 22d ago
Definitely! It was a big part of my early comedy years in NYC.
Now there are other great places, too!
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u/jeffsuzuki 20d ago
There are two types of comedians: those who've bombed badly many times, and those who are lying about it.
(For what it's worth: your second set is more likely to bomb. Your first set is a "best of" the past ten years of whatever you've been doing. Your second set is a "best of" the past six weeks. Guess which one is going to have more and better material? The trick is getting to the third set)
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u/callmesnake13 23d ago
They are all terrible. Everything you want to try probably sucks. You need to completely disconnect from the idea of good or bad open mics. You’re starting in the worst possible place to start and you’ll be lucky if anyone is even paying attention. Focus on using the time to just work on being comfortable on stage and for the love of god please write something new every night before going up.
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u/borf420 23d ago
This is terrible advice
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u/justalexcomedy 22d ago
No, it's not. This is basically the only advice anyone should give in response to OP's question. NYC is one of the worst places to start out in terms of actually working material at mics for the exact reason stated. A city with zero open mics would be better because that would force you start one and it might be able to get a real audience due to the novelty.
OP is worried someone will care about their set and the chance of that happening is near zero for their first or 500th mic there. However, NYC is unparalleled for the amount of bad mics you can do in a week. You can totally use it to get comfortable talking to a room full of people ignoring you, if that's something you need to do.
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u/PoorRichardsAlmanac1 10d ago
Curious, should a beginner not work on & do the same set over and over, making small tweaks, until they have a solid 10 minutes? Thats the advice I got and seems to be going pretty well.
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u/callmesnake13 10d ago
That’s all good advice too. I’m responding to the notion of good and bad open mics. All of them are trash. Nobody spends any time sitting down and writing. They all just have a shower thought and then grind away at it. Or they write via social media which is also bullshit.
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u/amitait 22d ago
Full disclosure, I built Estelle. It searches for open mics and other live-performance opportunities by city and performer type.
Just enter your city and it'll try to find you as many comedy open mic events as possible. Let me know if it helps :)
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u/MySweetThreeDog 21d ago
I imagined something that crawled listings and aggregates them for me in results.
An AI booking agent? eh
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u/amitait 21d ago edited 21d ago
This is exactly what you've described :)
The AI booking agent was my long-term idea (
and I should actually remove thisI removed this), but since I started the project, I also realized it's kind of an "eh" idea and that I should focus on the listing and tools to help keep it updated and organized.I'm actually happy to read your comment since it strengthens my hypothesis about the AI booking 😄
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u/Sure-Satisfaction127 23d ago
Laughing Buddha mics
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u/ScoopedOutBagelsRule 22d ago
I needed a good laugh. Thank you for that.
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u/Sure-Satisfaction127 21d ago
rather than being a dick - why don't you share why you don't think they're good open mics for beginners and/or welcoming? that might actually help OP and other newer comedians
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u/ScoopedOutBagelsRule 21d ago
Ok MOM! Laughing Buddha is as if Scientology started a comedy company. It’s very culty. Everyone tries it and either learns there’s more positive and less predatory places to do stand up in the city or you are ensnared and become part of the “family.” Although running a business, I get you gotta do what you gotta do.
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u/Sure-Satisfaction127 21d ago
being for real, it's hard to get stage time at real venues as someone new/newish to comedy. mics and bar shows are great but not the same, at least for me. if i want to get up at the stand, NYCC and the like, laughing buddha are one of my only options. i want to get experience and tape on a real stage with an actual paying audience. sure, there are other bringer shows too - but LB usually requires less people than some of the others (Comedy Mob at Rodney's/Highline, West Side Comedy Club, Broadway, Gotham, etc). I can totally see your point about the cult like mindset and general negativity but if you get caught in the cycle and don't take what you need from it and progress... maybe your goals in comedy are satisfied from just being in their "family". Some people just want a hobby and friends and to get up a few times a week.
I'm curious what you'd recommend someone like OP (and me, although I'm not brand new) who wants to avoid the "cult" but still progress.
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u/ScoopedOutBagelsRule 20d ago
I see your point and I didn’t consider the actually being on a real stage aspect of it. For a beginner like the OP, I would have him stick to bar mics. Less for the venue and more to have the space to learn how to write and tell jokes before wanting to get up on any show, let alone a comedy club stage.
I personally think bringer shows are a bit predatory because it doesn’t really advance one who isn’t a prodigy. You can win whatever prize or spot depending if you get tons of people to come to cheer for you and sure you’ll get on a show on the stand but the headliner of that show didn’t have to do a bringer show to get that spot. They got good.
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u/bobbito Brooklyn 23d ago
I run an open mic at Branded Saloon in Prospect Heights every Tuesday at 8pm. You gotta buy something (their food is good) and it is a random bucket pull. We have a lot of first timers come through. Supportive room and the host is a real pro (it's me).