#comedystore

Paul Merton & Suki Webster

They say never meet your idols. The reason is, they never live up to your expectations of who you think they are, however what if your expectations are rooted in reality? What if idolization is simply a false expectation based on your preconceived ideals of who you think the ideal person is?

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve posted and this is for good reason. My life has been busy and this is a good thing. 

However to mostly update all of you on my most recent vacation in Los Angeles, I had the most incredible time. It was everything I needed and wanted. I came into my vacation with so many doubts about myself, I left there renewed in my sense of being like nothing I have ever felt before. 

The start of my trip was waking up at 4:00AM to be picked up by a private taxi to the airport. My flight was scheduled to leave at 5:45AM and I wanted to make damn sure I wasn’t going to miss it. I had packed my bags as light as possible, I was only carrying an overnight duffel bag and my laptop messenger bag. This for a 10 night stay. I’m resourceful and figured why pack for 10 days of clothing when I can pack for 5 days and do laundry half way through? 

Anyhow after a short trip to a connecting airport and then the long trip from there to Los Angeles (total 7 hours flight time) I finally arrived at 11:30AM (figuring out the 3 hour time difference). I stepped out of the airport, figured out the pickup zone for Uber and made my way immediately to the Comedy Store. I don’t know why, but this was my ultimate destination and since my AirBNB wouldn’t be ready for check-in until 4:00PM I might as well go to what I consider my central point. 

I got there and it was obviously closed, however I walked up, stepped onto the patio and sat down. I sat there, sitting, observing, soaking it all in. Here I was sitting on hallowed ground, reading the names written on the outside walls, Richard Pryor, Norm MacDonald, Sam Kinison, Jim Carrey, David Letterman and on and on. Some names I didn’t recognize, others unforgettably iconic. This was their start, their hangout, their home. I sat there as tour bus after tour bus would drive up, park for a few minutes, riff off some facts about this place then drive away.  

I can’t express how peaceful and at home I instantly felt sitting there. I knew so much about the history of this place, I had heard all the stories and the legends and the myths. That it was once a nightclub called Ciro’s, a mobster run joint that had all the Hollywood elite at that time frequenting it. How it was later bought by Sammy Shore for a hangout for he and his friends, then later handed over to Mitzi Shore (his wife) as part of a divorce settlement. 

It wasn’t weeks before I showed up that Mitzi had just passed away and you can see echoes of her in that place. The pictures of the walls of her and so many comics, the “Mitzi Only” painted on the parking lot to let people know who’s parking spot that was, to the sign outside saying a fond farewell to her. I won’t go into detail on Mitzi, but she really created a home for misfit comics, and here I was, a misfit comic hoping to settle in.

I eventually left and made my walk over to my AirBNB, with a stop along the way to pickup some food. I eventually checked into my AirBNB, a simple bedroom with a shared bathroom. it was a bed, and that’s about it. Pretty much all I needed as I did not intend to stay too much time in my room. After checking in, unpacking, taking a shower and getting my bearings, I finally get ready and headed out for dinner and finally my first night at the Comedy Store. I arrived and started to introduce myself to every door guy in the place. You see, outside of comics, most people don’t know that this place is run by comics. Door guys in fact have to audition in order to get the job. This is their stepping stone into comedy, many comedians got their start this way and it is very wise to show respect and get to know these guys. It wasn’t long before I was told that there was to be an Open Mic Lottery that night and to sign up you simply had to put your name in a bucket and you got an extra chance if you bought a drink at the patio bar. 

I hung out, met people and mostly chatted with Austin, one of the door guys who took a liking to me. We talked about where I was from, comedy as a whole and I asked him the non-usual questions that get asked, as I was genuinely curious about him. He introduced me to all the door guys working that night and it wasn’t long I was getting access to walk in from the back to sneak into either the Original Room or the Main Room to watch the live shows going on that night. It was incredible, to see such high level comedy being performed all night, amazing act after amazing act. 

Finally it was 11:30pm and all the hopeful comics started to pile up into the Belly Room. The smallest of the rooms there, but no less important. It is the place where the first female standup headlining comedians were given a stage to perform in, it’s where countless comedians got their first break and in fact Dave Chappelle films the second part of his last special on that very stage.

I sat there, waiting for my name to be called up, watching every LA Open Mic comedian step up and attempt to be funny in front of a crowd of wanna-be comics, door guys, show runners, homeless people.. whatever. You could easily tell who came prepared and who were just hacking it. Finally it’s 1:30AM and my name finally gets called up, this is it, my 3 minutes to perform my best material. I was tired, I was nervous and I was about to step in front of a pretty hostile crowd. I ran across my jokes and ended strong. To say I did well would be a lie. In fact I bombed, at least I felt I bombed. I felt horrible, however I remember some strong laughs from the back of the room, and I later found out it was from 3 door guys. Austin, Matt and Steve. 

I was later told that everybody bombs on that stage on that night, and just getting up and doing your time is crucial to being noticed. I left feeling like shit but knowing I was there to learn, I was there to soak it in and feeling this way is part of the process. I walked away that night filled with happiness in fact. I had just performed at the Comedy Store, although in some of the worst circumstances, I was up there. No one can take that from me. I have 10 days to get up and perform and I was going to make the most of it. I made friends with some of the other OpenMicer’s who shared their advice in finding stages to perform on, there’s a website and an app that you can use to plan your day. You can get up and perform probably 4-5 times a day if you’d like and I was going to do just that, OK maybe not that much, but I was going to get my stage time, and then hang out at the Comedy Store, my new home for the next 10 days.

I learned a lot in those 10 days, I felt I went through a comedy boot camp. I have stories that are both so crazy unbelievable and others that are funny. I rubbed shoulders and talked with so many of my favourite comedians, standing there, drinking beer, shooting the shit with faces that look like my NetFlix Comedy Special watched list. I met up with my comedian buddy Steve Simeone and he further introduced me to all the comics (Steve is possibly the nicest guy in comedy, I say that with absolutely no hesitation). I talked with them as if they were my peers, because they are. I respected that they let me talk and approach them, and they respected that I didn’t want a selfie or autograph or try out jokes on them, or ask them for advice. This is home, you don’t need to remind them they are famous, you need to remind them they are home.

The Comedy Store wasn’t the only place I went to when I was in LA, I also went to the Laugh Factory, many open mics and even performed at the Hollywood Improv. However I always seemed to gravitate back to the Store. It’s weird, the other clubs are more formal, setup to give people the ultimate comedy showcase experience. The Comedy Store on the other hand is more informal, there’s the Main Room that hosts all the premium headliners doing their best sets, but there’s also the Original Room where a rotation of comics go up for their 15 minute sets, the lineup is loose, and at any point someone like Bill Burr or David Spade could show up and sneak an unannounced 15 minute spot. Then there’s the Belly Room where some of the wildest shows are happening. Roast Battle, Cadillac Sundays, specialty shows you name it. 

The beauty of the Store is that anything could happen and very often it did. Unexpected people show up, make an appearance, hang out and shoot the shit with the comics then leave. You get the sense that they too felt equally at home.

Given different circumstances I could definitely see myself picking up, moving down there and dedicating my life to comedy. I think about what if I had been into this earlier in my life and I had made the move down there. Then I realize something pretty evident, a younger, less experienced me would not have been equipped for Los Angeles. I would not have done well and probably would not have adjusted as I did when I was there. This is because my experiences, my life, who I am has shaped me into being the kind of person who can be honest, genuine and open in a sea of people posing, hustling, and faking. I did well there because I wasn’t trying, I was just being. That’s the key to comedy. You can’t fake experience, you can’t pretend to be funny, you just are, and that is the result of your life. I learned great humility and left there both humble and hopeful. 

Lacey Roo