Terrance "ThaGawdshow" Davis signed up for his first open mic in Columbus and left before going on. The second time, he didn't get a vote.
A comic he knew texted him to come watch her set. When he walked in, she told him she'd already put his name on the list. The only material he had was a throwaway line he'd made up over pizza an hour before. It flopped. He went to another mic the next night anyway.
That's the start of a run that became the 670 East Show, a co-produced night for 400 people, a Funny Bone slot during the comedy festival, hometown showcases in Mansfield that sold out in under 48 hours, and a monthly comedy night in the one room in Columbus nobody thought comedy could work in.
If you've ever thought about trying stand-up and talked yourself out of it, this is your episode. Terrance is blunt about what actually happens at your first open mic: the barrier to entry is genuinely low, the other comics are more welcoming than you're expecting, and your first set is supposed to be bad — the point is whether you come back. His one writing rule: don't dumb it down. Write to your own intelligence level and let the audience come up to you.
Also in here — getting left on read by a booker and deciding to book himself, a guy who paid $50 to get into a $12 show, and the single best heckler comeback we've had on this show.
Comics: what happened at YOUR first open mic? Tell us in the comments.
🎙️ Follow Terrance "ThaGawdshow" Davis: @thagawdshow on Instagram, TikTok, Threads, Facebook and Bluesky (spelled out on camera: T-H-A-G-A-W-D S-H-O-W — see Flag 2)
🔗 First Mic is one of the shows under the Indie Comedy Collective banner: YouTube: youtube.com/@IndieComedyCollective Instagram: @indiecomedycollective
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