Should you move to LA to do stand-up comedy? Lukas Mateus did, and came back. He bombed his first open mic in a Columbus basement with exactly one friend watching.
Ten years in, Lukas is 40, works at a grocery store, hosts the Tuesday open mic at Rehab Tavern, and has never once posted a headshot with eight tour dates on it. He's fine with that. Here he breaks down what actually changes when you leave: in LA you pay for nearly every mic, so everybody stays, watches, and networks, and at the Hollywood Improv a booker sits in the back with a laptop keeping a file on every comic who goes up. In Columbus you can do a mic for free, spend five bucks, and have a great night. The trade-off is stakes. Nothing is on the line here, and he thinks that's simultaneously the scene's best feature and its ceiling.
He also flatly refuses to give advice, which turns into the best advice any comedian has given on this show.
If you're weighing your own first open mic: expect to bomb, expect to not remember it, and expect the recording to sit on your phone for a decade before it's any good. That is the job.
What is the smallest crowd you have ever performed for? Tell us in the comments.
First Mic is filmed at Rehab Tavern in Columbus, Ohio.
🎙️ Follow Lukas Mateus: Instagram: @bloodxshower X: @bloodxshower Podcast: Just The Essentials
🔗 First Mic is part of the Indie Comedy Collective: YouTube: youtube.com/@IndieComedyCollective Instagram: @indiecomedycollective
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