Stand-up Comedy

DO ANY MIC ANY TIME ANY WHERE

mickholt · March 3, 2016 · Character, God's Will, Stand-Up · clean comedy, comedy, open mics, Stand-up Comedy, The Improv · 4 Comments

open-mic-night Getting started in comedy is the hardest part of getting started in comedy.

Huh?

Yeah – you read that correctly. Starting anything new is always the hardest part but with comedy there are so many variables – you have to know where to go, who to know, how to write, courage to get on stage – sometimes that equates to stupidity – and the list goes on but the absolute hardest part of getting into this business is finding stage time.

WAY Out Of My Comfort Zone!

mickholt · January 29, 2016 · Character, Goal Setting, God's Will, Stand-Up, Writing · accountability partners, comfort zone, God's will, Jesus juke, joke writing, stand-up, Stand-up Comedy, zone · No Comments

I got this off the internets – thank you internets.

Ever had the Pizza Hut P’Zone? If not I am super sorry. It was a delicious masterpiece of pizza-y goodness. You can get a decent calzone from just about any pizza place but the P”Zone was a zone I could easily get into.

Other zones? Not so much.

Comedy Workshops (Not A Waste of Time)

mickholt · January 22, 2016 · Goal Setting, God's Will, Stand-Up · comedy classes, comedy workshops, Dave Schwensen, How to be a working comic, show business, stand-up, Stand-up Comedy, The Comedy Book · No Comments

The cover of Dave’s book

I know there are tons of opinions about the necessity of, need for, quality and usefulness of comedy classes. I happen to be in favor.

Anytime someone wants to help me out with a new way to look at something or change the way I think (Romans 2:12) or anything that gets me closer to my goal of doing comedy full time – I WILL LISTEN!

I BROKE THE CHAIN

mickholt · January 19, 2016 · Character, Goal Setting, God's Will, Stand-Up, Writing · #dontbreakthechain, Don't break the chian, Goal Setting, Goals, God's will, stand-up, Stand-up Comedy · No Comments

Photo From Creative Commons: Michelle Milla
https://www.flickr.com/photos/michellemilla/

<— THAT FACE.

That face completely sums up my feelings this morning when I woke up and realized that I broke the chain.

That’s right – I BROKE THE CHAIN!

The Writing Is The Hardest Part

mickholt · January 8, 2016 · Character, Goal Setting, God's Will, Stand-Up, Writing · comedy, God's will, joke writing, Stand-up Comedy, writing, writing tips · 2 Comments

I try writing every day – I am a firm believer in the Seinfeldian – DON’T BREAK THE CHAIN – train of thought.

In 2014 I frequently used the hashtag – #dontbreakthechain for motivation and encouragement to me fellow writers.

G.O.A.L.S – A New Take On An Old Classic

mickholt · January 1, 2016 · Goal Setting, God's Will, Stand-Up, Writing · 5 ways to set goals, comedy, GOAALS, Goal Setting, goal setting strategies, Goals, Goals for 2016, God's will, New Year's Resolutions, Stand-up Comedy, strategies · No Comments

f2558-nye For the last few years I have posted – near the end of December or sometimes early January – about the importance of setting GOALS for the upcoming year – you can check those out here, here or here – and the strategies I employ to ensure I don’t waste the next 8784 hours.

The Act & Art Of Joke Writing

mickholt · July 30, 2015 · Stand-Up · bowling, clean comedy, first dates, God honoring comedy, God's will, Golden Corral, Gutterballs Comedy Cabaret, joke writing, stand-up, Stand-up Comedy · One Comment

Writing a joke can be a long nerve wracking process. It can also produce something vastly different than what you originally intended. This post will look at how I wrote a joke that I am using as my closer from time to time and how I got it from the staring line to almost ready to cross the finish line.

Open Mic In A Bar – True Stories About Trying To Tell Jokes To Uninterested People

mickholt · July 23, 2015 · Stand-Up · boot camp, clean comedy, dive bars, God honoring comedy, God's wiil, open mics, Stand-up Comedy, Time travel · No Comments

Never YELL at your audience NEVER – it is not endearing AT ALL

“HEY, YOU PEOPLE IN THE BACK, SHUT THE BLEEPITY BLEEP UP!”

Number 12 had had enough. He’d watched his fellow comedians being completely dissed. He was outraged at the lack of audience participation. He was thoroughly fed up with the other comics – including himself now – being ignored – talked over and mocked.

He was wrong.

Goals For My Journey To Professional Comedy

mickholt · July 14, 2015 · Goal Setting, God's Will, Stand-Up · clean comedy, Goals, stand-up, Stand-up Comedy · 5 Comments

BOY HOWDY – Been Gone Awhile

Have I ever been away for awhile! After the year I had and the way I kicked off 2015 – 31 posts in 31 days with my Proverbs challenge (Day 31 here) – I really thought I’d be a blogging machine this year. I got distracted from blogging but for a really good reason – I am working on my dream of becoming a working comedian!

And it takes a TON of time.

I am still writing – almost every day. Not keeping a calendar like I did in 2014 (See that here) but my joke notebook is filling up and I have nearly 10 minutes of very usable material so far this year – and that is a good thing.

Here is a snippet of that material.

Below are the MAIN goals I have for myself to accomplish my dream of turning comedy from a pastime to a profession.

1) Long Term Comedy Goal – LTCG – I want to be able to replace my full time job and support my family doing, 100% clean, God honoring comedy.
2) Comedy Education including – Rik Roberts’ School of Laughs (I highly recommend checking out the school and the podcast). I will read books and take workshops to improve my material, my mindset and my drive. Always looking to improve.
3) Writing Daily – I will write at least 2 pages of free thoughts and note what might be usable as material and work on ideas as they come to me or that I have keep track of in either my notebook or Evernote
4) Open Mics – I will attend at least one (1) OM a week – more as family and work allow but 1 for sure. I heard RR say it takes about 100 OMs to know yourself and your audience so I have about 80 more sets to go before I really know what I am doing – YIKES!
5) Accountability Partners – Along with sending this list to RR, I will recruit some guys from my church as well as a couple a my comedy buddies to hold me accountable to all of the above.

So, Whaddya think? Did I miss anything, would you add anything? What is your dream – your passion? Please share it in the comments.

You Wanted A Laugh You Gotta Laugh

mickholt · July 6, 2015 · God's Will, Jesus, Stand-Up · clean comedy, comedy, dating, funny, God honoring comedy, marriage, Relationships, stand-up, Stand-up Comedy · One Comment

I know it is has been a LONG time since I posted something – especially something of substance and today’s post is NO different.