Newbie First-Timers Welcome!  We’re always looking for new talent!      Most DC comedy club open mic amateur nights/comedy shows in DC-MD-VA are held in noisy “open” main areas where you’ll be competing with TV’s, video games, phones ringing, bartenders making blender drinks, people who came to chat with friends and are not interested in hearing your comedy, etc—all the normal noise you here in a typical bar. This “background noise” will make your job of capturing the crowd’s attention all the harder, adding to the already stressful situation of performing standup comedy for the first time.

For live standup comedy to work, it must be done in a properly structured environment.

Our shows are held in separate “dedicated” rooms that are distraction-free and filled with focused , behaved audience who are there specifically to see comedy, so they won’t be chatting away only paying half-attention.

DO NOT CONTACT THE VENUE TO SIGNUP!

FACEBOOK/TWITTER/INSTAGRAM/TEXT MESSAGES/PHONE CALLS/ETC WLL BE IGNORED AS SIGNUPS. All signups are done via EMAIL ONLY to CurtShackelford@verizon.net

Looking for amateur night stand-up comedy open mike night shows for rookie beginners to perform standup comedy for the first time?

We currently run 3 weekly stand up comedy open mic night shows here in the Washington, DC-MD (Maryland)-VA (Virginia) area.

These shows are excellent amateur hours for newbie beginner comedians to try out standup for the first time in the DC standup comedy club scene.

Friday Nights in Georgetown, DC: comedy open mic night at Chinese Disco in Georgetown: 10 spots ranging from 3-10 minutes depending on your skill level.

Saturday Nights in Bethesda, MD: comedy open mic night/showcase at Rock Bottom Restaurant includes a PAID MC 10-minute spot, PAID 25-minute Feature spot and a PAID 40-minute Headliner spot. We also have 2 unpaid 3-minute newbie first-timer audition spots that go on just before the Headliner.

Saturday Nights in Arlington, VA: comedy open mic night at Arlington Taphouse in Arlington(Rosslyn), Northern Virginia: 10 spots ranging from 3-10 minutes depending on your skill level.

DO NOT CONTACT THE VENUE TO SIGNUP!

FACEBOOK/TWITTER/INSTAGRAM/TEXT MESSAGES/PHONE CALLS/ETC WLL BE IGNORED AS SIGNUPS. All signups are done via EMAIL ONLY to CurtShackelford@verizon.net 

Comics must be 14 years of age or older to perform at our shows. If under 21 you must have a parent(pushy stage Mom or emotionally distant Dad) come with you to the show. Some venues/shows are “must be 21 to enter”, but that DOES NOT apply to the comedians/performers themselves-they only need to be 14 or older.                                                                                 If under 21 please tell us your age when you email us to signup.

When emailing signup requests, please put the Venue name, day & date(MM-DD-YEAR) you want to perform and your experience level (newbie or veteran) in the Subject Line of your email.  Here’s a few samples of the correct format to use:

“O’Sullivans Sun.10-26-2011:newbie”

“Arlington Taphouse Sat.8-23-2014:veteran”

“Chinese Disco Fri. 9-23-2011: veteran”

“Bethesda Rock Bottom Sat.7-3-2019: newbie”

“Bethesda Rock Bottom Sat.12-9-2021:veteran”

If there is space available on that show date you will receive a confirmation email indicating you are on. If you do not receive an email confirmation reply within 4 hours, that means there are no spots available for that show date.  Email us a new/different show date.

Signing up yourself and a friend: Each person must email us separately to sign up. You can sign yourself up, but if you have a friend who wants to get on too, that friend must email us themselves separately using their own different email address to sign up.

Signing up another person (not yourself): We need that person to email us directly using their own email address in order to sign them up or it will confuse our automated booking software. Also we want to be sure they are not being signed up against their will as some form of punishment.

Signing up for multiple shows/multiple venues:  Each show date and venue signup request must be in a separate email. Requests for multiple shows/multiple venues/multiple dates in a single email will make my head explode,

VETERANS: (more than 6 months experience): Please email us a YouTube video link of your standup in the email with your show date request, so we can gauge how much time to give you, i.e. the funnier the clip the more stage time you get and possibly a PAID slot.                                                                                                                                                                      Video clips must be YouTube ONLY-no Google Drive, no DropBox, no TikTok, no FaceBook, no Instagram,etc. YOUTUBE ONLY & must be sent via EMAIL ONLY to CurtShackelford@verizon.net  Please do not send videos of you doing sketch comedy, comedic acting, improv, hosting a talk/game show, etc-we need to see you doing STANDUP.  Do not send videos of you doing “crowd work”-we need to see you doing your actual scripted/planned set. Do not send EPK “media kits” or “press kits” that we have to download & dig thru to find your YouTube clip. We get approx. 25 videos a day and if we have to wade through an EPK to find your clip we will have to skip it. Send your YouTube clip link in the same email with your show date request in the body of the email at the top, so we can view it quickly, and include the password if it’s a “private” video.

YouTube videos you submit DO NOT have to be great works of cinematic art. As long as we can sort of hear you and sort of see you, that’s all we need. DOES NOT have to be at an official open mic night-it can be you standing in your living room filmed on your iPhone.

It’s the content(material & delivery style) we care about, not the video production values.

If you are NOT based  in the DC-MD-VA area, please  tell us what city you are based in.

OUT-OF-TOWNERS JUST PASSIN THRU:

Email  CurtShackelford@verizon.net with “Out of Towner passing thru (exact when-to-when date range+exact arrival-departure times)” in the Subject Line. In body of email let us know if you’re a newbie or a veteran and what City/State you’re based in. If you are a veteran, must include a YouTube video link so we can gauge how much stage time to give you and possibly a PAID MC-FTR-HDLNR slot.

Please do not send videos of you doing sketch comedy, comedic acting, improv, etc-we need to see you doing STANDUP.

Even if your “in-town” dates don’t match up with any of our ongoing weekly public show dates, still let us know the date & time range you’ll be here in DC, just in case we have some un-advertised private party  PAID gigs brewing that we can use you for. Our private shows are paid right after you step off stage with green paper cash $, so it’s a quick & painless way to make some fast money (but if over $600 we’ll have to 1099 you).

We constantly have last-minute fallouts for slots, so there’s a pretty good chance we can get you on our public and/or private shows on very short notice, so don’t think it’s too much of a long-shot!

If we can’t get you on we’ll at least give you a freebie pass for 2 to come see our Bethesda, MD Saturday show as civilian audience member/comic standby, so even then there’s still a chance you could get a PAID slot if one of the scheduled comics flakes out on us last-minute.

MUSICIANS: Although our shows are COMEDY open-mics, we do welcome any musicians who sing humorous songs. If your music makes people laugh, we call it “comedy”!

IMPROV TROUPES: Although our shows are for STANDUP , we welcome improv comics who want to defect to the world of standup. Some of the best standup comics to pass through our ranks originally crossed over from the improv world (when they realized they were way funnier than their fellow players and wanted the spotlight all to themselves).

POETS & SPOKEN WORD ARTISTS: Although our shows are for STANDUP , we welcome any poets or spoken word artists whose material makes people laugh.

If you’ve submitted videos and did not hear back from us: please submit a new video after 6 months more experience.

6 months more stage time can sometimes result in a huge leap in the quality of your act.

Email YouTube video clip links to CurtShackelford@verizon.net

Veteran Comics not on the show that night but just comin to support & Newbie Comics comin to scope-out the show for an upcoming debut performance:Yes you still have to pay the $20 cash admission at Bethesda Saturday show since you are attending as a civilian audience member.  Please sit with the regular audience and watch the show like a normal human person.

DO NOT STAND IN THE BACK MILLING AROUND TRYING TO TALK TO THE PRODUCER, THE M.C./HOST & THE OTHER COMICS DURING THE SHOW.

Talking in the showroom DURING THE SHOW is incredibly rude & disruptive. DON’T BE THAT GUY!

Totally fine to talk with the comedians DURING INTERMISSION or AFTER THE SHOW.

DO NOT TALK TO THE PRODUCER AT ANY TIME (the person running the show) before, during or after the show. They are too busy to chat.  OK to say a quick hello to introduce yourself, but please send all questions/comments/etc. via Email to CurtShackelford@verizon.net

Veteran Comics just moved to DC & Looking for Paid Comedy Work/Shows/Gigs in the DC-MD-VA area?:

Send us a YouTube clip of your act and if you’re funny we’ll put you on our weekly PAID Saturday Bethesda, MD showcase & our PAID private party gigs that pop up randomly throughout the year.

Standup Comedy Classes:

We are still in the planning stages of our standup comedy course offerings to be held at the DC-MD-VA venues where we do our weekly shows–hoping to be up & running by middle of next year, but meanwhile here’s a cheapo alternative: Just come out to our shows as an audience member and study the comic’s performances as you would sitting in a formal classroom. Chat with the ones you like after the show (never before-they are busy prepping for their set) to get pointers/general advice/etc. Comedians LOVE to talk about the craft of standup , especially if they had a really good set–you won’t be able to shut them up :-).

Once you feel you’ve got a handle on what a 3mins newbie set entails by‎ watching some shows & chatting with the comics, shoot us an email to signup and we’ll throw you onstage for a 3 mins newbie set.  FREE EDUCATION!

6 Basic Tips for Standup Comedy Open Mic Night First-Timer Newbies

1.Material: We start newbies out at 3 minutes, so write 3mins of material and practice your set so it falls under 3mins(leave some time for audience laughter). If you do well at 3mins level, we’ll bump you up to 5mins level, then 7mins, 10mins,etc. If you’re stuck on what to write about, start with a past tragedy. Tragedy+ Time + Exaggeration = Comedy. If you’ve led a tragedy-free life, write about the little things that annoy you. Life’s little annoyances can be funny if put under a microscope. Keep pen & paper handy 24-7. Comedic inspiration will hit you while you are doing something else-showering, driving, half-napping in twilight sleep,etc, so be ready to jot stuff down at any moment. Some comics like to use their smartphone to jot down ideas, but this is dangerous. If a funny line or thought hits you while your phone is off, by the time you get it booted up the idea or the exact phrasing will have slipped away. Stick to pen & paper—in this case the old school method wins.

2.TRUST YOUR OWN DIVINITY: when an idea pops into your head your first instinct is to dismiss it as too weird, so you let it go. Then a week later you see another comic tell basically the same joke idea and it crushes, & you kick yourself for not believing in your own divinity. That other comic isn’t funnier than you, he just “trusted his own divinity”. Most of your ideas WILL be garbage, but jot them down anyways and try them out on stage.

3.What To Wear: no hats, no sunglasses, no hair bangs: nothing to hide your eyes. Your eyes and the tiny expression lines around them “tell” the joke more than your mouth, so we need to see your eyes.

4.What To Bring: Bring water & your set notes(paper only-NO PHONES!) on stage with you. Your mouth will go dry and your mind will go blank within the 1st minute. Having paper notes on stage is NOT unprofessional, contrary to popular belief. Having notes to refer to on stage is perfectly fine.

5.Microphone: Leave the mic in the mic stand for your first time, so your hands are free and you have one less thing to worry about . Raise/lower the mic stand according to your height: place foot on round base of mic stand to hold it steady, turn collar in middle of pole left to loosen. Pull mic stand pole up or push down to correct level (top of microphone should be nestled in curve of your chin). Turn collar right to tighten. Do not over-tighten. It only takes a slight tightening to make the upper pole stay in place.

6.DON’T OVERTHINK  IT. The morning of your debut you’ll wake up in a cold sweat and grab your phone to cancel your slot. THIS IS A NORMAL FEELING, even amongst 20-year veterans. Instead, grab your set list & run thru it OUTLOUD 2 times in front of the mirror, then put it away and go about your day. Just before you leave home to head out to the show, run thru it 2 more times OUTLOUD. Don’t try to memorize every single word lest you end up sounding  like a robot reading a rigid script. Just focus on the general idea you’re trying to get across, as you would naturally do when telling a funny story at a party—the exact wording will come to you while you are onstage, courtesy of fear-induced adrenaline.

You believed in Big Foot for 10 years—you can believe in yourself for 3 minutes.