Open Mics and Comedy Scene in Austin

Photo bySteve Howard/Eliot Hale 2024

Admittedly I only sampled three open mics, but if you are hoping for any type of feedback, positive or negative, Austin seems like a tough town. At least at the smaller open mics. Also, I only did open mics near or on 6th street, so maybe some of the other mics in Austin are more welcoming. I wish I had of had a little more time to try some of them out. The three that I signed up for were all early in the day and evening and the "audience" were all other comics.

Doing stand up for other comedians, unless they are fans, is like trying to teach a room full of teachers. No one pays attention or really gives a shit about what you have to say.

It was unfortunate because many of the comics at the open mic had written some really good material. Also, I'm pretty introverted, so I'm not great at socializing/networking after open mics. I suppose if I had I could have maybe learned more about the open mic scene. I did talk to a few of the MCs and several comics that I met later on during the week at shows, standing in line for the Mothership mic, and while waiting to see if I got picked for Kill Tony.

The open mic at the Comedy Mothership though, if you can get on is the complete opposite. I was only there as an audience member, but the crowd was definitely there to see comedy.

The Comedy Mothership does open mics on Sundays and Mondays. Sign up begins at 5:30 in front of the Mothership on 6th and Trinity.

It is very competitive though. I signed up six times and didn't get picked once. There is always a line of at least 70-100 comedians in front of the Mothership every Sunday and Monday from around 5 pm. Only 16 comics out of those 70-100 get picked.

On Monday nights you can also sign up for Kill Tony which is even more competitive. The line to sign up for Kill Tony in front of Pour Choices across the street from the Mothership was at least 200 or more the three times I signed up. And yeah, I didn't get on Kill Tony either.

OVERALL IMPRESSION OF THE AUSTIN SCENE

I think if someone is pretty talented and good at networking, and gets pretty lucky, they could maybe in six months to two years make some real progress here as a comedian. If you are already an experienced comedian who doesn't really need stage time I would focus most of my attention on the open mic at the Mothership and Kill Tony as well as trying to get spots at smaller shows around Austin.

I think being young would help a lot too. I'm 54 and I felt like the night life on 6th Street would be hard to keep up for very long. If you aren't into inhaling various types of second hand smoke all night you will probably find the 6th Street scene challenging at times.

On the other hand, waiting to get on Kill Tony is a great way to meet other comedians and network. As I mentioned, I'm pretty introverted and spectrumie, but I still managed to meet some very cool people while waiting to see if I'd get pulled out of the bucket. Many of them seemed really interested in the comedian scene in Japan, so hopefully they will come visit some day