I distinctly remember stumbling onto my first open mic.
I met a yellow legal pad, stained with beer and moxy, daring anyone to sign up for the promise of an audience.
What’s any theatre kid to do?
Bomb miserably. But I knew I had to keep doing it.
My time on stage mostly taught me humility, but it also put me in the same room with some of the wisest and funniest people I’ve ever met.
In that environment, I discovered my love of storytelling, performing, and community organizing.
Organizing & Promoting
Once I started organizing my own comedy shows, I partnered with small businesses to promote arts and education initiatives that benefitted area students.
Across 5 years, we hosted over 20 charity comedy shows which directly funded education grants and local literacy initiatives, including:
Bilingual classroom libraries for Dual-Language Immersion campuses in Denton ISD
Jr. Author Workshops hosted for elementary students in partnership with Denton’s MLK Rec Center
$1,500 in classroom grants for Denton elementary schools in partnership with North Texas Comedy Festival
Community Storytime events in partnership with Denton Public Libraries, local bookstores, and area businesses
Technology grant to Denton ISD for a classroom set of Rocket Book smart journals
For a total of over $20,000 towards local arts and education.
Our Jr. Author Workshops walked kids through the creative process, from concept to publication
Kids write delightfully silly stories
We began by holding Jr. Author Workshops directly in classrooms, then we began partnering with recreation centers
Comedians from our fundraiser comedy shows often came back to entertain the kids
. . . After all, comics know how to put on a show
And get great laughs from kids as well as adults . . .
Most of the time, comedians swapped their material for kids books
But sometimes, kids got a direct window into the performances making the workshops possible
Community storytime events took place in public libraries, bookstores, and businesses
And our kids events were always free to the public
I especially loved reading the stories from our writing workshops to audiences at our comedy shows, so they knew exactly what they were supporting
All in good fun
My time in stand-up may not have landed me a Netflix special, but it did allow me work with people I admired, and in service to the community. It helped me hone the storytelling, performing, and organizing skills I employ today.