My BIG, Crazy Challenge

Many of us don’t get a big, scary challenge right out of the gate when we first start a new venture, but I did! I got hired off of my very FIRST open mic to emcee for a major star in an A-Room club – The Comedy Café, in Washington, DC. I had barely 5 minutes of passable material, yet I was booked to emcee for the Amazing Jonathan, a pretty big comedy magician.???

I’d been doing stand-up comedy for a couple of WEEKS at open mic nights, and thought I was GOOD. No, I thought I was GREAT. I invited my friends and family out because this was a BIG deal.??

Friday night, the first night of my professional emcee weekend, there was a problem. The feature act didn’t show up. For those of you not well-versed in the comedy hierarchy, the lineup is usually emcee with 5 – 10 minutes, the feature with 25 – 30 minutes and the headliner with 45 or more minutes.???

The room manager,

Pat, said she had called a local comedian, Greg Poole, to drive down from Maryland to fill in. BUT he was about 20 minutes away, so I was to go up and stretch my 5 minutes into 20. Terrifying!??

But I had no options.

Luckily, the crowd was “hot” and after slaying them with my 5 minutes of rockn’ open mic material, I did crowd work and they loved it. But my knees were shaking so badly that at one point I actually thought “I’m not a real comedian. I still have my day job. I can put this mic down, walk off and never do this again.” Before I could turn that thought into action, the red light came on. That’s the light above the stage telling the comic to wrap up. Whew! I can still feel the tremendous relief. In fact, I was so happy, that I think I gave Greg a crappy introduction – something like “here’s our feature act” - because he got on stage and said “wow, that was some intro!”??

Greg rocked the room. Then I went back up, made some announcements and introduced Jonathan. He was as amazing as his name. However, he gets down to his last magic trick, and can’t find it. He yelled, “hey, can we get the emcee back up here to do 5 minutes. I need to grab it from my car.”???

I must have looked like a deer in headlights frozen with fear.

I’d done EVERYTHING I could possibly do – there were no jokes left in my tank. I felt a tap on my should. It was Greg. He said “want me to do it?” I couldn’t get the word “yes” out fast enough. Greg went up and rocked the room AGAIN. He saved my ass . . . and my comedy career. I guarantee, if I had gone back up, I would’ve quit comedy.?

Two takeaways – because there were many – 1. Overprepare. I couldn’t imagine a comedian not showing up to this wonderful job, but it happened. 2. Actively look for ways to help others. Greg’s job was not to fill in, that was mine, but he saw I was in trouble, so he stepped up without getting any extra reward.?

The rest of the weekend went great, and Jonathan gave me the “entertainers” discount on one of his t-shirts, making me feel like a real comedian. I still have the shirt!

Jan McInnis is a Keynote Speaker, Comedian, Comedy Writer, and Master of Ceremonies. She has written for Jay Leno’s Tonight Show monologue as well as many other people, places, and groups – radio, TV, syndicated cartoon strips, and even guests on the Jerry Springer show (her parents are proud). For 20+ years she’s traveled country as a keynote speaker and comedian sharing her unique and practical tips on what business leaders can learn from comedians (no, it’s not all about telling jokes). She can be reached at www.TheWorkLady.com, or [email protected]? She’s also a GREAT Master of Ceremonies. Click here for her emcee site?