By LEAA FORSCHLER

Doug Reeder, a UVSC student, has been doing stand-up comedy at Fat, Dumb and Happy, the latest comedy club in Orem, for a little less than a year. Reeder started doing stand-up comedy by going to a couple of open mic nights after preparing some material.

“It went well, and I got a few laughs,” Reeder said. “Then they [the owners of Fat, Dumb and Happy] invited me back to try some opening acts.”

As is the routine of most comedy clubs, Reeder is not getting paid while learning the stand-up craft.

“You don’t make any money when you are first starting out,” Reeder said. “Some clubs actually charge if you want to be a part of the open mic night.”

Recently, New York Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat (D-Manhattan) introduced in the state Legislature a bill that would guarantee stand-up comedians a minimum payment of $120 for a 20 minute set performed on the weekend to help cover the costs of living in the city. Mid-week appearances would be guaranteed between $28 and $46.

While this bill would probably not fly in Utah where competition is not as stiff and most comedians don’t get paid until they start headlining, comedians in Provo and Orem still feel there is rigid competition between clubs.

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The time for an open mic performance is generally two to three minutes. Opening performances for a headliner are 10-15 minutes.

“Getting comfortable on stage is a big part of performing,” Reeder said. “In the beginning each time I would perform my confidence would raise.”

And when the crowds aren’t laughing at the comedian’s jokes?

“Then they have someone with a flashlight in the back to let you know to wrap it up and come down off stage,” Reeder said. “Sometimes it’s not the comedians fault. It’s just a different audience.”

Reeder said he wants to continue with comedy and possibly have it progress into an acting or writing career.

“Life is pretty dismal and depressing, but if you can laugh at it, and make a joke out of it, then it doesn’t seem that bad,” Reeder said.

For stand-up comic, Neil Hyatt, things have recently progressed to the next level. He will start performing as a headliner at Fat, Dumb and Happy’s in August. He said it took him a month when he was starting out to develop his first three minutes of material. When he tries out new material Hyatt said he likes to just bring it up in a conversation with friends and see if they laugh.

“But never tell people that you are telling a joke or they just shut down,” Hyatt said.

After a laugh with friends he said he will try out the material at an open mic night before taking it with him on stage for an opening or headlining act.

Hyatt said it has been easy for him to get time in Utah, but he has noticed with rival clubs that if he performs at one club then he can’t go back and perform again at a rival club.

“Comedy is a business and it can be kind of cut-throat,” Hyatt said.

His advice for new comedians is: “Wherever you can find time, do it [comedy]. Take in any advice people give, you don’t have to follow it, but listen, and be open to criticism. As a comic you’re going to have really good days and really bad days but keep pushing.”

Kenny McNett, president of the BYU campus comedy club Laugh Out Loud, started up his own off-campus improv group called De Caf Comedy Jam. During Winter Semester 2005 the group performed every other Monday night at Johnny B’s Comedy Club. Currently they are doing private shows and may start up at Johnny B’s again in the fall.

McNett said he started De Caf last December because many of his friends from Johnny B’s and Laugh Out Loud were looking for a venue to do multiple forms of comedy.

“Improv you do on the spot and stand-up is all rehearsed,” he said. “I wanted a place that we could do whatever we wanted to do that was funny.”

McNett said it’s been nice having John Scheffer with Johnny B’s work with his troupe because some clubs in the city won’t allow comedians in their clubs that have performed elsewhere.

Comedy Sports on Center Street, for example, has their employees sign a “no compete” contract.

“It’s comedy yeah, but it is a business,” McNett said. “You build a rapporte with that club. You have to have good business relations. I’d love to go perform at any club, but you have to make choices. The owner at JB’s has treated me so well, and has given me a lot of opportunities.”

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Relations remain strained between some old friends that run the competing clubs, Johnny B’s and Fat Dumb and Happy. Neither of the club owners’ could be reached for comments.

“When you think about comedy you expect it to all be all happy and nice, but it is a business,” McNett said. “You want to see other people succeed, because we all know it is hard, but on the other side its business.”

Jacob Moffat performs stand up with Johnny B’s comedy club and improv with McNett and De Caf Comedy Jam.

“It is very ironic that in a business that is geared at making people laugh, that there is animosity between the two clubs,” Moffat said.

He said sticking with Johnny B’s is about loyalty for him, because he would not be getting paid at either place.

“John offered me my start,” Moffat said.

Moffat has been performing for two years, but for him stand-up is only a fun hobby.

“To make it in the industry it would probably require a lifestyle change for me and my wife that I’m not prepared to do,” he said.

Jacob Moffat performs with local comedy clubs such as Johnny B’s and De Caf but knows he’d have to step up a notch to make it big.

“If you really want to be a comic then Wise Guys really is a little bit more realistic of an option [because] it is a nation-wide club,” Moffat said. “Touring is an option and they have a lot of connections with small tours in the region.”

Wise Guys, a national chain, has three clubs locally that stand-up comics can choose from in West Valley City, Ogden and Provo. Moffat said he sees stand up comedy as its own art form that requires self-confidence and some cockiness.

“It is one thing to be funny when you are hanging out with friends,” Moffat said. “But for someone to be able to stand up there, for 45 minutes, with nothing but a mic and be able to take someone’s mind off the world, and be entertaining; I don’t care what you say that is an art.”

Headliners need to have enough material to perform for 30-45 minutes. Comedians say this is hard and to pull if off takes talent.

“There is nothing scarier than to get up in front of a group of people and have none of your jokes work,” Moffat said.

But it takes time to be able to develop a joke and figure out what is funny.

“I’m sure … when you’re a stand-up comedian all your friends are sick and tired of you trying out all the new material on them,” he said.

Moffat said having a group of comedians together in a room has an interesting dynamic as they compete with each other over a joke.

“It is like watching a bunch of kids fighting over a candy bar,” he said.

Spencer King, 24, from Austin, Texas, wants to become a comedic writer and first decided to do stand-up as a way to learn how to write a joke.

He said one thing that most people probably don’t know about doing comedy is “it is really a lot harder than most people think.”

King, a UVSC student, said the most difficult audience he has performed for are BYU students out on dates.

“They are always on the lookout for their values and always want to make sure, especially when they are in public, that they don’t look like they are laughing at something that is offensive,” he said.

Now that he is married, King said he laughs at everything.

“My wife and I are always butting heads over what we think is funny,” King said. “When doing stand-up, the comfort level of the people in the audience plays a big factor [as to] whether or not you are going to get people to laugh.”

King also splits his time between Johnny B’s Comedy Club and De Caf Comedy, allowing him to perform both stand-up and improv.

Even with all the competition King still enjoys watching others get better with their comedy.

“In my two years I have seen a lot of people try and fail,” King said. “You can watch people prepare and get better. It is just kind of neat because every comedian has to get a start somewhere. I just get a kick out of watching them when they are first learning how.”



Copyright Brigham Young University 11 Jul 2005