I would go to open-mic nights and realize that I was not near as bad as half the people.
My dad played in different clubs and open mic nights. But he mostly walked dogs. A lot of dogs.
Me and my dad used to go to these jam sessions and open mic nights, but I was always scared of singing on stage. It felt different to rapping - more pressured.
I spent two years playing open mic nights in Brighton, and I heard more and more people saying, 'You should give it a go in London.'
I spent two years playing open mic nights in Brighton, and I heard more and more people saying, You should give it a go in London.
I went to a performance-art high school, and a teacher there was signing me up for open-mic nights at the comedy club. I think about it now, and I think, 'Well, that may be inappropriate,' but it was great!'
Some nights I'm funny with the between-song commentary, some nights I'm not. I have no control over this. I pace the stage a lot and struggle with the mic stand in a ridiculous way.
I just started the way most comics start, doing open mic shows around Sacramento and San Francisco, and eventually, I moved to L.A. After about four or five years in L.A., I got the call to join the 'The Daily Show.'
When I was in college, I would go out, and I would go to these open mic nights at Stitches and Nick's Comedy Stop, so I was going to classes during the day, and then at night, I would be signing up on the lists.
My first open mic was fantastic. I crushed. And my second mic was as bad as my first one was good.
I did the coffee house thing - we have coffee houses where people play, or we used to - and when I was 14, I started there. Just played all the time. Every weekend I had a show, or every Thursday. Open-mic nights, the whole thing.
In terms of bullying, there are so many new laws in America, I am not sure about worldwide, but in America, the laws for bullying are getting strict. And I am really excited of how strict they are and I think it has cut down on a lot of bullying. As a kid I was a bully and I was bullied. I lived both sides of it. To see what is being done with bullying now is super important.
Even though I only get a few days off, I do not stop, whether it's getting some stage time at an open mic or flying to L.A. to watch a ton of stand-up shows.
Before I had a record deal, I was living in New York and playing anywhere I could, from somebody's house to an open mic to coffeeshops.
Most fatal, most hateful of all things is bullying.... Sensual bullying of course is fairly easily detected. What is more dangerous is ideal bullying. Bullying people into what is ideally good for them.