The Principles of Comedy Bill Hicks Taught

I’ve shared with you the value of mentors and this resource actually came from conversations with Ron Ferguson, a ridiculously hilarious comedian out of the Denver area. Bill Hicks was a famous stand-up comedian and social critic who was listed as the 19th greatest stand-up comedian of all time by Comedy Central in 2004. Below is a list of the principles of comedy he taught, of which I think all represent a very concise way to look at stand-up comedy in a very skimming-the-surface fashion.

1. If you can be yourself on stage nobody else can be you and you have ...more

Get a Mentor…Now!

I have countless comedian mentors from all different scenes that I have met while doing both open mics and shows around the United States. I cannot stress the value of a mentor enough, and it’s great to have both formal and informal mentors.

Informal mentors are often peers or people you feel that can teach you a lot of what you need to know, you can bounce ideas off of, and there is not a lot of pressure around. A more formal mentor might be the head of a local comedy club or someone you are really looking to solidify a ...more

Brian Regan’s 10,000 Hours

This weekend, I had the amazing opportunity to see Brian Regan at the Wells Fargo Theater in Denver, in the center of the 7th row. Not only is Brian the cleanest comic many can name on the circuit, he also brought in a sold out crowd of people ranging from probably 7 years old to about 60 + years old. Pretty impressive. As a special treat, his older brother, Dennis opened for him. I looked behind me as the lights dimmed. I turned to Anne, my gorgeous date and beautiful girlfriend, and told her, “THIS is what I dream of ...more

The First Things I Learned

I made my public debut on the stage of Comedy Works downtown in Denver, on July 21, 2009. I won’t forget that date. In fact, I don’t know many comedians that have forgotten the date they finally got on stage in public. That is one of the hardest parts to getting involved in comedy – beginning.

I took the method of routine and commitment. Comedy Works has new comedians start by calling their hotline (303.477.7844) each week in an attempt to break onto the stage. The hotline also spouts out the names of the lucky 11-12 people that will be on ...more

The Official Comedy Blog

I recently made my debut as a comedian on the Denver scene back in July 2009. While I have only begun to skim the surface with all that is comedy, I feel that a great opportunity exists to share what I have learned and what I am in the process of learning, not only for my own record to go back and see my growth as a comedian, but also to start a set of resources and a forum for fellow comedians to gather and share in what it is we do best, make others laugh, and in some cases, ...more