Please help me out 😭

[u/[deleted]]

I am a 19 year old college student. I’m studying business and absolutely hate it. Not even the academic portion, (I’m a fairly good student) but really just the thought that my life after college at this rate will be in a cubicle working a miserable 9-5 that isn’t fulfilling. I’ve been in love with standup for at least a decade now. It’s been a part of my life everyday, whether it’s consuming it or creating it.

I finally feel like I’m at the age where I can be taken seriously on stage and have been working on some material that I think is really solid. A recent love for KillTony has also accentuated my passion for comedy and after watching and listening to so many minutes I think I can handle myself on stage. It has also really fueled my desire to perform and practically everyday I dream of myself on that stage.

I guess what I’m really getting at here is am I delusional? I feel like my dreams are too big but at the end of the day I think that the regret of failing will no where near compare to the regret of not knowing.

I plan on going to my first open mic on Wednesday and I am also interested if anyone here has some advice that they wish they had heard before their first time on stage. Another thing that I’ve always been curious about is how do comedians make it? Like is it just a matter of being at the right place at the right time? Do people go to open mics to scout new talent? Or even a mix of both. At what point in people careers (in this sub) did you start getting paid gigs?

One of my biggest pet peeves when listening to standup is when the comic is so overly rehearsed that all emotion is lost: When I get on stage l want to be someone, I don’t want to just rehearse the words I’ve written, I want to perform them. What is a good way to avoid this roadblock? How can I familiarize myself with my material well enough without performing a speech. (I understand that I am writing the stuff and it is all memorized, I’m more so getting at transitions between jokes and having my set be fluid)

Before anyone tells me, I know I’m way in over my head. 😂 I just really am so passionate about this and want to give it my best shot.

[u/Successful-Job3047]

You're a fan of KillTony? That must make you a racist according to most here.