The Scene

This is a blog about where I've traveled, the scenes I've seen and the people who have helped and sometimes hindered my attempts to tell jokes.

I know my good friend Sean Mantooth is gonna read this and then write a comment that will sound something like, "Oh heeeeey everybodyyyyy look at me, I'm Matt Baetz and I traveled places and I'm a big dumb stupid poopy face." First of all, yes, this would be a perfect example of someone in my circle of friends and influences and second, I'm doing it to illustrate a point.

Feel free to use this as a table of contents...I know there is alot here but I guess this will most likely end up being a blog for comedians like myself who seem to devour everything comedy related that we can find online and if it helps people out then great.

Denver, CO - Nov. 4th - Jan 9th

AFE Tour - Jan 10th - 29th

Topeka, KS - Feb. 26, 27th

Kansas City, KS - March 5th

Los Angeles, CA - March 8th

Baltimore, MD - March 14th

Shreveport, LA - March 24th, 25th

Atlanta, GA - March 26th - 30th

Chicago, IL - April 4th - 8th

There are numerous places around the world where someone can learn the art of standup comedy. The general consensus is that if you want to turn that passion into a career you HAVE to eventually live in either New York or LA. But what I've learned since April 28th, 2009, which was the day I left LA, is that there are many great places in this country and the world that support standup comedy and provide a good base of operations to learn. And this is what I thought about all of them.

For the past five years I lived in LA. I learned standup in Los Angeles but then I felt like in order to really become the comedian I always wanted to be, I had to learn "the road." And no offense to the numerous comedians who consider the road to be, flying for a week at the Improv in San Jose followed by few days at home and then a flight to the Improv in Dallas, but "the road" I am referring to is the actual road.

The gas stations and traffic jams. The hotels and motels. Sleeping in your car and camping when necessary. Having a woman in Birmingham interrupt your show to tell you in front of 500 people that, "you ain't worth a shit." Driving 7hrs to Boston to perform at 2pm on a Sunday next to a buffet line.

To be honest, when I meet a comedian who jumped right from seven minute sets in LA and NY to headlining clubs across the country, part of me feels sorry for them. There is something amazing about the struggle. It's painful and sad and lonely and your back hurts from 12 hr drives and you spend days wondering if you should have kept your well paying job but I wouldn't have it any other way.

The first scene I really got a taste of was Denver.

For years the HBO comedy Festival in Aspen was the granddaddy of them all as far as festivals were concerned. I imagine it had something to do with the remoteness and the mystique of Colorado itself. They say many people come to visit and never leave and I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel that pull.

The rooms I frequented were as follows: Comedy Works downtown and the Tech Center, The Squire Lounge, Wits End, Los Comicos, Casselman's, Old Chicago as well as several of the other Agitated Production Rooms, The Jet Hotel, Paris on the Platte and a few others.

In my opinion Denver is a better town for standup comedy than Los Angeles. It isn't quite New York City but the amount of talent that is bubbling under the surface in Denver is at first shocking and then comforting. I remember opening some of my sets there by explaining that I wasn't use to people being that nice and then asking what's the catch? Nobody is that friendly. And the truth is they just appreciate the art form more than do the majority of people I know in LA who are doing standup as a way to get a show or a movie or they do it on the side along with their sketch group or their improv troupe.

If you are a person interested in working the road as a comedian or maybe you just want to try a new city with a lot to offer as well as a promising scene then Denver is a great choice.

KANSAS

From Denver I traveled through Kansas. I did a few shows in Topeka followed by a guest spot at Standford and Sons in Kansas City, MO. Which is another great room but unfortunately I am in that area right now where I am good enough to feature but not quite good enough nor am I enough of a draw to headline certain rooms around the country. I think at this point Standford's is one of those rooms where I am close but with so much great feature leavel talent they rarely book features from out of town.

LAST COMIC STANDING

This was a great experience in that I thought I shouldn't travel all the way from Arkansas to LA for a 2minute audition and after doing it, I know that I never need to do it again. Last Comic Standing does for comedy what American Idol does for music. Nothing. It's a great show for people who don't have a fucking clue as to what good comedy or music is. Also, I'm bitter. My favorite part was doing a college show in Kansas, driving 5 hrs in the middle of the night to Arkansas, flying to LA, doing 2min of standup in front of Greg Giraldo, Natasha Leggero and surprisingly Andy Kindler who I thought was centering most of his act these days on the shittiness that is Last Comic Standing, and then flying back to Arkansas to bomb as host a Battle of the Bands at Univ. of Ark Ft. Smith. When Greg, Natasha and Andy gave me notes I kind of felt like saying, "Thats ok I'm not interested in your notes. You can just say no." After the audition as I was leaving I was stopped by an associate producer and we had this exchange,

"So you got through right?"

"No."

"Oh ok, well that's cool, it doesn't matter. So listen we're going to have you walk through this curtain and can you just act like you're really upset, maybe throw your hands in the air or pull your hair out?" (I'm bald by the way.)

"No, I'm not gonna do that."

It's moments like these that solidify my feelings about the road as well as Los Angeles. It's fake. It's sad. And too many people are ok with it.

BALTIMORE, MD

Home. I'm from here. I lived in MD for the first 17 years of my life. I went to high school in Towson and I'm shocked at how difficult it has been to get stage time in my hometown.

I should pause here and say that one person has been extremely helpful. T. Brad Hudson. If you are ever in Baltimore or Timonium to be more precise do yourself a favor and check out his room on Sunday nights at Hightopps on York Rd. T. Brad pays a feature and a headliner to perform as well as he offers the first 5 or 6 spots to regulars and first timers. It's the closest thing Maryland has to an actual comedy scene. As for the Comedy Factory downtown and Magooby's on Harford Rd I couldn't say but hopefully at some point I'll work those rooms as well.

After performing at Hightopps on March 14th I headlined at the University of Delaware in Newark. This was a great show for several reasons. Nice crowd, good stage, family in attendance, sold a few cds. It was a good time

SAGINAW, MI

I flew from Philly to Chicago where I picked up my car and continued the drive. On March 18th I played Flanigans in Saginaw, MI. It was the first day of the NCAA tournament not to mention the day after St. Patty's Day. Which means everyone was watching basketball and if they weren;t they were at home hungover. They couldn't plug in my guitar. There wasn't a host or an opener. Pretty much it was me at one end of a long room and a giant screen tv at the other end. There were maybe 30 people in the crowd and the four tables up front were empty except for one. The show went fine. I had a nice exchange with a heckler.

Valparaiso University

The following day I did a show at Valparaiso Univ. in Indiana. Once again I performed during the NCAA games but at least this time the TV was behind me instead of in front of me. It gave the illusion people were watching. The one thing I do remember is this one student who was sitting directly to my left. He was socially awkward and he just struck me as the kid most likely to go on a shooting spree.

NASHVILLE, TN

Like Denver, Nashville has a built in comedy scene. My only experience with Nashville unfortunately has to do with Zanies. Last April when I left LA I drove my brother from Tucson to Nashville for his new job at Vanderbilt Univ. Before arriving I contacted the manager there, a guy named Ron and asked for a guest spot. Never heard back. I called again. Never heard back. Finally when I got into town I called and said, "I realize its probably too late to get a guest spot but since I am within walking distance and I just drove from LA to get here, can I drop off my press materials?" He really couldn't have been more rude. He said, "No, Im not gonna watch it, I have enough people here trying to Emcee and feature." I said, "I understand but I'm just trying to get myself out there and hustle and..." He started laughing at me. He said, "Fine, you can have a spot tomorrow night." Again, from the perspective of a comedian trying their hardest to book spots and get in where you can while you can it's really disheartening to run into bookers like this. I've been back to Nashville twice since that first time and I haven't tried to go back again. I know that I need to and I will but this is a classic example of allowing someone else in this business to sidetrack you. Considering I have family and therefore a place to stay in that town this lack of effort there is sort of inexcusable. I consider that to be an instance, regardless of how I may have been treated, where I dropped the ball.

SHREVEPORT, LA

Centenary College of Louisiana called just a few weeks before this show and offered me the spot. I drove 9 and a half hours from Nashville, took a nap and the took the stage. It was awesome. Best college show yet I feel. The Student Activities peeps there were just plain southern hospitable. Even took the big guy to Chili's afterwards for some boneless wings.

Sadly my second day in Shreveport was not nearly as cool. About two weeks before my show at Centenary I called the booker of the Funny Bone in Shreveport. I asked if I might be able to do a guest spot while I was in town. A few days before I arrived I called the club to confim, left a message, never heard back, called again, never heard back, called again and they told me they didn't have me down to do a set. So I called and emailed the booker. Eventually he wrote back and said that I was good to go! So I stayed in Shreveport got another hotel and even went by the club early to confirm. Then when I got to the club that night I introduced myself to the manager who I was told to check in with and he said it wasn't a sure thing yet. That it was up to the headliner, a dude named Dee-Ray who apparently was pretty important although I've never heard of him. The show was about to start and still no one had walked up to me to tell me if I was good to go or not and then Gene Renfroe the feature came over and said, "Sorry man, it doesn't look like it's going to happen." I said that's ok. Which it's not. It's also not ok to only hear that bad news from the feature. Several times as I watched the show the floor manager and the club manager walked by and neither of them said anything. I never heard from the booker and frankly I don't care. I'll say this here and let it be known forever, I really enjoyed the city of Shreveport but I won't lose any sleep over not playing the Shreveport Funny Bone.

ATLANTA, GA

My time in Shreveport wasn't a total waste. I spent most of the day before the Funny Bone debacle calling friends in Atlanta to see if I could perform there. I did 4 sets in Atlanta. 2 at the Laughing Skull inside the Vortex. 1 at the Comedy Gold show at the Landmark Diner and a 4th at Tavern 99 on Sunday night. I love Atlanta. The people there couldn't have been more kind. Marshall Chiles books the Laughing Skull and he was kind enough to give me stage time on an already packed show. Ryan Stout was headlining and the two shows there were a lot of fun. My brother came to the shows there. Actually he came to the two there as well as the one at the Landmark and it was a unique opportunity to expose a family member to an evening in the life of a struggling comedian. One show at 8pm. One at 9pm. One at 1030 back at the first venue. Afterwards we got McDonalds at 1am. It was a definite highlight.

The Laughing Skull itself is a great room. The stage is the perfect size, the audience has plenty of room, there is access to The Vortex but it's also completely seperate so that when people are in the showroom they are there for comedy and not just peeking in.

The Landmark Diner show was nice as well. Gilbert Lawand runs that show and it is another great option for comedians who live there as well as those who are passing through. The crowd that night was primarily high school students because although it is in a barroom it is consider to be part of the diner. I'll say this, high school kids frighten me more than any other crowd. They just are at an age where they know everything and nothing is funny and everything is uncool and frankly I just think we should lock them up for those years and spray them with fire hoses until they stop acting like angst-ridden drama queens.

Tavern 99. What some people might refer to as an urban room. It's a term I've heard a few times from different people recently implying that there is a large number of black people in attendance. Even in Shreveport the feature asked me if I liked playing black rooms. To be honest I don't care as long as people give you a chance to tell at least one joke and as long as they listen. Sadly, audiences not listening is a problem in a lot of rooms regardless of race. We live in a world where an attention span need not be longer than 30 seconds. And sadly that can hurt in a comedy room. The good news is I hit them and hit them early. I guess you could say that I survived but I really didn't think it was any different than any other room. Black or white doesn't matter, there are always a few tablesof loud mouthed people who think they're more funny than the comedians and I love those people because they make us look good.

If you ever have the chance to perform in Atlanta those are definitely three rooms I would check out.

On my last day in Atlanta I received a call from the booker of Snickerz in Ft. Wayne, IN. She said they had a drop out and would I like to perform. And so I gave my nephews a high five and headed out for Nashville. I spent the night with my other brother's family and then the next day drove to Ft. Wayne.

The shows there were great. I made my first appearance on Late Shift with Kevin Ferguson and I was opening for Karen Mills out of Chattanoga, TN. She was unbelievable to work with and I hope we'll get to do it again sometime.

Before I left Ft. Wayne I began contacting people in Chicago which is where I am now.

CHICAGO, IL

Tomorrow I leave for Detroit but I've spent the last week here. I was raised Catholic but I was also taught to hate Notre Dame for some reason. But last Sunday, Easter Sunday to be precise, I left Ft. Wayne and headed for my friend Jen's house in Chicago. On the way I saw signs for Notre Dame/ South Bend and I decided I should check out what all the fuss is about. It is a beautiful place. So I marched right into the admissions building and said, I want to play football for the Irish. They said no.

Monday night I performed at Zanies downtown. Bert Haas books the show and he had a drop out so I did a six minute set. It went well. He seemed to enjoy it. If you're intested in working those rooms I would suggest getting an email out to him well before you arrive because he seems to have a pretty long list to go through.

On Tuesday I performed at The Chicago Underground Comedy Show courtesy of my friends Brooke Van Poppelen, Tony Sam and Lauren Ashley Bishop. Dan Telfer runs the show and it was an outstanding lineup. Chicago is not only geographically in the middle but I get that vibe from the city as well. New York it is not but thats ok, it has no interest in being like that. This is the city that represents the middle of America. No offense Dallas. The comedians represent that as well. Like Denver, Chicago comedians seem to have a great respect for their craft. There are no easy laughs. They'll make you work a little bit more. Chicago is the city in this country that is most synonymous with comedy. The best comedians might eventually go to NY or LA but it seems like large majority grew up referring to Chicago as the big city. There were several great comedians on the show Prescott Tolk, Adam Burke, Cameron Esposito, Chad Briggs and several others.

Last night I went to Timothy O'Tooles on for the Comedians You Should Know Show. Danny Kallas runs it and they have a great regular cast of comedians. It's booked ahead of time so I didn't get a chance to get up this time but again if you're heading through Chi-town I highly recommend it.

Coles Bar also has a great open mic on Wednesday nights. The show starts at 9pm and goes till 2am. I think there were 40 comedians last night but it goes by pretty fast and the two hosts Adam and Cameron were very cool to veterans and newcomers alike.

Tonight I'm going to Chicago Joe's for the RIOT Comedy Show. Once again this week I am kind of a last minute fill in and on some level I can tell people are a little guarded about letting new people just waltz in and take stage time from the locals but I try to explain that at this point I'm not local to anywhere.

I know I mentioned this to some people but the road is ending for a time. I'm moving to New York in June. I love me some humidity!

The road is a goddamn impossible way of life said Robbie Robertson. But a necessary one I think.

Thanks for reading

-Matt

Coming Up:

Wyandotte, MI

Connxtions Toledo, OH

Funny Bone Showcase - Columbus, OH

Albion College

NACA Northern Plains

Move to New York