Comic's Corner

Tools for comedians.

The other side of the mic. This half of D.O.C. is for the person holding the microphone: where to get up this week, who is paying for a comic, how the set actually went, and how to get to the next town — and home again — with money left over. Pick a door: the tools for comedians below run in the order a career does.

Where are you?

Never been up Stage Time for a mic this week, and Nerves & Hecklers for the hour before.

Up for a year or two The Writers’ Room for the material, Comic Critique on your tape, Clean vs. Dirty on the act, the Gig Board for paid spots, and Get Paid, Get Back.

On the road The Tour Planner, On the Road and Your Team.

Not sure Road Maps — Where are you?: each stage, its next ninety days, and what not to pay for yet.

Get upFind a stage tonight, a paid spot next month, a club to aim at.

Stage TimeOpen mics in Houston, Dallas–Fort Worth and Austin, and starting a room anywhereOpen → Gig BoardCalls for comics from the rooms — paid spots, hosts, private nights — and where to look meanwhileOpen → Club DirectoryThe clubs on one map: the nights, open mics, how to get bookedOpen → Nerves & HecklersStage fright, the hour before, hecklers — and keeping the show safeOpen →

Get betterWhat the tape says about the set, what goes in the act, and the long road.

Comic CritiquePaste a set’s transcript: your filler, pace, swearing and silencesOpen → Clean vs. DirtyTwelve rounds on what goes in your actOpen → Road MapsWhere you are, your next ninety days, what a gig leaves youOpen → The Writers’ RoomYour first five, an idea to a tight five, twenty joke shapes, writing for hireOpen → The Working ComicTaxes, corporate and college dates, socials, travel, fans — the life around the setOpen → The D.O.C. BookFrom Writing to Touring: over 1,000 pages, over 450 topics, fully illustratedOpen → The Hollywood EffectFake jobs, fees up front, “pay if you slay” — knowing a real offerOpen →

Get thereThe trip, the car, the room when you land, and making the date pay.

Working a RoomBooked somewhere new: load-in, the dead hours, what’s open afterOpen → Tour PlannerThe run, what each stop leaves you, and the scorecard afterOpen → Buddy UpTwo to four comics, one car: the lineup and the splitOpen → Comedy on WheelsThe van as the stage: pop-up sets, the local rules, a name plateOpen → On the RoadThe car kit, the breakdown plan, roadside help across state linesOpen → Make the Trip PayThe Twelve — a paid drink with twelve fans — and merchOpen → Get Paid, Get BackThe deal in writing, the door, and when they don’t payOpen →

Get seenFilling the room, your team, and your SUCDb record.

Filling the RoomFilming a set, and the posts written for youOpen → Your TeamAgents, managers, bookers: who does what, and a directoryOpen → Your SUCDb recordJoin D.O.C.: your record, your dates, your termsOpen →

Comics only: The Green Room — talk to other comics, find someone to write with, and Help a Comic Out, town by town. By invitation from a comic already inside.

One set, start to finish: the tools for comedians, in order

Each door above does one job. Used in a row, they follow a set from the sign-up sheet to the drive home, and the next set gets easier for it.

Find the mic. Stage Time lists tonight's open mics that comedy clubs publish on their own pages, and Houston, Dallas–Fort Worth and Austin room by room. No club near you? Its Life's a Stage tab finds the bars, coffee shops and halls that would host a night.
Settle the nerves. Nerves & Hecklers gives you a five-item routine for the hour before and a breathing timer for the last few minutes.
Tape it. A phone at the back of the room is enough to start. A clip-on mic makes the tape worth hearing, and Stage Time's Tech tab shows how to set one up.
Log it. Thirty seconds in the car: the room, the minutes, the bits and how each one went. Over a few months the log builds your tight five from what actually held up.
Read the tape. Paste the transcript into Comic Critique for your pace, your filler words, the swearing and the silences.
Rewrite. The Writers’ Room takes an idea to a tight five, and Clean vs. Dirty helps you decide what stays in the act.

From the first paid spot to the road

The tools for comedians who are past the open mic are about the date itself: finding it, getting there and coming home with something to show for it.

Find paid spots. The Gig Board carries calls for comics from the rooms: paid spots, hosts and private nights.
Get it in writing. Get Paid, Get Back puts the deal in writing before you go. Pay from a spot is income even when it comes in cash at the end of the night; the IRS explains what that means at tax time on its gig economy tax center, and The Working Comic covers taxes for comics.
Plan the run. The Tour Planner shows what each stop leaves you. Buddy Up splits one car and the lineup between two to four comics.
Land well. On the Road packs the car kit and the breakdown plan, and Working a Room covers the load-in, the dead hours and what is open after.
Get seen. Filling the Room covers filming a set and the posts that sell a show. Your Team explains agents, managers and bookers, with a directory.

What these tools keep, and where

What you type into these tools stays with you. Your Stage Time log, your Tour Planner scorecard, the Buddy Up agreement, the trunk list on On the Road and your five on Nerves & Hecklers are kept in this browser, on this device, and nowhere else. Comic Critique reads a transcript inside the page and uploads nothing.

Because it lives in the browser, clearing the browser's data for this site clears it too. Stage Time lets you download your log as a file that opens in a spreadsheet, and load it again on a new phone or computer.

Not sure where to begin? Road Maps starts from where you are and lays out your next ninety days.