The van is the stage.
Pull up where people already are, run the sound off the van, do twenty minutes, sell from the side door, and send the crowd to tonight's room. It is street performing with a van behind it — so the local rules come first, and they differ city to city. The book says what to build it on: “Sound is everything.”
A pop-up on the day of the show
The point is tonight's tickets and a mailing list, not the hat — and a comic who already drives a van has a stage in it.
The comics who did a version of it from their own interviews on WTF
Parks near tonight's room
Pick tonight's room from the Club Directory for the parks within a 15-minute walk of it — so the crowd can follow you there — or type any town, and the room's address if you have it. Either way: what's on in town this week where the town's listings have it, and the city's own rules, or the searches to find them.
Four permissions, and the van
Street performing, amplified sound, the park and selling are different permissions, and cities differ. Here is what to look up in each town — and three cities' own rules, read on their own pages. Rules change: check the city's page before each stop.
Three cities' own rules read on each city's own page — the date is under each
Sound first, then twenty minutes
Outdoors, “Sound is everything” — and the crowd didn't plan to watch. Both halves are the book's Topic 89, on outdoor shows.
The rig
The set
One mark on every member's van — your name under it
The D.O.C. Comedy on Wheels decal goes on a member's van; the comic's name goes on a separate plate under it, so the plate swaps when the van changes hands. It is drawn in the D.O.C. logo's own shapes and colors.
For D.O.C. members. A member may put this decal on their own van or car — as drawn, not changed, with their name on its own plate under it — for Comedy on Wheels pop-ups and their own touring. It isn't for sale and doesn't go on merch. Membership opens soon. The way to the print file:
- Start your SUCDb record on Your SUCDb record — it's free, and until D.O.C. opens submissions it stays on your device.
- Send it once submissions open. Sending your record is also your application to become a member; a member's invitation helps, and you can apply without one (step 5 of the record).
- Once you're a member, the print file comes to you.
For D.O.C. members. A member may put this decal on their own van or car — as drawn, not changed, with their name on its own plate under it — for Comedy on Wheels pop-ups and their own touring. It isn't for sale and doesn't go on merch. The way to the print file:
- Write your SUCDb record on Your SUCDb record — it's free.
- Send it from its last step, Review and send. Sending your record is also your application to become a member; a member's invitation helps, and you can apply without one.
- Once you're a member, the print file comes to you.
Type your name — take the file to any sign shop or decal printer
Download the plate (SVG, for the shop) Download a picture (PNG)
The lettering is text: ask the shop to convert it to outlines. Your name stays in this browser, nowhere else.
Vinyl or magnets — the options read on each vendor's own page, 25 September 2026
Sources
Topic numbers refer to D.O.C.'s companion book, Stand-Up Comedy: From Writing to Touring. Quoted guidance comes from it: Topics 89 on outdoor shows, 86 on poor sound, 9 on clean sets, 241 and 383 on merchandise, 248 on parking and 250 on taxes. The book's Comedy on Wheels page presents the same plan in print. City rules are taken from each city's official pages — New York's and Austin's consulted on 25 September 2026, Chicago's on 28 September 2026 — and vinyl prices from each vendor's own site, consulted on 25 September 2026; each price is one vendor's, not a market survey. Parks come from OpenStreetMap, and each town's events calendar from the local listings D.O.C. keeps for the Club Directory's cities. The comedians' stories are from their own interviews on WTF with Marc Maron, cited by episode and minute. The rules for The Twelve are on Make the Trip Pay.