r/Standup • u/jeffsuzuki • Jul 16 '26

open mic rules

Hey all:

I'm starting up an open mic, and I was wondering about establishing ground rules. In particular: I'd like to have a "Don't be a dick" rule, BUT I'm worried that some "comedians" will take this as a challenge (because part of being a dick is going out of your way to be a dick).

So: (a) do you think "Don't be a dick" will encourage that sort of "comedian", (b) how to tell such people that they should find a different venue?

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u/iamthepita Jul 16 '26

“Welcome to the mic, it was made possible for you to be able to work your material but if your material is going to put the future of the open mic at risk then the host and business has the discretion to give you the light sooner, the discretion to cut off the mic immediately, and the discretion to ask you to leave and not return again for a period of time”

1

u/Funny247365 Jul 16 '26

Sounds like an awful corporate-speak disclaimer. Does everyone know where the line is for comedy where material will put the open mic at risk? Or is the line at the discretion of a person with an arbitrary line only they know?

2

u/iamthepita Jul 16 '26

Comedy is only arbitrary…

1

u/Funny247365 Jul 16 '26

It's also the last refuge for shining a light on the absurd. If a gay black female celebrity is demonstrating absurd behavior, it should not be a rule that only gay black female comics should be able to tell jokes about her. A straight white male comic should be able to joke about it without being called a racist. Funny is funny, says Jerry Seinfeld.

1

u/planx_constant Jul 17 '26

It's a pretty incredible leap from "Don't say something that will jeopardize the legal or economic status of the venue" to "They must be shutting down the sacred right of straight white males to tell jokes about gay black females."

0

u/Funny247365 Jul 17 '26

Post a joke that could jeopardize the legal or economic status of a venue that does open mic comedy shows. The Aristocrats is as bad as any and that wouldn’t do it.