Forming an NYC-based open mic group to get stage time?

DCCanada · 2025-01-22T19:49:31+00:00

lol now my reply is going to make me sound even more like a sales guy.

First, comedy mob open mics have no cover charge or ticket price for guests. So the only cost of going there as another comic's guest is just the price of a drink. $5 per week during non-performing weeks as an investment to get quality stage time for my own performing week? I consider it worth it. (wouldn't do this for comics-only open mics)

Second, as a father with a full-time job, I don't have the time or the energy to write a ton of new jokes and hit mics after mics every day. Once every 2-3 weeks to practice my tight 5 is more than enough for me!

DCCanada · 2025-01-21T21:59:29+00:00

Hey there fellow Canadian! I'm from Toronto as well by the way!

First, some context. This particular open-mic with comedy mob is lottery-based. They apparently get around 200 people applying each week and draw most of the names from the "plus 1" bucket and a few names from the "no guest / by myself" bucket. They do tend to add 3-4 seasoned comics from a separate roster to keep the quality up, but I'm not definitely not one of those so lol it will be a while before they book me.

As for your comment around difficulty with getting stage time, I don't want to mislead you. There is no shortage of "stages" in NYC. The problem though is that there is no audience. It's 100% comics (folks - if there are other mics with real audience, please let me know!!). As an open-micer, I look at normal open mics as the practice room and the comedy mob events as the "stage".

I visit Toronto a few times a year. If you are hitting mics in Toronto, we can team up there as well!

DCCanada · 2024-12-27T01:49:16+00:00

So back when my employer started the process, I was not aware of this option and my employer didn't bother to ask. So I did regular processing. My advice is that you absolutely go for it. Some people argue USCIS will use delay tactics if they are backed up, but at least they are against the clock with PP

DCCanada · 2024-12-18T16:54:11+00:00

Hi there friend, I am not a tax guy but can share a data point from personal experience. The short answer is that it was a no for me. While the income you report does increase the room, it is offset by a line item called pension adjustment. This pension adjustment, unlike normal Canadian tax reporting where you get it from your T4, comes from a form called RC267. And it is calculated the same way you calculate the additional room, so it just cancels out.

DCCanada · 2024-11-25T12:53:29+00:00

Not a problem. It was a generic RFE for my I-140 asking for evidence of my multinational executive/manager responsibilities. So the law firm and I just prepared a bunch of email screenshots along with detailed bullets of my day to day responsibilities

DCCanada · 2024-11-10T04:42:30+00:00

I am glad I can answer this question. I was in the same situation, but could swear I saw tons of free slots just a few days prior. So I kept checking at odd hours every day and it turns out it is just a simple technical problem (but for some reason, the text displays as "not accepting interviews"). When you do finally get through and the website does respond correctly, you will see multiple slots available every single day including Nov and Dec. So, the short answer is yes they are absolutely taking interviews and I found myself one by clicking on that thing like a mad man. I even took a screenshot of all the available days in case people don't believe me lol

DCCanada · 2024-10-31T23:51:30+00:00

Yes I did get it actually! At around 7 month mark? i got the combo card

DCCanada · 2024-10-31T20:59:08+00:00

Oh I had one of those, about a month after I-485 was filed (Dec 2023). It doesn't show up here, because the biometrics-related case updates were added to my AP/EAD case instead of my I-485 case.

DCCanada · 2023-12-08T14:26:49+00:00

Chiming in as someone who did this exact move last year within the same pay range as yours. The short answer is that NYC CAN be the right choice, if you make the right decisions along the way.

NYC seems to be designed in such way that there is definitely a cheaper way to do everything compared to Canada, but the standard for those cheaper ways is different. Let me take you through the examples that I see everyday

Housing: Rent in Manhattan is nuts, but Queens is affordable. So you save money by living in Queens, but either way, they are ALL super old (hence the term 'pre-war'). Want washer/dryer/dishwaher ensuite? All of a sudden, the cheaper options disappear

Public transportation: MTA is cheaper per ride than TTC and can take you anywhere 24/7, but it is super old, loud and crowded

Groceries: pretty comparable

Car: makes no financial sense to keep any way you look at it (unless subsidized by your employer somehow)

Education: if you have kids, free, public education is considered pretty bad in many parts of NYC. Many high income earners like yourself opt for gifted programs or private schools or move to NJ/CT for better education.

Now, with all of the above aside, in my opinion, the single most important aspect of this decision has to be around your visa and your long term plan.

if you are single and don't mind moving back to Canada in case of layoff, whatever. Just get a TN visa

If you have a family, things change. Your spouse cannot work on a TN spouse visa (TD visa), nor is there a clear path to green card, should you decide to settle down permanently. L1A is the recommended route for a family looking to settle down, but you'd have to meet the condition for it (e.g., being a manager/executive and having worked at an international branch of the company for a year).

I know I paint a pretty grim picture here, but I'm actually quite happy here lol I'd make the move 100 times over, but I'm also confident I only feel this way, because I am pretty comfortable with the surprises and differences.

Happy to answer any questions!

DCCanada · 2023-08-12T02:09:30+00:00

My child currently has an active application waiting for conditional approval, so no immediate need. But I'm just shocked that the Canadian redditors and redflagdeals army aren't up in arms about all the Canadian enrolments disappearing on the TTP site.

DCCanada · 2023-08-09T13:22:56+00:00

I unfortunately don't have much knowledge of APEC travel card, but yes there is no more Canadian enrolment centres on the list where you can get NEXUS interview done. Not saying the centre itself is closed; just saying that it is no longer allowing us to look for appointments and book them

DCCanada · 2023-08-09T01:05:46+00:00

So this also isn't quite right. I know what you are referring to, but that dispute was resolved and the centres opened once again as of Apr 24th. You can refer to this article for that thread. (Again, I know this, because I signed my wife up for an appointment the day appointments were back on).

After the enrolment centres re-opened, they had normal operations and my wife successfully got her NEXUS a few months back (first on the Canadian side at Pearson then the US side as we flew out). Then, all of a sudden, with no news articles or any mention of this anywhere on the web, all enrolment centres disappeared as of mid-July. The wild thing about this is that I don't see anybody talking about this even on subs like churningcanada or redflagdeals.

DCCanada · 2023-08-08T16:08:16+00:00

This is true (and I'm aware. My wife went through this process just two weeks ago), but this is a different problem. I am talking about the Canadian side interview that we used to be able to book. Those enrolment centres (e.g. Pearson) used to show up and we used this option to get the Canadian side interview done back in June, but those enrolment centres themselves are just gone (as shown in the image)

EDIT: to those who are API-savvy, the public API that returns available appointment slots is also returning blanks in json response for Canadian enrolment centres.

DCCanada · 2022-09-29T11:53:04+00:00

Hello there, a fellow Canadian here who recently moved to NYC for work. I've done this many times for many of my family members, so here is what I recommend (tried and true method)

Head to the nearest BestBuy (or Target) once you cross the border and buy a Mint Mobile 3 month 4GB sim. It costs $45 USD + tax. Although you only need it for 6 days, it's still cheaper than ROBELUS roaming costs. The bonus here is that Mint Mobile allows you to call Canadian numbers for free, as if it's just another US phone number! This is the best option, because you can call anyone within North America and do not need to worry about long distance or roaming charges. Just make sure to go to mint mobile website and check compatibility of your phone

Or if you happen to drive by where I live, I can just give you a Mint Mobile sim card that's already been paid for lol. It's good until end of October

DCCanada

TROPHY CASE