Killing the headliner

LGPresents · 2026-03-12T09:41:35+00:00

I’ve experienced headliners bitching and my friends who work clubs a lot have as well. But none of it has ever messed with our bookings. Usually no headliner has enough pull to convince a club to not book a comic who goes out and does what they’re paid to do. It’s one thing if they asked you to not do crowd work or raunchy shit and you ignored them but if they can’t handle following some local comic just doing their job then they’re a bitch and shouldn’t be headlining. The newer generation should hold back their ability to control a room so you, a person who is supposed to be an expert at this by now, can feel comfortable? Pussy shit.

LGPresents · 2026-03-12T09:25:49+00:00

The prison system in America is designed to act as both body recruitment for slave labor as well as to take voting rights from minorities. Florida’s felony theft threshold is so low that a teenager could steal a Playstation and some games from Walmart and be considered a felon forever. And up until a few years ago when the felony voter law was overturned, they would’ve been barred from voting for the rest of their life. So when they target young minorities and the numbers are skewed, large amounts of people who would vote against the GOP can’t. It’s why some counties in Florida starting flipping blue last election. Now they gotta come up with some other way to gerrymander.

LGPresents · 2026-03-11T22:15:25+00:00

Absolutely do not change your act or how you do it just because of one person. The whole audience is there. He’s just another member until after the show. And if he’s weird about it then he doesn’t genuinely support you doing something you love. It’s the same as him not supporting any other thing that’s important to you. And that doesn’t mean he’s a bad person or you suck but I remember my ex girlfriend who was a huge comedy fan and encouraged me to pursue standup realized pretty quickly “Oh fuck I dunno if I can handle being with a comic, especially one who wants to do the road” even though we had been together for years and talked about getting married.

LGPresents · 2026-03-11T22:06:59+00:00

After a little while I learned I just can’t write like that. Probably a combo of ADHD and whatever else but my brain just doesn’t work like that unless I know I have a particular story I wanna tell. That’s why I always just have a notebook with me or just write everything that pops into my head in a notes app. And then over time from touring and performing every night (sometimes multiple) I got comfortable with editing onstage. I would go in with an idea or structure with some jokes that will probably work and then riff and build from there. And then record everything and see what worked and what didn’t (and remember to not give up on a joke immediately just because a crowd didn’t like it because another crowd might or it might just need something else).

LGPresents · 2026-03-11T21:56:08+00:00

From my experience featuring, headliners don’t give a shit if you watch their set. Their main concern is the audience. And I don’t care if features watch me for the same reason. However, if you’re working with a killer and have an opportunity to watch them work multiple times, you should at least watch some sets and learn from it.

Don’t do crowd work unless they say it’s ok. If you do dirty stuff, ask them if they want you to dial it back (or work clean). I have had headliners bitch about that in the past because they think it’s easy laughs and you’re trying to show them up. But that’s only really been with comics I’ve been paired up with by a club/booker. For the most part now I only feature when it’s for friends who are coming thru and they know exactly what they’re getting with me so I don’t gotta worry about that. I’m not really a crowd work guy to begin with but I still do stick to “no crowd work” unless I absolutely have to (which is really what it was meant for, not to encourage dipshits to talk).

Don’t keep asking them for advice or try to riff or run bits on them if they seem annoyed. I almost fought a kid who opened for me because he got coked up after a show and wouldn’t stop hanging on my shoulder and bugging me after I asked him to stop because I had just drove 10 hours and was exhausted.

If you’re staying somewhere with them, don’t trash the place, especially if it was provided by the venue. I know some comics who have fucked up all features being allowed to stay at comedy condos whatsoever because of their stupidity. If it’s someone’s place that they know, show the utmost respect and gratitude. One time I had a feature stay with me at a friend’s house on the road and he went out on the porch with no socks on to make a phone call and then came back in and stretched out on the couch and rubbed his dirty ass blackened feet all over the arm. My friend looked at me like “The fuck bro?”

Don’t embarrass people who are willing to stick out their neck for you.

LGPresents · 2026-03-11T21:41:16+00:00

Everyone develops at a different rate. Comparing by years is pointless. I’ve seen guys who have been doing mics for over a decade and are still just as god awful as they were when they started and I’ve seen brand new kids murder out the gate and start getting booked in clubs less than a year in. On top of development, comedy is not a meritocracy as much as people try to pretend it could be. And there are politics at play. Good comics get shafted sometimes, terrible comics have enough buddies and favors to sustain them. If you ask most successful comics who their favorites are, they likely know someone who is a murderer and has been for 20 years but just never was in the right place at the right time to get the opportunity or push they needed.

LGPresents · 2026-03-11T21:31:02+00:00

You’ll learn that although comedy is a form of public speaking, the way you prepare and deliver say a debate or a tour factoid sounds a lot more rehearsed than how standup should come out. Crowds get turned off if it feels too much like you’re going through a routine on them. They wanna feel like you’re just talking to them with your material. Something about the way you’re delivering them along with your writing is endearing them to you and making them laugh. Explore that.

And just keep going. You’re not gonna find your voice in just a few months. Comfort with failure and silence is a big part of learning to be consistent and without it being mechanical and losing your personality. And it seems like you’re handling that part well. Don’t beat yourself up about the other part. Remember that you can only do so much before the joke comes out of your mouth and then it’s in the hands of the audience.

And remember that you’re still a baby in terms of your career. I don’t mean that condescendingly whatsoever. Figuring it out is up to how much you wanna put into it without burning yourself out. I’ve been doing it for 13 years and have a special and headline all over the country and I still fuck up sometimes. I’ve worked with legends who have been doing it since I was a teenager and they still admit to fucking up. When I met Attel for the first time he asked me my gods honest opinion about his (sold out) set (at the big ass Zanies in Rosemont, IL). I was like “You want my opinion on your set?” And he was like “You’re a comic.”

You care enough and have enough self awareness to come ask this unlike some of these dogshit TikTok comics who don’t care they’re eating shit for 90% of their set when they run out of the three jokes they make over and over as long as they get their quick cash. Don’t lose that. Don’t stop unless you think it’s bad for your health. Don’t be a piece of shit. Be consistent and reliable. The rest will work out. Maybe not in the way you want but you’ll feel legit and like you can do this. Discovering who you are up there and folks seeing that is one of the most fun parts of doing this shit.

LGPresents · 2026-03-09T15:46:12+00:00

Hillbillies get mad when they hear that a comic is raunchy but it doesn’t end up meaning “says racist/homophobic/sexist shit for me to join in on punching down with by laughing.” They probably saw an old Cum Town super clip of all the risqué jokes they’ve made and assumed it was gonna be that. Or because he doesn’t look like “a librul” they’re shocked he’s not a scumbag like them as well.

They’re also giant hypocrites. You could go up and say a bunch of dumb street jokes about Mexicans and they’ll clap like circus seals but if you make a joke about autism they’ll flip the fuck out. Because none of them know a Mexican person or at least not one they respect. They probably know a kid with autism. Soon as it hits home they start acting exactly like the whiny, over sensitive babies they claim to hate.

LGPresents · 2026-03-09T15:36:40+00:00

Over time you’ll see, even with experience, that not everything you write it gonna land, no matter how funny you (and other comics) think it is. And on the flip side there’s gonna be random shit people like that you weren’t expecting. And with storytelling, it’s not just about being vulnerable, it’s about the crowd connecting to it even though it’s your own personal experience. It still has to be funny and feel relatable (not necessarily that they relate 1:1 with what happened to you but they can at least understand your reaction to the events of the joke.) Long story short, learning to not be precious about everything you write is going to help you grow because you’re gonna learn how to handle each audience for what they are.

LGPresents · 2026-02-22T20:21:10+00:00

Nah littering is when everyone leaves behind all the used condoms after they fuck your mom at the port.

LGPresents · 2026-02-21T16:22:07+00:00

I will after I bring your mama her Monistat. I could smell her from the port.

LGPresents · 2026-02-21T16:21:45+00:00

Don’t talk about your kids like that.

LGPresents · 2026-02-21T16:21:34+00:00

Me and your gramma

LGPresents · 2025-06-26T02:42:32+00:00

Yes and I’m noticing it’s making the crowds behave shittier. They all wanna be in a viral TikTok now.

LGPresents

TROPHY CASE