All right, good morning, welcome to Good News
York. It's Tuesday. I don't even know what month
it is, so I'm not gonna attempt to do the date.
Mike Brindisi, Matt Mazer, you're tuning into
the day that we, I knew it was gonna happen at
some point. We showed up with the same. Alphadon.
Somehow our laundry piles had the same clean
shirt on the top. We're on the same side. I don't
know how that worked. Is it like when women get,
like their periods are on the same cycle? It
might be. Like now we're on the same clothing.
What color underwear are you wearing? Let me
check. I'm wearing pink thongs. Blue. Blue underwear.
Going blue underwear today. All right, I don't
know when to answer that because now it's getting
scary. Okay. Anyway, we don't... Want to delay
this nonsense any longer because we have a guest
waiting for us We do give us a quick introduction
and then we will bring him with us I feel like
I don't have an introduction because I feel like
We've just mentioned him so many damn times on
the podcast because we've had a bunch of comedians
on and we always reference Mike Peters Yeah,
Mike Peters at this point. I call him a friend
of mine a brilliant Comedian and I would say
promoter. He started home -brewed comedy It started
as a small thing and now it has blown up and
I'm glad to be a part of it He has created single
-handedly created a comedy scene in All of upstate
New York and it's incredible. It's awesome and
we have him on the show ladies Jim. Welcome Mike
Peters Mike Peters. What's up, buddy? Welcome
to good New York. Hey, thanks guys. Appreciate
you extending this invitation. And by the way,
I am not brilliant. I did not single -handedly
create a scene, though I will accept both of
those. Is it fair to say you're like the Phil
Farta of the Southern Tier? He is the Phil Farta
of the Southern Tier. I don't know if that's
something he might want to be called, but...
I don't know. Anytime you're compared to Phil
Farta, it seems like an insult. That's perfect.
I think you have more hair. Yeah. I do have more
hair. Yeah, see? Way more hair. Actually, Mike,
we were talking about this off the air recently
and I need your... Clicking. Sorry. I need your
point of view on this. Doesn't it seem like Phil
continuously always has hot women around him?
Yeah, I wonder why. It's probably an accident.
It has to be an accident. But we were saying
the other day, I'm like, why is it every time
I see Phil, he's got hot women with him? And
I love Phil, but he's Brad Pitt. That is the
blessing of being funny. That's true. That's
true. Having a mild sense of humor is the only
way a schlub like me ever found a wife. That's
true. That's true. I'm not taking any shots of
you, man, but I'm in the same situation. being
mildly funny, like I can, I'll make my girlfriend
laugh so much harder off stage than on stage.
And like without that skill, no way. I'm probably,
listen, I got three cats and I have three cats
for a reason because I plan on being alone for
a long time. So Mike, enough about us and people
that aren't here. Let's talk about you. How did
you get into this? Did you start out as a comedian
yourself? And then kind of stumble into the business
side of things or how did that work out for you?
Yeah, absolutely. I started doing stand up when
I was 33. So I'm 42 now. So if you do the math,
Mike, I'll help you. That's almost nine years.
Thank you. Thank you. I was at 12. Thank you.
No, I used to be a sports writer and I always
wanted to do stand up. And then I stopped having
a second shift job. And when I moved up to New
York, I was in Baltimore for a while, moved back
to New York and I was like, I need an outlet
to write. So I started doing standup. And then
Mike can probably attest to this, but like when
you start doing standup, you're mad at everybody
else because you're not getting enough work.
Like people in the local scene aren't booking
you. So I started hosting the open mic in Binghamton
like four or five months in almost by default,
like nobody else wanted to do it. And I was like,
fine, I'll do it. Cause I've always been like
a a natural leader. I was like, screw it, if
you're not going to get me on your show, then
I'll just start booking my own shows. Because
what I've learned, maybe the most important thing
in comedy I've learned is that nobody can not
book you on your own show. That's true. That's
very true. But what I did was like, there were
a couple of people who were really working hard
in the Binghamton scene, and I didn't feel like
they were getting enough. recognition for the
work they were putting in. So I wanted to promote
them too. So I would book three or four people.
I'd go to Ithaca to see people. I'd go to Syracuse
and Scranton. And I wanted to make sure the,
in my mind, the underrepresented comedians who
were working got their due. And then a bar owner
at Matty B's named Marty Arneson is like, Hey
man, do you want to do weekly shows here? And
I was like, yeah. So Then I'm like, OK, I'm constantly
on the hunt for newer comedians just to add because,
you know, it happens everywhere. But you make
friends and then like you only book your friends.
Yeah. And then eventually it's your it's a disservice.
No matter how good those comedians are, it's
a disservice to the audience members like Adam
Sandler movies. Yeah, but everybody's seen that
show. Yeah. Yeah, but they're better. Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah. No, I'm not. No, I love those guys.
Right. But there are lists and they're doing
the different so it's similar but but The guys
I saw coming through and getting shows every
week every two weeks Whatever it was in the same
room with the same audience. We're telling the
same jokes and it's Eventually that audience
is not gonna come back because they're gonna
they would recite jokes to me via text. Oh, so
I'm like, okay and So I'm like, let me go to
Ithaca. Let me find somebody funny there. Let
me, whatever. And then that kind of tumbled into
me going off on my own. And because I was working
with a group for a little bit, then I went off
on my own and I'm like, screw everybody else.
I want to do everything my way. And then I started
finding new venues in different areas because
I didn't want to oversaturate the one area, Binghamton.
So yeah, it just. Somebody from Syracuse reached
out. Hey, you want to do this show somebody from
Cortland reached out Seneca Lake like all this
stuff. So it was like a little bit of an avalanche
and then the pandemic hit and then I had to rebuild
but at least I had the framework but yeah, it's
yeah definitely started as a comedian who was
like hungry for work and I took advantage of
an apathetic town and scene and said fuck you
guys if you got I hope I can swear whatever.
Oh, yeah But I was like fuck you guys if you're
not gonna put in the work I will and I will benefit
I Think it's worked. That's awesome. That's great.
We were on a Christian network Till he just swore
now. We're gonna get dropped. Thanks Mike. I
Feel like the Sarah Silverman looking over his
shoulders will save us so that's a phenomenal
background I love dude. I absolutely what is
that? Are those like like canvas prints? Yeah
Yeah, there it was a pandemic project because
I told Mike this a little bit ago, but my relationship
with my last girlfriend went so well that we
had separate bedrooms. And like she moved out
and I basically didn't know. No, I knew. Trust
me. I knew it was a party day. And but I for
a year I had a guest bedroom there. I bought
it for OK. Comedians come in. They can have my
second room. It was used one time by a person
and it ended up being like a cat room. So like
the cats would have the bed. It was a ridiculously
expensive bed for a cat. It was not an expensive
bed, but for a cat. My cat, one of my favorite
guys in the world will sleep on a cardboard box.
So he did not need a queen size bed. But no,
I took that out and I'm like, all right, I have
the pandemic money. I was on unemployment. So
I was getting that bonus check. And I'm like,
screw it. Let me spend some money. And yeah,
I bought 63 canvas prints of albums I really
like. That's awesome. There's offspring smash
and motion city soundtrack, bad religion. You
name it. All the albums I grew up with, my favorite
bands, and a lot of my favorite comedians. And
I'm like, let me dedicate that. And then I got
my picture for my podcast on the Mike and Mike
Peters. I love that, dude. I was like, everybody
needs one fan, right? Sure. So I might as well
be me. So I put that up there. So when I record
my podcast predominantly through Zoom, then I
at least have something to look at behind me.
So I figured and I wrote it off. So perfect.
I told him it reminds me. Remember, we used to
go to Hot Topic and pick out a T -shirt that
had all the squares, but much cooler. And I would
buy all those t -shirts. Except for the Mike
Peters one. I wouldn't buy the Mike Peters one,
but I would buy all the other ones. I feel like
you had that Offspring one. No. You strike me
as a dude that had that t -shirt. You know what?
Offspring, so I'm very big obviously into rock
music, pop punk. I never really got into Offspring.
I was Blink, I was Green Day, A New Found Glory.
Slight, I don't want to take too much of a detour.
But I gotta ask, do you have, either one of you
guys, do you have any of those 90s band t -shirts
that you got as a kid in the 90s? Do you have
any of them still? I do not. I have a couple
Metallica shirts. Cause those are, we're old
enough now, that shit is vintage and it's worth
money. That's pretty, I never thought about that.
I have, like, unless like they were ruined or
a girlfriend took them, I have all of my shirts
from like high school, I can't fit into one of
them. But I don't wanna, I think I was like 185,
180 in high school and I am bigger than that
now. So they're all like saved somewhere. We
always, I don't throw away my clothes because
I'm hopeful that I can one day fit into them.
But like, I have some larges and I'm like, my
leg will not fit in a larga. So my girlfriend's
like, you should throw them away. I'm like, you
should wear them. She's like, I'm not gonna wear
a bling when they do shirt. Whatever I got nine
of them. You can hand them down to your cat.
Here's the thing if you have original band shirts,
man That's like when grandpa used to collect
stamps. Yeah, that shit is worth money. It's
true It's an investment at this point. You're
gonna be able to buy a house with it You're gonna
need to be able to buy a house with it, but I
Have those safe buddy keep my balls in there
I have a brown cardigan sweater that I bought
at the Illion Salvation Army. Hell yeah. Back
in 97. Yep. It was when I had first heard Nirvana.
The old Sally Anne's. And we went from spandex
and teased hair and Def Leppard and then overnight
there's a guy in a cardigan, combat boots and
long hair screaming at me in Smells Like Teen
Spirit video and I went out and bought a cardigan
because I thought that was the coolest thing
and that's the only thing I have. Still a great
sweater. And I wear it on Thanksgiving. It became
my Thanksgiving. But anyway, enough about me.
Why? This is great. You're our guest, man. So,
Mike, you went from being in comedy to putting
comedy together for other folks. What is that
like for you today? What is your business model?
Because I see you all over the place doing all
kinds of things. And what's your plan? My plan
is basically it's homebrewed comedy is where
I run everything. So I don't want to stray too
far from the general ideal, which is promoting
the local comedians. So every once in a while
I get somebody from Boston or Connecticut or
LA. But what I like about my business is that
the comedian can be from your backyard. Like
Mike and I did a show in Dryden on Saturday.
I'm from Binghamton. I am 40 minutes away. Mike
is, you're from Utica, right? Originally from
the Mohawk Valley, Utica area. Now I live in
Ithaca, yeah. So you're what, 25 minutes away
from the place? Yeah, 25, 30 minutes. Erin Runtowski
is a phenomenal comedian. She's from, I forget
where she grew up, but she's lived in LA for
a long time. She lives in Utica. So like, the
three of us together drove a combined like, two
and a half hours, three hours, whatever. And
we got there and we put on a really good show
for pretty cheap, $10 tickets. And yeah, we had
like 50 some people there. And people might poo
that or whatever, but like we had so much fun.
People left, we got another show date, Mike branded.
And that's what it is. It's like, we do a good
show, we get another show. but like my whole
thing is I want to I want to show the audience
that you don't need to go as much as I like the
clubs you don't need to go to the comedy of the
Carlson you don't need to go to the Syracuse
Albany Funny Bones just to see the state theater
just to see comedians like yeah you have options
near you for Chibra and these are the people
who hopefully are going to be ascending to those
club stages and I work with a lot of people who
do clubs and theaters and whatever. And that's
great. But I don't know what I want in the long
term. But right now, I want to keep being the
conduit to from like open mics to good shows
so people can feel like they're not spinning
their wheels. Like all the work they're putting
into on the side is going to pay off. with 60
people who didn't know their name. Like they're
not. Yeah. Let's take a shot at Mike Brindisi,
because I like doing that. But who the fuck is
that guy? Like, sure. But he goes there and oh,
yeah, I laughed at that one joke. Just the one.
Just the one. But they'll have a good time because
somebody they didn't know of until they got there
made them laugh. And they're like. Oh, wow. There
is funny. There are funny people here. And I
really like doing that. So I don't know. Like,
I think that kind of is my model. That's great.
Let's promote from within. And I still host open
mics. And it's a really good spot to grab new
talent and sure reward people. I try to be as
humble as possible and say, oh, I'm not rewarding
you with a show. People, it is. Yeah. You do
the open mics to get recognized by your peers
first, and then the audience. I don't know, it's
fun. And let me just embarrass you in a good
way for a moment. But coming from my point of
view, one of the comedians, the thing that's
amazing about what Mike is doing is that he's
never strayed from exactly what he was saying.
Like his original idea was exactly what he explained.
And fast forward, I don't know, whatever. five,
six, seven years later that he's been doing it.
The things that have changed are there's more
shows, more venues, more comedians, but he has
not strayed from finding those comedians that
need a voice and need to get started, but also
rewarding the comedians that have been on the
roster. But more importantly, and we talk about
this all the time, he knows what comedians to
put with who. when to put them on, where to put
them on, based on geographically, based on the
type of crowd, and people overlook that point.
That's such an important, like when you're a
promoter and you're booking, that's a key component
to it that a lot of promoters overlook, and Mike
puts all of that thought into it, and he spreads
it around so everybody gets work, but he puts
you in a position to succeed because he's not
gonna throw you in front of a crowd that might
not You might be a darker comedian. You might
be a dirty comedian. You know what I mean? Sure.
I think that's a big reason for your success,
Mike, is because the way you do it is the right
way. And that's hard to find these days. And
I will say, most importantly, if you're watching
and you're a comedian, you never have to worry
about him not paying you or paying you unfairly.
It is completely transparent. And that's an important
part too. Yeah. Yeah. I figured that when I started
doing shows, we didn't know how to ask for money.
Like, you're a musician. And so, Mike, you probably
did local shows with your band to start off.
So like, when you went in there, did you know
at first, okay, I should go and ask the bar manager
or the owner for a budget? Yeah. No, that's the
thing is you just learn as you go. Yeah. So we
didn't know that. And in Binghamton, the bar
we we're doing stuff at first, Matty B's was
the owner was comedian as well. And it was just
a place to do shows. We would charge $5 at the
door asking for money before it didn't even dawn
on anybody. And at least I know Buffalo right
now is pretty transparent about the comedian
saying, okay, if you're gonna do a show, ask
for at least this much money. We didn't have
that. So it was just like, hey, Can we do a show
here? We'll just charge five dollars at the door
We don't you don't have to pay us anything whereas
it's fine but as a promoter it puts you in a
really weird position because I gotta be like
hey Matt Mike you want to do this show I There's
no guaranteed money, but it'll be a door split.
Yeah, and it's five dollars the door so like
On a good night when you're starting 20 people
be awesome. Yeah But then you got three or four.
And at that point we had five or six because
we didn't have a lot of time to, we didn't have
many jokes. So you got to build an hour and a
half show and I can only do 10. So we need to
find somebody who can do 15 or 20. And then you
end up having five or six. So that a hundred
dollars is split now between five or six people.
And then Mike's coming from an hour away. Josh
is only 10 minutes away. So does he get left?
It's weird. So like maybe on a good night, I'm
paying somebody $20. So in hindsight, like that
sucks, because now I'm able to ask for money.
And then maybe it's ticket, maybe what I did,
and I feel bad about it sometimes, but I put
out tip jars. And no, that's phenomenal. Here's
what it is. It's a psychological move, because,
and I think it's like a DIY thing. for me, but
like my budget from the bars is still probably
on the cheap side, but it's guaranteed money.
It's three, four or 500, whatever it is, but
it's guaranteed money. So when I asked Mike to
do a show, I'm like, Hey Mike, you want to do
a show? It's a hundred dollars plus tips. So
Mike knows that he's getting a hundred dollars.
I know that I can pay Mike a hundred dollars
because I'm getting 300. So like I have that
money that's guaranteed money unless the of our
defaults, which almost never happens. But again,
cause I'm transparent and got a relationship
with them. But I know that if the show's okay,
we're probably going to get $30 in tips. So I
can pay Mike $110 split between three people.
I can pay Mike 110. So Mike goes away saying,
shit, man, he told me I was going to get a hundred.
I got 110. It's not much different, but psychologically.
Mike knows that not only is he going to get that
guaranteed money, he's also going to get something
extra. So it might be worth the further, like
the farther drive to get. And usually we get
paid more in tips or whatever because I do free
shows. I do low ticket options so people feel
more compelled. Oh, we got a great show for ten
dollars. Wow. They deserve another ten. I don't
know, but that makes me look better than I should
be looking. Yeah, but but it does tell the comedian.
Hey, man. And then the word spreads. You could
trust Mike because a lot of bookers don't pay.
No. Or they're not transparent about what. So.
Tickets, 25 bucks and hey, Mike, you want to
show we don't talk money. And then Mike does
the show and gets paid 25. It's like we had 50
people there at 25 a pop. Yeah. And I got one
ticket's worth. It sucks. I don't want to do
it that way because I am still booking as a comedian.
So I'm trying so hard to play both ends. Okay.
I know what I need to make money, but I know
how it feels to not make enough money. So I never
want to do that. I think, but that's also perfect
because what I learned in my time when I've done
radio in the past is almost every GM of a radio
station, in small markets and medium markets
was they always said the best GMs are the ones
that have been on the air but have also worked
in sales because they have both perspectives
and I think that's what you bring to the comedy
scene is because of what you just said you're
doing it as a promoter but also as a comedian
and look here's the deal though when you're when
you're starting out or even when you're at this
level if you're doing it for the money then you're
gonna quit the same day you start you know Yeah,
you're gonna be very disappointed. You're gonna
be very disappointed The money for me was always
like the money will come when I if and when I
succeed sure I'll just take what I can get for
now and until I feel it's unfair when it was
never unfair and Yeah, no, I commend you for
that man. You've always done it right from the
start. There was never a hiccup That's what always
blew my mind about it No, there were hiccups
for sure. I think when I started working with
you, it was what 2019 I think I think so. Yes
before the pandemic before the pandemic I think
truman's bird was the first show we did together.
Yep You're right and we had and that was a large
part because of you, but we had 63 people there
That was a big show. Yeah, it was a big show
and I Forget how the ticket breakdown was I forget
what I paid you but like I know I paid you more
than what I guaranteed always and yes Always.
Yeah. And here's a little trick. I very rarely
like if you're local and we didn't have the people
to give tips or whatever, maybe I'll pay you
exactly what I promised. But even if we get zero
tips, I'll probably throw in five bucks. That's
amazing. So to just to make it so it feels better
for me. Like we did a show on Friday and we got
we had four people on the show, including me.
We have fifteen dollars of tips, which is like
weird, but I doubled everybody's tip money. I
didn't take anything and I doubled everybody's
tip money. But I'm like, just, I felt better
about that. But no, I, that's standard that I've
set for myself. And I'm like, I just want everybody
to walk away saying, all right, cause no matter
what you're getting paid, you're like, is it
worth it? It's an hour and a half away. So if
I can throw you, that's gas money. Yeah. If I
could say, okay, here's $10, here's $5, that'll
help for gas. It was like, oh, it was definitely
worth it, okay, cool. But see, you're also in
that weird, you're in this amazing window where
you have also created, I guess everybody wins
is what I'm saying. You walk away happy, the
comedians walk away happy, and the venue walks
away happy. That is so hard to do, and you do
that consistently. I agree with that. And also,
the audience should walk away happy. That's what
I meant, too. Yeah. Now, obviously, there are
times where an audience member does not, didn't
laugh or whatever, just stick in a mug, whatever.
But for the most part, I think most people are
happy. We get a lot of repeats, and we could
do better with ticket sales, and everybody could.
Or I have a lot of free shows that, like, sometimes
they're work. We're like, we got 18 people here,
and that sucks. But those 18 people, I guarantee
you, most of them have had a really good time
because what I really enjoy about the comedy
scene in general around here, at least the people
I work with, is that they're not, for the most
part, they're not gonna play down to the numbers
of the audience. So Mike's not gonna see three
people in the audience and say, fuck you guys,
I hate you. Why didn't you bring more people?
Mike's gonna see those three people and say,
you know what, thank you so much for taking time
out of your nights. funny though. That would
be just walk up and be like, I'll tell you what,
I think it would be funny to watch. But as a
producer, I'd be like, those three people are
the only reason we can do this show. But yet,
and I know, like in the past, I've had that where
it was at Barry Daycorn and the summer last year.
And we had three people. We had the staff. which
I think was one person. And then we had three
people who paid, maybe there's another person
there. And Abdul Hadid, super funny comedian
in Syracuse, and Dario Joseph, really funny comedian
in Rochester. They came down and they did their
entire set, full set, didn't give a shit. And
I paid them, we didn't make, I made no money
because the deal I had with Barry Dacorn fell
apart. and I was doing those shows to do those
shows. So it was solely on tickets. I paid them
out of my pocket more money than I promised because
I was like, you guys killed it for me. And you
didn't say, screw this show, screw this audience.
You gave those three people a really good show.
And hopefully, and I think they did, but hopefully
they'll come back next time and we can build
because it just means so much to me. And I feel
bad too. I want them to have 30 people, not three,
and have a great experience. But the fact that
they didn't take the night off was just phenomenal
to me. For me, that was something that was instilled
in me at a young age when I started performing.
Whether it was music or whether it was comedy,
I was always like, you put on a show. if there's
three people or 30 ,000 people you put on that
same show. And it sounds simple, but people overlook
that. There was definitely shows I've done in
the past, like in the dead of winter in Owego,
where there was like five people, but you know
what, you still, because we've talked about this
before too. They trudged out too. And we've talked
about this too. You're also... What's different
in comedy where in music if you're in a band
you guys can play? A song in rehearsal and go
god that sounds like shit And then you rehearse
and rehearse until you are polished and you're
like you know what we're ready in Comedy the
only way for you to rehearse truly is to go out
and do it So those nights where there's three
people if you're smart you'll go Maybe I'll stray
off what I was gonna do and do these five jokes
that I want to try out like I work a little bit
It's it actually can work for you in some sure.
Oh, yeah I always think that the smaller the
audience the harder the night totally because
like when you have I'm not gonna say 30 ,000
I wanted to take off that one like there's no
fucking way I'm doing that no, but if you have
a hundred people in the audience and a joke works,
okay It works. But if you have eight people in
the audience and a joke works, okay. That means
one person laughed. Two people. Oh shit. You
can, you really see how much that joke didn't
work. Like you can't be fooled. So you have to
make an intimate connection with these people.
So I'll do a couple of tricks. If I have a low
turnout in the audience and Hopefully this doesn't
happen. So I don't have to do this very often.
But I'm like, oh, it looks like my eighth birthday
party. Are we going to put together a model car
with Steve? Where's Steven Yarrington? Where
is he? Because that suit showed up at my eighth
birthday. It was whatever. I wasn't a public
kid. No, I get it. But I'm like an empty table.
Oh, I feel like this is going to be my wedding
where that's. The groom side. Yeah. So there
are certain ways you can break the tension and
make that audience know that it's a unique experience
for them. That's right. Hey, this show is for
you. So if you go off script, be like, hey, what
do you guys want to hear? Do you mind if I try
something new, something like that? So where
or. do more crowd work. There's a show at the
Barlacorn where I and I hope I was doing it weekly.
And I would host it every week. And I'd have
I try to bring a different 10 to 15 minutes to
host every single week. And it wouldn't all be
new. But a lot of it was like done that week
at the open mic. And when I'm doing it weekly,
I'm like, if it's good or bad, I got to fucking
do it. Yeah. So I bring there and I would there's
one set where I Somebody dropped off the show.
I had to do longer time So I remember doing 12
or 14 minutes of crowd work and I'd never done
that much and I felt really good Yeah, and like
I think my set was 25 minutes which for an opener
probably is too long But we only had we had two
other people who like weren't expected to do
Longer, I think I want to say the headliner Dropped
so we had to do a three -person show. And so
the last guy was only gonna do 25 minutes anyway
it was one of my favorite shows there because
I got to know this audience really well and I
went off script and did crowd work with people
who hadn't been there before and it was so much
fun. So like any show you have has you have the
opportunity to like make connections and make
it so much fun for everybody. That's why I will
try my hardest never to take like a night off.
Like not I don't want to go to work and be like
eh it's a fucking paycheck whatever you guys
want to do. I don't care. Yeah you get He's right
and then to take that even further like the one
amazing thing about comedy is It's never the
same show even if the comedian does exactly the
same jokes You're gonna get different reactions
a diff. There's always interaction with the crowd
You just there's this beautiful thing in comedy
that and that's why those shows where there's
only three people is An opportunity always because
something magical could happen inside that club
an interaction with somebody that is never gonna
happen again and never happened before. And I
actually, I wanna ask you about this. Matt and
I were talking this past weekend. It was a big
comedy weekend. Obviously you and I, Mike, we
had our show March 22nd in Dryden at the Corner
Brew and that was great. Sunday I went and saw
Colin Jost at Cornell and it was in Barton Hall,
which is this giant airplane hangar. It was the
size of a graduation for thousands of people.
And two... Was Michael Longfellow from SNL opened
as well as a woman? I can't remember her name.
She was on SNL from 22 to 24 and I can't say
they bombed but it was rough and I was like sweating
and cringing in my seat because Obviously as
a comedian when you see other comedians like
going through it. It's hard Yeah, you feel for
him and then I had this realization and it's
the opposite of what we're talking about think
I think it's like there were so many people and
you're so disconnected like you can't even see
them that it's hard it's almost if you took that
same set but they were in not even a comedy club
at the barley corn or I just think the jokes
would have translated better you would have you
know what I'm saying do you agree with that yeah
like that setting is probably and I haven't been
there but it's probably a little more impersonal
oh god yeah So if you had and also I Don't know.
I mean if she was on SNL for three years, she's
obviously known but those people probably went
there to see Colin Jost. Yes, sure and To him
like you were in like an opening band for a while.
Yeah, you probably were like, alright People
probably talked over your band way more than
you wanted because what they wanted was the headliner
and that every comedian goes through it so in
the those two people from SNL probably are like
maybe they're not headlining committees yet though
I imagine they are but like they're just going
through the motions because fuck man this is
a hard gig because all they want to see is Jost
yeah yeah we're gonna eat it for a little bit
yeah and it college audience is harder Yeah,
that's the sense at least it was and it was just
it was so big It just reminded me when you would
hear big comedians like Kevin Hart and other
comedians that are like I actually don't like
doing arenas I Prefer small comedy clubs because
of that connection. That's just naturally there
There's a lot of subconscious parts of comedy
makes sense like we've talked about with ticketing
and seating like When you sell tickets and you
provide seating your way to the comedy club or
on your way to the bar to the comedy show you're
already subconsciously setting yourself up to
be open to laugh more because you know you're
going to a comedy show as opposed to drinking
at happy hour and then all of a sudden a comedian
gets on stage and you're like what the fuck like
the difference with a free show and a ticketed
show 100 % because you know it's it's like I
wish I took more psych in college like I took
family relations just because I have a fucked
up family and I got a really good got a really
good grade in the course and then I took intro
to psych which was at nine o 'clock in a fucking
lecture hall so I get nothing out of that stuff
but nothing can be taught at that hour they're
trying to keep that secret that's right so dumb
so also in comfortable chairs yeah what are you
doing ridiculous yeah but I I think there's so
much psychological psychology in comedy because
like when you buy a ticket, like I run don't
tell shows in Binghamton as well. And their whole
brand is secret shows in secret locations. Tickets
are $25. So the shows I'm offering people at
most are like 10, 15, $20. It's usually in that
area. But I let the venue decide the pay or what
the ticket is. So if they want to give me the
money, to have a free show, they do that. So
we're all over the spectrum. Don't tell us $25.
They don't know who's on the show. They don't
know where the show is until that morning. And
they get an email. So they're spending $25 to
laugh. That means they are invested. They don't
get fucked if Mike Brindisi or Karen Rutowska
is on the show. What they do is they're paying
$25 to laugh tonight. Yep. They're an easy audience.
You still got to win them over, but like they're
set up for you. When you go to a show at the
Barley corn, which is $5 donation. I mean, it's
basically a tip show and with a budget behind
it, you go to, I have a show beer 30, completely
free. There is zero expectation for that show
to be funny. So you have to work so much harder
in that room because you're also dealing on these
shows with people at the bar. who don't give
a fuck that you're there. Just random patrons.
Who are mad at you because you turned the jukebox
off. That's right. That's right. Who can't see
this TV because my banner's in front of it. They
can't use the, I'm talking about one beer 30,
that room. They can't use the middle room because,
oh, there's a show going on there. Yep. So you're
battling some elements. That's a hard show. Yeah.
So when you have that set up, you're like, okay,
that's all on me. Yeah. Your material it's a
hard room. You either do really well because
the audience is into it or You think about doing
something else because the audience I Don't want
you Like am I doing this am I wasting my time?
Yeah, I found out about Mike's don't tell comedy
shows the hard way I showed up for my show and
I was like, oh my god, there's nobody here yet
It's a secret show. He's like, nope. Everybody
knows you're on the bill. There's just fucking
oh my god No, this is no joke. I completely in
my head about this stuff. But when I was running
shows with a group of comedians in Binghamton,
I would host pretty much every show and then
we would get five people, eight people, whatever.
We're still growing. But the minute I was not
on the flyer and I'm just producing the show,
we get 60 people. I swear to God, it's the same.
It happens all the time. To the point where I
host an open mic every week at Kelly's on Mondays,
every week, and I host it and we get five people
in the audience and 10 comedians, whatever it
is. And I've had a couple of people who are like,
hey, can I host? And I'm like, yeah, I don't
announce their hosting, but... They'll host,
they'll guest host for me. And we'll get 30 people
in the audience and 15 comedians. I'm like, what
the fuck, man? People sense that I'm not hosting.
And they're like, you know what? We're going
tonight. And I'm like, it feels like a conspiracy.
Do you just not like me? And that's happened
for nine years. That's the worst. Before we move
on, I'm hijacking the interview, I apologize.
No, no, we're good. Got you just reminded me
of a show that Mike and I did I tell this story
all the time remember when we did What the hell
was the name of that? With the wedding party
yes the bachelor party what dude Rhythm and boo
rhythm and booze the F &A rhythm and waterloo
it was the name of the bar yeah Yeah, do you
want to tell that that story all right, so this
is a so we go there and This is the third show
I've done there, second or third. The room is
really, it has potential. Yes, nice stage. Yes,
it's a beautiful stage. And then they set up
like 30 chairs in the middle of the room. Like
the first two shows, this is what happened. They
set up 30 chairs so everybody can watch. Nobody
comes over and watches because like they're all
hanging out at the bar, which is on a different
level. But like to, if you're on the stage, they're
to your right. Yeah, so like you can see the
people they can see you but like you can't really
interact with them because they're Technically
in a separate room. Sure. There's a railing and
a stairwell so separating you but and then a
couple people will be sitting far at the end
and like I'm folding tables with Alright, so
this whole 30 chair setup is beautiful, but It's
useless. So the third show we do there was me,
Mike Brandisi, and Zach Hamman from Pennsylvania.
Which he crushed. Yeah. Crushed. Yes. But here's
why he crushed. So I'm almost excited because
the owners, hey, we've got a large party coming
in here for the show. And I'm like, sweet. And
she's like, it's a bachelor party. And I'm like,
not sweet. So I'd never done a bachelor party
before and I was like, I've heard stories that
they're the worst. So I think the last weekend,
like the weekend before that, I had done like
a set at Wisecrackers Comedy Club and Scranton
and I killed. So I'm like, sweet, I'm gonna take
this. It was gonna go well. It's basically a
lot of what my feature set is now. It's pretty
strong. The success rate is strong. I go there.
They hate me. So there's 19 people in this wedding
party and they don't care. They're all at the
very end of the room and at the folding table
and everything eating. And the one person from
that 19 person party came up to sit with us.
It was the mom of the bride sat right in the
front. And then we had like maybe three or four
other people sitting to watch. And then there
were like five or six people on the side at the
bar listening. And I do a little bit of crowd
work and they like it because it involves them.
The minute I stepped away and did material, they
didn't give a shit. I think one of the first
things I said was like, I forget what the punchline
was, but I said, fuck. And the mom who's like,
in the first row she goes she covers your ears
and goes I said what she goes that word I go
you're in for a lot of those yeah I said we got
90 minutes left it's really like my second joke
and I was like all right cool at one point I
think I'm probably like 15 minutes in for something
like that somebody from the back yells when is
the next guy coming on And I said in four minutes
And I introduced Mike Mike didn't do it you could
tell it but Mike didn't do much better No, they
all left. Let me tell you from my now from my
point of view right before Mike's about to go
on I can tell he's nervous and he's never nervous
and he's just we got this bachelorette party
and I go This is gonna end to one of two ways.
It's either gonna be fucking epic or awful and
so Mike gets up there and as he said about 15
minutes in it's falling apart and I turned to
the other guy the headliner and I go you know
what though I go Mike always keeps his composure
like it'll be fine Mike fucking lost his composure
he ended up being like fuck you guys and they
did not say that not fuck you guys but basically
and they ended up like leaving by the time I
got on stage and I was like I've never seen an
MC Clear out like usually the opener cleans out
the room. No, you remember this wrong So I did
not say fuck you guys I think I was polite but
Mike gets on stage and he does his material and
three or four minutes into your act they left
That's what it was. So I'll take listen. Give
me the assist. Okay, I'll take Yeah, it was it
was a group effort, but do they that that made
me feel a little better. They're like, okay,
they didn't I would cried probably if they all
left during my set, but not that they liked me
anymore. Well, I was like, okay. And then Zach,
like Mike does his time and we had fun. Yeah.
And then the headliner, Zach gets there and he's
basically calling them every name he can. And
the people on the bar side loved it because they
all hated them because they made noise. They
weren't there for that yet. Yeah. They talked
to the show. They're rude. They were probably
demanding up stop up top at the bar and they
were just happy to have them out so like if I
didn't think about this, but The staff was probably
part of the people who were cheering. Yeah first
back Yeah, no and Zack who's amazing by the way.
He like started with his material, which is fantastic
Then he just went like he said he just went off
script and just fucking lambasted. Yeah Bachelorette
parties and that bachelorette party and it was
like But I just remember being up there doing
my time and it was like me There was one person
in the seat and then another guy Who I feel like
he had a disability like he was in a wheelchair
or something and he's just looking at me He couldn't
leave he was Below where the steps are that's
really couldn't leave because he was disabled
like he couldn't get up the steps without help
and There was nobody else and I remember his
what they call a captivated audience. Yeah This
look on his face. I put a stick in his spokes
I'll never forget this though. I get up there.
I'm about five minutes in they leave I look around
it's me and this disabled guy and one other person
and Mike and the other comedian and I just remember
the guys look on his face like he kept looking
around and His jaw was dropped like he just couldn't
believe what he saw. He could not believe the
epic fucking Disaster that he had just witnessed.
Oh, it's incredible But Mike you got paid didn't
you I did I did I did I got paid amazing That
was the last show we did there Yo And it was
one of those things where like my girlfriend
because we had two shows there and I think that
first show was okay and the second was or the
other way around and the second show is better,
but It was one of those things or so if they
asked me to do another show I'll do it because
I didn't have I had room on the calendar sure
and I will do anything for money And like I wanted
I want to give somebody stage time. So I'll take
it and yeah, she just never asked me again. So
I'm like, all right, cool Because it didn't work
and it's a music venue for sure and we tried
but it was called FNA Rhythm and Booth and now
you know what? That's right. Yeah, and I walked
out going fucking hey Man, there was a lot. There
was no rhythm truth and advertising. Yeah I've
had to drive past that like through Waterloo
to get places and I'm like, oh Yeah, that place.
Okay, never going back. Yeah, that's wild. That's
what it was really nice though Yeah kids speak
enough about her staff was great. You know, she
tried but yeah, she tried and that's the thing
Sometimes comedy just doesn't work somewhere.
Yeah. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Take the
L Let's talk about where it does work Mike Where
are your next coming shows where folks can see
you and your band of local funnies? My probably
favorite place right now is a place in McGraw
Which McGraw New York is McGraw. They it's the
McGraw Box Brewing Company. I do actually I do
a show in Syracuse every month. North Syracuse.
That's like the second Friday of the month. And
we've got really good comedians coming through
there. But what's the menu? Yeah. Where's that
one? It's McGraw Box Brewing Company. It's it's
fancy. It's behind the Mr. Tire. Oh, it's yeah.
You've heard of it. There's a Taco Bell across
the street. It's like on Brewerton Road. OK.
So it's I think they opened the first show we
did was April 12th last year. And I think they
opened in like February or March. So there were
it's fun. It takes like 10 bucks. Plus you get
a beer with a drink or with a ticket. And it'd
be great if you got a beer with a drink. Yeah.
It's a promotion. Order a drink. Get a beer.
Yeah. But. Those shows are fun, but yeah, I do
a show. This week I got a show Beer 30 on Thursday
in Binghamton. But we always end the month at
McGraw Box in McGraw near Corland. And that's
so much fun. I got a comedian from New York City
coming up, Will Papura. Yeah. He's very good.
And then I have RJ Papura from Rochester. That's
what I was thinking of. Yeah. But I'm like, oh,
this will be fun. So I asked RJ Papura. I'm like,
hey. Like I got two dates for you. Do you want
to work with? Cindy arena are they already knows
no, he doesn't know oh And I'm like or you can
work with will perpura Because I've seen the
name let me work with will we'll see if we're
related so We might have a reunion. It'd be great
if they show up in their identical. That'd be
sick Now they do look different, but I don't
know how many like a matching birthmark or something
Yeah, or like A scar. They were caught at birth.
He's like, you got my dad's nose. Wait a minute.
I actually saw RJ. It is a pretty common name.
I did a show with RJ at the John Barley corn.
Probably, yeah. And he dug himself into a hole
with a racist joke. Not a racist joke, a joke
about race. Some girl in the crowd started yelling
at him and then but he recovered brilliantly,
but that was a wild night He's R. J. Purpura
R. J. Purpura has my favorite jokes because he's
talking about a home robbery and He's like there's
a story about this woman who had Like her kid
died and she had... Hilarious. I've heard this
so many times. I think it was a miscarriage.
Oh. Or something like that. And she had in an
urn his remains. Sure. And then that was stolen
from the house. I guess I just don't understand
crime at this point. You couldn't think of anything
more valuable to take? And he's like, you guys...
I guess if you lose the same kid twice, you're
not meant to have a kid. But he wraps around
his whole set. So if that joke goes well, and
it doesn't always, if it goes well, because it's
fucking dark. And if it doesn't, when it's told,
it's even better. But he comes around at the
end of the set and he goes, it's a joke about
ghosts or whatever, he goes. I guess baby Travis
needs still needs a home And like when they get
it if he has an audience that's on to him call
back. Oh my god It's a great callback. Yeah,
so it's one of my favorite jokes I'll listen
to it again so I could tell it better the next
time but He's but that's kind of him. He doesn't
really deviate his style too much. I He's he's
a very good writer. I had a callback joke. I
tried it three times and it never worked And
it was like, in the beginning of the set, I would
just brush over. Yeah, I just recently went and
visited my grandfather. We found out he has Alzheimer's.
So I'm just, I'm just worried what's genetic.
So I'm just hoping it doesn't affect me. Then
at the end of the set, there's like a break and
it's quiet. And I go, yeah, I just went and visited
my grandfather. He's got Alzheimer's. I just
hope he does it. I thought it was good, but it
bombed three times. Nobody got it. So. You're
right if you if you hit a car if you hit a callback
man, that's a bad Just walk off the stage. Yeah,
tell you what will Phillips this weekend. Oh,
well, he's the man I don't like will at all.
Yeah No, well will is one of my favorites. I
love watching him work. He's amazing But I just
saw him on Sunday. He came down to we go we hung
out for a little bit. I Love watching him. Yeah,
he is Since I've started he's been one of my
favorite local comedians. I used to see him in
Syracuse a lot. He's so good. I Just he's performance
wise. He's great. I Wish he did live around here
so he can be bigger. Yeah, because I think he's
that good. Yeah. No, he's phenomenal What's the
word? What are you gonna say about? What are
you gonna say about him? No, I was just gonna
we were talking callbacks and I was just saying
This past weekend, I saw him on Friday night
and he did a great set and he just masters that
callback at the end and it's perfect. He opened
for Ryan Neemiller from AGT. It was Phil's, Phil
Fardish show. So Ryan's real good. Where can
we check out all your info? I know, but I'm just
making you say it. Where do you go? Homebrewcomedy
.com. That's how this works, Mike. This isn't
his first podcast. I had a feeling. Yeah, everything
I do is at homebrewcomedy .com or... My personal
Facebook page is where I put a lot of my content.
Any jokes I write, I usually try it on Facebook
first. And then when 13 people are like, yeah,
we're going to do this on sympathy, I'm like,
cool, I'll try it on stage. But I do shows all,
just search on Facebook for Humber comedy. And
you can follow, I don't know how many venues
I have. It fluctuates between like 12 and 20
usually. But for the most part, I'm doing like
14, 15, 16 shows a month around upstate New York
for the most part, dipping into Pennsylvania
a little bit. That's incredible. And I'm always
trying to expand. Go ahead. I got a podcast on
the mic with Mike Peters. So that comes out every
Friday. That was the one thing I was going to...
Yeah, on the mic with Mike Peters is his podcast
as well, homebrewedcomedy .com. I always forget
to ask you this. What is your, quote unquote,
roster? What's the number? Where are you at?
And I feel like you started small and I went
to the website the other day. I was like, holy
shit. Oh, yeah. I have to update that, too. But
because I tried Indians or venues. Oh, yeah.
Sorry. So on my website, there's a section for
comedians. And what I've done with that and I
probably am like 100 short of what I need to
be there because I keep adding. I just looked
today. In just before and I have booked 281 comedians.
That's wow. I thought it was like 80 to 100.
I've been saying well shit Regular comedians.
Yeah, some of these some of it's a little elevated
because I did zoom shows over the pandemic. Uh
-huh. So my podcast What I did for a little bit
was like I had a patreon thing and I did shows
every other weekend So in order to do the show,
you had to have been on the podcast. So I would
have a guy from Idaho or Oregon, whatever, or
Utah, whatever. So they're people I've booked
because I've had them, it was easier to do it
online. So all of those guys aren't on the website,
but I would say I probably rotate through about
80 to 100 throughout the year. I probably will
book about 100 comedians every year. not unique
so sure it won't add to my total but 281 is from
the last nine years so yeah I would say that's
why I tell every venue I'm like every show you
get if we do monthly it's gonna be different
yeah I'm gonna be the only one who repeats because
I host all the shows but even then I'll have
different material so you're not gonna get the
same show at all and I'm just fortunate that
around this area there's Buffalo, Rochester,
Syracuse, Ithaca, Cortland, Elmira, Scranton,
Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. There's so many pockets,
Binghamton obviously, but there's so many pockets
of comedians who are working hard that I can
keep adding to that roster. And I have goals
every year. I wanna always book 30 new to me
comedians. So I can get them on stage, I can
add some numbers thing. for me too. But it also
makes sure that I keep going to open mics. I
keep looking for new talent because I owe that
to the audience and the venues who have us because
I don't want anything to get stale. And again,
I want to promote from within. So if you guys
are working hard, there are comedians in Ithaca
right now who like probably I should be trying
to get more work. We had Kenny on recently. Yeah,
he's not one of them. I don't like him either.
Why don't you guys have any comedians? I like
I like any lot and that I get along with pretty
much everybody That helps but no, I don't know.
It's fun for me. And yeah on the website you
can see like Their bios that I use for the posters
and everything. Usually it's submitted by them,
but I read a lot of them But yeah, I need to
go back and basically take a day like, okay I
got to add this guy. I got to add this woman
a lot. Yeah, it is. But I think like that for
me is like a kind of a nice touch because I had
one guy from New York City, Ryan Garcia. He worked
in Rochester. He goes, he says I haven't talked
to him in maybe a year since he moved. And he
sent me a message a few months ago. He goes,
Hey, man, I just got to thank you. I go, why?
He goes, because I think it was an aunt or some
relative. Yeah. She Googled my name. and she
saw me like my bio on your website and that made
me legit to her. Wow. So I'm like, all right,
cool. Cool. It's kind of a cool thing. I didn't
think what happened, but I wasn't sure where
that story was going. Yeah, I know. Yeah. I got
to say it's number family. But we're add to it.
One thing I want to say before we go, I know
we're wrapping up. Mike did something that I
think you would appreciate. One of my favorite
shows I ever did is He did his own funeral where
he was. I didn't do it. Hold on. Oh, it wasn't
you. It was thrown for me. I keep fucking up
all the stories you tell. I'm not that egotistical.
That's true. I am. It was Stephen Brown. Stephen
Brown and my girlfriend, Sasha Ernest, they it
was as I believe it was Sasha's idea. We've been
dating for about two years at the time, maybe
a year and change, but. Yeah, for my 39th birthday,
they decided to throw a funeral for me at the
barley corner we go and it was like they picked
a Saturday Yeah, it's that's where you go place.
Yeah. Yeah, and that's where every funeral is
all the time So now they threw a funeral for
me and they invited it was really touching they
invited like 23 24 comedians came down from out
of state upstate and Basically roasted me for
about an hour and 45 minutes then I went up and
roasted all them. Yeah for a few minutes It was
so much fun and I Had to go and grab a new suit
because my other one shrank or whatever and So
I stood up there for two hours basically listening
to Who I thought were my friends Make fun of
me, but it was really nice because like I don't
see Brindisi all that often. I don't see Like,
RJ Purpura came down from Rochester to see it.
I had people come up from Scranton. I even wore
a suit. I wore a smile. I know. I know. They
all dressed up, for the most part. And it was...
And, Matt, I don't know how familiar you are
with, like, local comedians, but, like, these
guys don't do anything unless you pay them. Right.
Or if it's about themselves. And for one day...
It's required effort. Yeah. For one day, I felt...
Wow, these guys actually like me. And they the
tip jobs are passed around and they're like,
yeah, this is all for you. And I'm like, what?
Why? I felt like I had to Venmo everybody after.
Hey, I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to do this.
And no, it was just and we all did it really
tough. We did it for free because we love them.
And who doesn't love a good old fashioned roast?
It was. It was honestly one of the most fun sets
I ever wrote. In my life, I just it was so much
fun. The whole thing is on YouTube. Oh, I know
that. Yes. I want to find the funeral of Mike
Peters. Yeah. It's if you go to my YouTube channel,
I don't know. It should be Mike Peters, but I
really don't remember. We'll find it. It's open
for me. I can send it to you. Yeah, but it's
really funny. And everybody hit out of the park.
And the funny part was the best part for me is
like as a book or whatever. And because Mike,
I don't know if you booked a lot of comedy shows,
but you're I think you're in a good position
because you're the hired help at this point.
So you load off your back. You don't have to
deal with a lot of this bullshit. But when you
book a show, you're going to get inundated with
people saying, hey, how can I get on that? Think
of me. Whatever. It's annoying. But here's this
one comedian who is awful. She's the worst person
in the world and not non -politician at least,
but she's terrible. Just bad comedian, bad human.
And she came up to me afterward. Is she from
Albany? No, but she might be. I don't know. I
don't know where she's living now. She's from
originally. I think Long Island originally, but
I'll say her name. I don't give a shit. Say it.
Ella Rubinton. OK. I just whatever. She's whatever.
Anyway, she's the only person I told couldn't
do my show because she's not funny. Wow. It was
so therapeutic. For six years, I tried to be
nice. And you ever watch It's Always Sunny in
Philadelphia? Yeah. All right. Gale the snail?
Yes. OK. So the way, Mike, do you know the character?
I don't. Mike doesn't watch television. I don't
watch anything that watches. All right. I'll
discover to you. The main cast has a brother
and sister. And their cousin, Gail, they call
her Gail the snail because she's weird. It rhymes,
obviously. But she looks like Breeze and she's
just does annoying things and she she doesn't
know boundaries. So the only way somebody from
Mohawk. Oh, OK. The only way they figured out
a way to handle her is by salting her like being
rude. but also throwing salt. So that's how I
deal with this person. I tried for years to be
very nice and tolerant and whatever. And finally
I'm like, no, just be truthful. And like, just,
which is mean. So she, she called me, she goes,
Hey, could you do a show? If I paid you, would
you promote this show for me and book me as that's
one of your shows? And I said, no. And she says,
what do I need to do to get on one of your shows?
I said, you can't do one of mine. She goes, why?
I said, because nobody laughs at you with the
open mics. And she goes, they do a paid show,
so I said, send me the tape. And I'm still waiting.
I'm still waiting. That's impressive that she
must be bad, because you are very. You book him.
Yeah, you book me. First of all, you book me.
Second of all. I've seen some people dying on
stage before and And you've never said a bad
word about you get the game you get that those
things happen so for you to not only call her
out and Refuses it must be bad real though. Yeah
Everybody Mike Peters homebrewed comedy. That's
the place to go on the mic with Mike Peters is
his podcast Mike We really appreciate you joining
us man. Yeah, man. Thank you so much, buddy.
It's It's so good to see you in this realm instead
of just when we're doing shows together. It's
nice to catch up with you for real, man. Anytime
you guys want to talk, I'm here. Come on. Anytime.
Open invitation. Nothing going in the morning.
I'm waiting for my dog groomer to call so I can
go get him. There you go. What a life. Thanks,
guys. This is so much fun. I appreciate you guys.
We'll talk to you later, buddy. See you. Bye,
guys.