Finally the Mock is humming

Last night we ran a packed room, 3 weekends in a row. The comics were great. Even the ones who didn' t have a great set were entertaining. We have gone 4 months with sizeable shows every Saturday. Some days it is standing room only. Some days we turn away an audience because we are packed. The Mock has momentum, and it is humming. Mr. Robin Williams we are ready for you to come by.

It wasn't always like this...
I have been hosting the Mock Comedy Cafe since October 2005. My first night of hosting was a disaster. The Mock is a barebones facility, small stage, small room, no mic! Provided the comics are good, it is the audience that makes it a great show. The audience had already been declining before I took over. The show was barked in(meaning getting people to come in off the street for free) by a comic, Mr. Ass. Since Mr. Ass barked in a free audience to the show, Mr. Ass did whatever he liked, whether the audience liked it or not. Mr. Ass called the audience "bitches." Mr. Ass got in the face of audiences. Mr. Ass dropped his pants. Since it was a free audience, they didn't give a hoot.

I tried to leave Mr. Ass out of the show one night. He stood aside and said "Go ahead, give it a shot, I am the one who barks in the audience, you won't have a show." He was right. So I put Mr. Ass back into the show.

Over the next two months, I set about figuring out the advertising end of things for the local market. I walked around distributing flyers. I went to different neighborhoods and put up posters. I gave out coupons. It came to nothing. I went online: Craigslist, SFStation, The SF Guardian, The SF Weekly, Zvents, Backpages, Evite. Citysearch would have been great, but they wanted big moolah. I got a handful of reservations.

I was beginning to rely upon Mr. Ass until one day he called to inform that he could not come down to bark the show, that he wished me well, that he cared about the room, and that he'll be back in the New Year.

That night I had my first full show. The online engines were finally cranking. Once an ad is in "the bit universe" of the Internet, it shows up everywhere. Sometimes in the strangest places. One of my ads showed up on a community cooking website! I had finally found the advertising sauce for the room. Advertise widely, advertise true, deliver the promise. It was the right time for the divorce with Mr. Ass.

Mr. Ass still comes by and does his set once in a while. Now he is actually funny.