As an artist or entertainer, it can be easy to fall into the trap of believing that suffering and struggle are required elements of inspiration or success, especially when the path to that success so often leads through spaces that can feel intimidating, overwhelming, or unreasonably exclusive.
And there’s arguably no type of performance more intimidating and no art more beholden to suffering than stand-up comedy.
Even when a young or aspiring comic is first starting out, trying out their jokes and their style at an open mic, it can be especially daunting to stand up in front of an expectant, well-lubricated crowd late at night on a raucous bar or club stage.
And that’s why veteran OKC comedian and part-time booker, organizer, and host James Nghiem has launched his own new open mic in the most unlikely – and most unintimidating – place and time imaginable: the Warr Acres Library in the middle of the day.
It might seem random and it might sound like a bit, but Nghiem actually wants it to be an incredibly low-stakes, low-stress way for people to work out material, and maybe even build a bit of community.
James Nghiem: Having a mic is just like something you do either out of necessity or to work on your stuff, to have a place where you have time to perform consistently, or to build a community, or to be social.
All those things, I think, can be good for you.
Brett Fieldcamp: But Nghiem admits that he created the new recurring event - which he’s dubbed the 1000 Birds Comedy open mic – to not only fit his specific schedule, but also to fit a need that he’s seen both in himself and in many others in comedy that have struggled with mental health or self-destructive vices.
James Nghiem: My schedule has changed, so I can't just be out all hours of the night anymore every day of the week.
Just trying to take my health and my life more seriously, so I'm trying to find more spaces that are better for my mental health. That's been a lot of, you know, like a decade or more, just kind of feeding into this industry that kind of, like, thrives on your misery.
I could write jokes and still be funny anytime of the day, and I'm gonna prove it…
At the library.
Brett Fieldcamp: The idea to try it out in an open, public space in the early afternoon, though, actually came from an unexpectedly poignant experience in Los Angeles during a tour stop with his band, The Nghiems, fronted by his brother, David.
James Nghiem: Me and my brother were playing a show, and we had a sound check at five. We drove, like, two days to be there, we don't have a lot of time in LA, but I still want to do a mic because it's in my blood a little bit.
And I looked and I was like “Is there any open mics before 5pm tonight?” and there was one at like 11am at a coffee shop. And I went, not very much of a crowd, and, yeah, just people running material at like 11 in the morning.
And it was pretty fun. I thought it was gonna be really lame, and I was just like “nah, these people woke up before 11am on a Saturday. These people are probably serious, really serious about comedy.”
And I kind of felt, like, connected to something that I'd forgotten about myself and it made me feel really good, and it kind of made me want to start, like, you know, a mic at the library in the morning, next to my house.
Brett Fieldcamp: But even though the location, time, and even surrounding food options are all pretty specifically to Nghiem’s liking, he doesn’t want his new early bird open mic to just be for himself. He also wants it to be a place where comics can meet to get real feedback.
It’s a place for comics to learn how to stop taking themselves so seriously, how to let go of old jokes and keep trying new things and fresh material, and most importantly, how to find their own voice and their own way of communicating with an audience.
James Nghiem: I think communication is one of the most important things about comedy in general, because if you can't communicate well, it doesn't matter if you write a good joke, a bad joke, or mediocre joke, they're all bad jokes.
But if you communicate well, you can at least, like, write a mediocre joke, you know what I mean?
But also, like, nobody should take it so seriously, especially when you start out. It should just be something you're interested in and, like, an outlet, and you don't have to worry about all this extra stuff, because I think jokes are like skin cells, you know? They kind of slough off over time, and you'll have new skin every day. You'll be looking sharp, and that's what your “tight five” is. It's your current skin. That's your best version of you in that day.
Brett Fieldcamp: But even though this new midday library open mic is designed to be an unintimidating and welcoming space for comics to try, to fail, and to learn in a space generally clear of the entitlement and competition of the more traditional clubs and comedy rooms, it’s also pretty clearly designed to be a space that Nghiem can be comfortable in, so that he can be comfortable sharing it.
James Nghiem: It's for the community since, like, I think it would be good for the community, but it's constructed in a way that benefits my schedule and my personality at this point.
If it becomes a thing that people enjoy on a grander scale, that'd be great, but also, like, I don't know. The people have come, it's meant something to them every time.
Also, there's a really good taco truck nearby. I keep bringing up the taco truck every time I talk about this mic, but it makes me feel good that there's a taco truck that I can eat on the bench outside the library and then go tell some jokes.
Brett Fieldcamp: The next installment of the 1000 Birds Comedy Open Mic, hosted by James Nghiem, is planned for May at the Warr Acres Library, and Nghiem says any potential performer can get a little extra time at the mic by bringing canned goods to be donated to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.
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