Do you might want to snigger? Prime Metropolis Comedy affords rather a lot in its reveals
“That was my first time, and I nonetheless get footage of it,” Witt stated Thursday evening on the Foundry Occasion Middle. “Blurry pictures from my iPhone 4.”
Since then, he seemed for locations to work on his craft in Topeka and shortly discovered Prime Metropolis Comedy – a comedy present that began in 2011.
“As soon as I graduated highschool, I began doing open mic nights with them at The Break Room, and I’ve been with them ever since,” Witt stated.
Laughter is like drugs
Witt was one among 14 comedians who participated in a comedy competitors by Prime Metropolis Comedy final week.
Via storytelling, Wheat brings you into his life and makes you part of it.
“I inform everybody, while you get on stage like that, what I am doing is I am treating you all like household,” he stated.
Throughout Thursday’s present, his household was within the viewers and might be seen having a bit of snigger at his dad’s truck.
“It is a unhappy scene generally, however I put my very own spin on it as a result of there’s at all times gentle within the scenario,” Witt stated.
Witt stated getting alternatives to carry out comedy is what helps him appropriate his thoughts.
“I undergo from extreme anxiousness and melancholy,” he added. “That is my therapy.”
Rising scene
Vicki Tremblay and Dan Schenk are the duo behind Prime Metropolis Comedy.
Comics themselves, the 2 have been relentless in pursuit of DC’s rising laughs.
“We’re by no means silent,” Tremblay informed the Capital Journal.
Since internet hosting their first open mic nights in 2011, Tremblay and Schenk have continued to carry out for comedians and performers at varied venues and reveals across the metropolis.
Thursday was the final Third Thursday Comedy Competitors of the yr at The Foundry.
Greater than 50 individuals turned out to look at every six-minute comedy present earlier than voting on their favourite on the finish.
Ace, a comic from the Kansas Metropolis space, took residence the grand prize of $200, whereas Witt positioned second and received $100. Malik Al-Amin, additionally of Topeka, positioned third and received $50.
“Earlier than they first began the competitors, it was simply Topeka comedians,” Al-Amin stated. “Now we get them from everywhere in the Midwest.”
Ace echoed Al-Amin’s sentiments.
“Everybody can relate to Midwestern comedy,” he stated. “Whether or not you reside on the East Coast or the West Coast, I feel you possibly can if in case you have a household or in case you stay right here, you do not even must have a household. Midwestern comedy normally simply retains coming. All of that.”
All through the competitors, encouragement from different comics could be seen. Some drive from Lawrence, Kansas Metropolis to Omaha, Nebraska.
Jay Patterson, who goes by the stage identify “Simply J,” is among the most outstanding figures in Topeka’s open mic scene at 70 years previous. He was a part of Thursday’s squad.
“I have been doing (comedy) for 3 years,” Patterson stated. “I began it throughout the pandemic.”
Patterson stated she’s seen extra youthful comics since she acquired concerned.
“It was very nice to look at them come by,” she stated.
“I am having a tough time adjusting, however that is okay,” she stated. “There are alternatives, there are research, there are lessons. Simply do it. Do not be afraid.”
The place to search out comedy?
Together with the Third Thursday reveals, Prime Metropolis Comedy presents a daily open mic on the Joyful Basset Barrel Home. It’s the second and fourth Wednesday of each month.
“It is a totally different type of setup,” Tremblay stated. “You need to discover ways to get individuals’s consideration.”
Prime Metropolis Comedy additionally hosted a televised comedy hour on Fox 43.
Chris Schultz, proprietor of 909 and 911 S. Kansas Ave., hinted that he may deliver stay comedy again to downtown Topeka as effectively along with his restaurant and nightclub idea unveiled earlier this yr.
To get the mic your self, Shenck and Trembly say the perfect factor you are able to do is attempt it with one among their open mics.
“We truly get a variety of our options and headliners and issues like that once they began out as open mics, after which they only get higher and higher and higher after which fairly quickly, man, they’re truly getting extra laughs,” Shenk stated.
To search out their occasions, observe their Fb web page and web site www.topcitycomedy.com for extra.
