No one ever said running a show in the mecca of comedy, NYC, would be an easy thing. And myself and Dewey knew that from the beginning. However, we also knew with the comics we know and the headliners we know and the connections we have, we’d be able to get it done and make it somewhat of a success.

Our recent shows at our new home at the Vintage Lounge @ Gotham Comedy Club has re-energized our love for La Boca. Quick recap: Our first show there was exciting. The Lounge holds about 55-60 people, we had 40ish. So it looked decently full. The comics were great. How can you beat a line-up of Tom McCaffrey, Gary Gulman, & Jim Gaffigan? You really can’t (Gaffigan was upstairs and came down and was gracious enough to do about 10 minutes at the end of our show). So that big crowd left knowing they got well more than what they paid for. Last night’s show, little smaller turnout. About 15 people. Yikes, u might be thinking. Most people will be thinking yikes i’d imagine. Now don’t get me wrong, small audiences are never the ideal situation, but sometimes they can be the most fun. They’re there for a show. It’s not their fault other people didn’t come. They came. Make them laugh. That’s a comedian’s job. Our confidence in our line-ups has pretty much made us never get nervous right before a show if there was a low turnout for whatever reason. So last night we had sketch comedy (by Timmy Williams [Whitest Kids U Know] and John F. O’Donnell) and stand-up (Tom Steffen from Minneapolis, Kevin Williams, also from Minneapolis who absolutely crushed, and one of the best, Ted Alexandro...then Jamie Lissow popped down at the end, who I also think is one of the best out there). On a scale of 1-10, i’d give that line-up a 9.7 (Chris Rock couldn’t make it). Ourselves and the comics worked that crowd the same way as if we were all in front of 500 people. Sometimes, the laughter sounded like it was in front of 500 people and everyone left happy. One of the best things we like to hear at the end of a show, especially from friends or regulars of La Boca, "That was probably your best show..." and that’s almost two years into running the show. That just makes us wanna try to top this show with the next one.

There was another show going on upstairs at Gotham. While a few of us from La Boca were outside after the show, the headliner of that show came out. He was asked, "How’d the show go?" by someone and with a shrug of the shoulders replied, "Eh...ok...y’know...small crowd." Too bad he wasn’t at our ’small crowd’ because his response would have been completely different. That immediate "eh small crowd" reply made me just wanna lash out and be like, "Well, 10 people came to laugh...make them laugh. It’s not their fault." Comics need to stop blaming audiences. Yes, there are times when an audience as a whole sucks. But that’s so rare. If it’s one person and you can’t deal with it, or the club doesn’t, that’s another problem that needs to be solved. But you’re supposed to go up there with the expectations of yourself, and from the audience, to make them laugh no matter what.

There are numerous ’underground’ comedy shows around the city. Tons. Every night you can find 10-20 shows being produced at any given venue: bar, restaurant, comedy club, karaoke lounge, etc. Might sound exciting to someone who’s not from here, but the city is, in my opinion, being saturated with lots of awful, shitty comedy shows. I feel real strongly about this because the pride we have in La Boca and the amount of time and effort we put into producing each show, making sure the audience leaves happy. I feel bad for the tourist that gets scammed into paying $20 or even more sometimes to go see a comedy show at certain crappy clubs here, tickets they bought from some idiot in Times Square claiming, "Dane Cook! Chris Rock! Jerry Seinfeld! Tonight!" then they show up, all excited only to see 19 open mic-ers in a row do the same boring act they’ve been doing for the past 5-10 years. I want someone leaving NYC, going back to their home saying, "NYC was great. One of the highlights was this comedy show. All the comics made us laugh, and even so-and-so from Comedy Central came in at the end!"

Way too many ’producers’ of comedy shows and comedy nights out there don’t give a shit about an audience. They just want/need stage time for themselves which is a shame. They give spots just so they can get spots. Plain and simple. And you can tell which shows these are. If you’ve been to a show where there have been more than 6, 7, 8 comics on, and you feel like you’ve been there forever (because you either have, or you just aren’t laughing), then I’m sorry. Most shows (not all, most) don’t ever try to get a actual REAL headliner for their shows. Credibility just isn’t important I guess for some as long as they get their 10 minutes (although, a lot of times when someone produces their own show they feel like they deserve 20+ minutes just because).

I actually love this business, most of the time. In comedian years, people say I’m still a baby (currently in the middle of my third year of stand-up for real, which sometimes works against me). Those people that say that though are usually the bitter, 10th year comic who is still doing the open mics and same jokes since they started. This is a business. Comics get treated like shit a lot because a lot of us don’t treat it like a business. This is a career that someone can be very successful, make a lot of money, and have the time of your life with. Comics needs to start realizing that, or just get out. It’s way too much of a ’hobby’ for a lot of NYC comics and it’s sad. Too many people on vacation leave here with that bitter taste of comedy in their mouths because they thought they would finally get a chance to see a real NY stand-up comedy show, when all they got were 9 bored, unoriginal comics telling dick jokes.

Even after last night’s "small audience", a few moments ago we were just, for lack of a better term, picked up for a few more shows by Gotham. They knew the show went great, regardless of the size of the crowd. The buzz will happen and we know it. We’ll keep making it happen for ya if you keep wanting to laugh.

Make sure you check out our next show with DANE COOK, CHRIS ROCK, AND JERRY SEINFELD!