My eighth open mic at Rich's pool hall on January 4th, 2026—first open mic of the new year! In this episode, I share the totally different experience of performing in a pool hall venue, dealing with imposter syndrome after the set ("Dude, am I funny?"), and learning that even experienced comics get it all the time. I discuss my writing process: using pen and paper, computer typing, Gemini for research, and ChatGPT to help write jokes and get ideas—some AI jokes get laughs, some non-AI jokes get laughs, it's a combination. Learn why Jerry Seinfeld writes only with pen and paper while the Joke Doctor uses computer, and why my wife says "just use what works for you—you don't have to do what everybody else is doing." I share advice for someone going up for the first time who doesn't feel they have enough material (I didn't either), why you need to recite and memorize jokes so your memory doesn't escape you on stage, and how memorization lets your natural voice come out. Important realization: the joke is a guide and the path may change but you're going in the general direction—learning to slow down, speed up, pause, and let the audience understand. Can't drop them in the middle of your thought—that's why they call it a setup. Person, place, thing: who, what, when, where, why—set them up in the space, then hit them with what they didn't expect. Very cognitive writing translated to people. Eighth shot at open mic.