Mark and Jake Try to Make it is your favorite podcast about two comedians trying to make it in comedy.

00:00 Viral YouTube Short

01:01 Grand Rapids, MN

02:25 Jake's car story

03:15 Colfax Avenue

04:13 Mark festival disaster

08:56 Jake joke stolen?

11:20 Money roller coaster - Intellistage

15:40 Jake travel Nashville vs. Cincinnati

17:30 Bad comedy festivals?

19:10 Evaluating comedy festivals

20:57 Vail Comedy Festival headliner announcements

22:42 Festival attendance thoughts

26:14 Vail Comedy Festival is great

27:03 Corporate gig check

28:10 Too much time with another comic?

29:30 Long drives with comics (Austin)

31:28 Jake loves magic!

34:30 Mathematical facts (deck of cards)

35:34 Memory Palace

39:13 Running cars redux

40:50 Don't Tell Comedy in E town

41:35 Mark is bad at geography

44:04 GeoGuessr

48::59 Trevor Rainbolt

49:58 Amazing Randi - an honest liar

52:10 Jake's books in progress

53:30 Log home building

56:35 Whiplash movie

57:27 Gary Gulman fake documentary

57:45 Giro dreams of sushi

58:46 Plugs

Mark Masters and Big Jake Hovis are mostly clean comedians, available for your event, contact us with info below:

Mark Masters

https://www.markmasters.co (contact form)

Big Jake Hovis

https://www.bigjakecomedy.com

Follow https://www.instagram.com/bigjakehovis

https://www.youtube.com/@MarkMastersComedy SUBSCRIBE for more episodes

https://www.patreon.com/markandjake JOIN for exclusive content

This week for Patreon subscribers we cover: Comedy festival rip-off, getting old milestone, sensory deprivation tank, ice cream floats are the Plymouth Rock of desserts, bidding a show, terrorist demands, incognito headliner, Jake does not finish books, immersion reading, Mark's monthly newsletter, shorts, field book, Mark's writing process, set lists

Mark and Jake Try to Make it is your favorite podcast about two comedians trying to make it in comedy.

0:00 Super Bowl

00:40 The R word and headliner drama

05:00 The comedian club

09:53 Comedy politics (Austin, TX)

11:23 The Voice and ugly people

14:15 Politics of booking

16:15 Pro Epstein jokes

17:25 Robert Kraft massage parlor

18:01 Jake is pro bullying?

18:32 Conan O'Brien

19:50 Jake is snowed in

22:15 Coal rolling

25:34 Dr. Mario on Nintendo

26:33 How Nintendo guns work

28:30 Jake makes omelettes

30:00 Mark's poster backdrop

30:40 Anthony Crawford is worth more

33:57 Paying comedians who would do it for free

34:38 Different buckets of comedians

39:20 Jake asks Mark a comedy scheduling question

41:39 Jake expands his senior comedy

42:35 John Candy documentary

43:46 Jake's little Jesus toys

45:40 Jake's Kill Tony plan

47:36 The Painted Porch bookstore

48:15 Hulk Hogan story

51:45 Picture of tiny Jesus

52:24 Mark's prediction about Jake on Kill Tony

54:09 Comedy Contest butterflies

54:40 Mark gets angry about registration fees

56:10 Steamboat Comedy lodging

59:01 Plugs

Mark Masters and Big Jake Hovis are mostly clean comedians, available for your event, contact us with info below:

Mark Masters

https://www.markmasters.co (contact form)

Big Jake Hovis

https://www.bigjakecomedy.com

Follow https://www.instagram.com/bigjakehovis

https://www.youtube.com/@MarkMastersComedy SUBSCRIBE for more episodes

https://www.patreon.com/markandjake JOIN for exclusive content

This week for Patreon subscribers we cover: Comedy festival rip-off, getting old milestone, sensory deprivation tank, ice cream floats are the Plymouth Rock of desserts, bidding a show, terrorist demands, incognito headliner, Jake does not finish books, immersion reading, Mark's monthly newsletter, shorts, field book, Mark's writing process, set lists

Mark and Jake Try to Make it is your favorite podcast about two comedians trying to make it in comedy.

00:00 Jake in Austin, TX

07:30 Jake meets Thor

09:30 -20 degree sold out show (Minnesota - Duluth and Grand Rapids)

11:15 Airport breakfast

12:30 Insulting to chickens

14:45 Poster

15:30 Derek Jeter bats

18:15 Too many Austin homeless jokes

20:45 Signed comedy posters (Derrick Stroup)

21:40 Jetbridge with snow

23:00 Winter storm driving

25:00 Mark 5 minute tape errors

29:45 Jake at The Mothership

33:30 Jake wants to bask

35:20 Jake and Kill Tony

41:10 Booking New England tour

45:30 Jake costume store update (Alamo too)

49:40 Crowd work mascot

51:35 Snowy drive

54:15 Jake secret show in home

57:05 New joke from Jake

58:00 Plugs

Mark Masters and Big Jake Hovis are mostly clean comedians, available for your event, contact us with info below:

Mark Masters

https://www.markmasters.co (contact form)

Big Jake Hovis

https://www.bigjakecomedy.com

Follow https://www.instagram.com/bigjakehovis

https://www.youtube.com/@MarkMastersComedy SUBSCRIBE for more episodes

https://www.patreon.com/markandjake JOIN for exclusive content

This week for Patreon subscribers we cover: O'hare airport, money at sold out -20 degree show, club pay, Jake gigs money, nursing home gig, Jake likes a gimmick show, Jake plans a Southeast run, de-icing planes, road touring money saving tips, guest spot audition, Superior WI, TSA karma, airport lunch, mark bombs a joke, Jake shares a new joke

00:00 Mark talks big Comedy Show logistics

04:00 More logistics, up lights

06:35 Is it winter in Vail?

08:15 Mud season

11:15 Manor Vail Lodge is beautiful

12:11 Raanan Hershberg special

13:15 Check in process

13:45 Jake in Austin, TX

15:30 Jake meets his match in Little Rock - Lucas Smith

17:35 Wednesday stage time in Arkansas

18:25 Booking a New England run (table scraps)

19:50 An inefficient business (comedy)

20:50 Rozco's Comedy Club

22:30 Jack-butt

23:05 Ryan Long

25:00 Five minute tape ethics

26:55 Editing YouTube shorts

28:20 Recording the audience

30:00 Jake recording open mics strategy

32:00 Nate Bargatze and other successful comic wives

33:27 Fun tripods

34:33 Mark lighting mistake in Frisco, CO

37:15 Mark loves Gypsum, CO

40:00 Dusty Slay

41:20 Jake house show (his house!)

45:10 Mike Hammock

48:00 Comic lineups

49:40 Stage time for show/club owners

51:00 Eddie Ifft & Friends

52:00 Mark is over allocated

53:20 Plymouth Rock sucks

54:20 Costume store going out of business sale

56:00 Sober Drunk Santa dot com

57:25 Jake cold calls nursing homes

58:38 Plugs (Raanan Hershberg - Morbidly Jewish)

Mark Masters and Big Jake Hovis are mostly clean comedians, available for your event, contact us with info below:

Mark Masters

https://www.markmasters.co (contact form)

Big Jake Hovis

https://www.bigjakecomedy.com

Follow https://www.instagram.com/bigjakehovis

https://www.youtube.com/@MarkMastersComedy SUBSCRIBE for more episodes

https://www.patreon.com/markandjake JOIN for exclusive content

This week for Patreon subscribers we cover: Raanan Hershberg, Nursing Home cold calls, Kill Tony, Comedy Seminar, filming post event reviews, musical chairs at mountain hotels, ticket donations, Vail Fire Department, renting hotel space, comedy poster in progress, Steamboat Comedy, gondola comedy, feature privilege, school corporate gig, working out a joke to make it more dumb, mark's body is breaking down, 55+ community

00:00 NYC Comedy Cellar Jon Laster

03:28 Peter Revello and Ryan Hamilton

06:00 NYC is clean

08:00 ALL OUT on Broadway - Jim Gaffigan and Ben Schwartz

11:45 New York Comedy Club (Meka Mo, Rojo Perez)

15:15 Performing in NYC

17:12 Brad Upton in Louisville, KY

28:13 Comedy is a roller coaster

34:20 Comedy competitions

38:45 Denver comedy vibe

42:18 Mark business win and scheduling

45:28 Jake the Roastmaster

49:44 Comedy reviews

52:09 Eddie Ifft New Year's Eve Comedy Works

55:04 YouTube Short "Face Line" goes viral

56:10 Jake's "Bulletin" idea

1:00:18 Patreon plug

1:00:35 Plugs

Mark Masters and Big Jake Hovis are mostly clean comedians, available for your event, contact us with info below:

Mark Masters

https://www.markmasters.co (contact form)

Big Jake Hovis

https://www.bigjakecomedy.com

Follow https://www.instagram.com/bigjakehovis

https://www.youtube.com/@MarkMastersComedy SUBSCRIBE for more episodes

https://www.patreon.com/markandjake JOIN for exclusive content

This week for Patreon subscribers we cover: Corporate pay reveal, Narcotics Anonymous Conference show, Dallas Texas comedy drama, Mike E. Winfield, Racial drama, packed to the gills, Jupiter stupider, 2026 bookings, Monique Marvez, Jake headlining in Michigan, comedy contest headliner

Mark and Jake Try to Make it is your favorite podcast about two comedians trying to make it in comedy.

00:00 Jake gets recruited for MMA

06:00 Wing upgrades?

07:10 Comedy Works New Talent Night

13:32 Mark submits to a festival

15:51 Limestone Comedy Festival is canceled

17:45 Mark NTN cookies

19:36 Mark gets braggadocios

21:35 Mark NTN notes

23:55 Jake submission video review

25:00 Jake is visiting Colorado

25:52 Steve Vanderploeg pyramid scheme

27:38 Stranger Things

32:56 Mark smartest move of the year!

35:32 Mark aggravation of the year

36:39 The dirt on Mark Masters

37:33 Food warning in NYC

40:19 Jake soda flex

41:05 Agree to disagreeable

42:48 CONAN booking error

44:24 Jake dumb move (Ray Lou)

46:24 Physical jokes

47:26 Jake dumb move (driving)

51:15 Movie theater worthy TV finales

53:35 New Year's resolution (teaser)

56:35 Mark 700 seat theater preview

58:32 Hacked by Chinese

59:00 Plugs

Mark Masters and Big Jake Hovis are mostly clean comedians, available for your event, contact us with info below:

Mark Masters

https://www.markmasters.co (contact form)

Big Jake Hovis

https://www.bigjakecomedy.com

Follow https://www.instagram.com/bigjakehovis

https://www.youtube.com/@MarkMastersComedy SUBSCRIBE for more episodes

https://www.patreon.com/markandjake JOIN for exclusive content

This week for Patreon subscribers we cover: Festival reveal, Flyover Comedy Festival, World Series of Comedy 2026, Chinese Hacking screenshare, 2026 slow down year?, review score wonkiness, show gig parlance, comic name reveal, bummer booking inquiries, how many comics on a show, resolutions, another comic name reveal

Mark and Jake Try to Make it is your favorite podcast about two comedians trying to make it in comedy.

00:00 Jake has wings

01:00 Water park head bob

07:45 Price is right on wings

08:06 Update on Georgetown Comedy Show (no power)

09:35 FEMA of laughs

11:42 Jake's Comedy Business idea

13:30 No alcohol comedy

14:37 New Orleans comedy business win

15:47 Mark Masters comedy club

17:10 Comedy Heights in San Diego, CA

18:10 Clean comedy guidelines

21:30 2026 Comedy projects

24:15 Austin Black

24:55 Empire, CO

25:35 250 seater in Denver

26:50 Pleasureville

30:00 Jake gets dental work

32:55 Avatar movie notes

33:35 Surprise corporate for Mark

36:05 Performing on big stage

36:50 Dane Cook child bride

39:30 Mark Masters in Northern Minnesota

41:55 Jake show in Austin, TX

48:45 700 seat theater

50:25 Best food at comedy gig

51:08 New Talent Night at Comedy Works

52:15 Denver Fringe Festival

53:50 Faxing it in

56:05 Patreon teaser

56:44 Plugs

Mark Masters and Big Jake Hovis are mostly clean comedians, available for your event, contact us with info below:

Mark Masters

https://www.markmasters.co (contact form)

Big Jake Hovis

https://www.bigjakecomedy.com

Follow https://www.instagram.com/bigjakehovis

https://www.youtube.com/@MarkMastersComedy SUBSCRIBE for more episodes

https://www.patreon.com/markandjake JOIN for exclusive content

This week for Patreon subscribers we cover: Comedy Works New Talent Night, Five year wait to change joke, Christmas joke, Audiobook gifts, how does Patreon work?, exploring Jake's top line revenue for 2025, Jake's personality test, Mark is a tastemaker on Google Maps, Jake's 2026 Goal, Mark's show running concern, repeat comedy business, Mark says no to a show, Mark's 2026 Goal

Mark and Jake Try to Make it is your favorite podcast about two comedians trying to make it in comedy.

0:00 No power comedy (Georgetown, CO)

06:30 Brandt Tobler's book "Free Roll"

08:20 Mark's Laserdisc collection management

09:10 Christmas movies (Laserdisc)

12:40 A Babe movie surprise (Christmas)

14:30 Jake teaches Mark improv comedy

27:15 Improv people money

29:25 Bad crowd work

30:20 Jake's Big idea about crowd work

32:27 Sklar Brothers

35:28 Crowd work Dry Bar

36:52 Mark and Jake Tour?

38:20 Mark's big idea - Thin Skin

39:50 Don't bet against Mark Masters

41:05 Pete Lee's 80 minute set

42:40 Jay Pharaoh story

46:35 Fiona Cauley sold-out Tuesday

47:30 Corporate gigs

49:30 Jake Funeral story (tight five)

53:20 Senior center comedy (Mark)

57:00 Jake needs to kill time

58:25 Positive roasting

59:00 Mark's Surgery gig

59:20 Plugs

Mark Masters and Big Jake Hovis are mostly clean comedians, available for your event, contact us with info below:

Mark Masters

https://www.markmasters.co (contact form)

Big Jake Hovis

https://www.bigjakecomedy.com

Follow https://www.instagram.com/bigjakehovis

https://www.youtube.com/@MarkMastersComedy SUBSCRIBE for more episodes

https://www.patreon.com/markandjake JOIN for exclusive content

This week for Patreon subscribers we cover: Mark and Jake plan a co-hosted comedy show, Pete Lee spicy stuff, Joke stealers, should you be able to pay for jokes, day time gig money, funeral joke revealed, Georgetown comedy power update, Mark's surgery gig, filming challenges, gig versus show, headliner requirements (Mary Mack)

Mark and Jake Try to Make it is your favorite podcast about two comedians trying to make it in comedy.

00:00 Calzone, a big hot pocket

06:04 Keto Pizza

08:40 World Trade Center 9/11

09:30 Brazzini's in Nashville, Indiana

11:00 Teenage aspiring hijacker

11:25 Holocaust Museum

12:40 Back to Calzones!

15:10 Tell me a joke

16:35 Tell them your favorite street joke

16:50 Mark tells a street joke

17:47 Jake tells a street joke

20:34 Mark tells jokes to rocket scientists

21:05 Corporate comedy secret

23:20 NORAD Cheyenne Mountain

23:55 Jokes for surgeons

24:37 Jake corporate advice

27:15 Don't Tell Comedy

29:00 Mark shares riffs

30:50 Jake tells Jeff Allen story

37:30 How to hold a microphone

41:00 Roastmaster Jake

41:30 Jake tells A Christmas Carol (1 hour)

47:15 Mark hosts New Talent Night at Comedy Works

52:00 Janae Burris crushes

56:45 Comedy Streak gimmick

59:20 Plugs

Mark Masters and Big Jake Hovis are mostly clean comedians, available for your event, contact us with info below:

Mark Masters

https://www.markmasters.co (contact form)

Big Jake Hovis

https://www.bigjakecomedy.com

Follow https://www.instagram.com/bigjakehovis

https://www.youtube.com/@MarkMastersComedy SUBSCRIBE for more episodes

https://www.patreon.com/markandjake JOIN for exclusive content

This week for Patreon subscribers we cover: Secrets of hosting New Talent Night at Comedy Works, Jake shares the hardest part of hosting, Holiday clean at Comedy Works, Jake ranks Louisville comedy clubs, Jake reveals pay for Charles Dickens reading, Mark cashes in on a gamble with corporate talks, Mark and Jake procrastinate, gig categories, A Christmas Carol, Mark gets feedback, overheard grovels, Comedy Works gatekeeping, comics that belly ache, Comedy Works promotions

Mark and Jake Try to Make it is your favorite podcast about two comedians trying to make it in comedy.

00:00 Jake gets screwed

06:00 Mark gets busted

11:25 Is everything meaningless?

12:17 Apollo 13 for dumb people

13:56 Mad at Target

17:38 Jake's Wife price check

19:03 Jake's Wife thrifts

20:45 Mark and Jake try to get on TV game shows

23:55 Mark does a run with Graham Kay

32:35 Comedy show running is a logic puzzle

33:50 Cody at Eagle River Brewing

34:25 Jake Crowd Works

45:35 Derrick Stroup

48:09 Brent Gill

50:44 Ben Roy

56:53 Chris Porter (feature's feature)

1:00:20 Patreon teasers

1:01:25 Plugs

Mark Masters and Big Jake Hovis are mostly clean comedians, available for your event, contact us with info below:

Mark Masters

https://www.markmasters.co (contact form)

Big Jake Hovis

https://www.bigjakecomedy.com

Follow https://www.instagram.com/bigjakehovis

https://www.youtube.com/@MarkMastersComedy SUBSCRIBE for more episodes

https://www.patreon.com/markandjake JOIN for exclusive content

This week for Patreon subscribers we cover: Jake's big booking secret, Mark's 2025 body count (states), Mark's corporate talk money, how to get a five minute tape, Nathan Lund first ever Comedy Works headlining show, medical emergency at a comedy show, Sam Tallent headlines Comedy Works, a joke from Janae Burris, Noah Reynolds and Brody Stevens, Jake gives Mark corporate set-list composition advice