The Bar Gig Files

The Bar Gig Files with Guest, Michael Cheselka shares his best advice as one of the original outlaws of comedy

 The Pub & Grub Comedy Tour is proudly adults-only. We’re not out here trying to make balloon animals for your kid’s birthday party.  We’re serving up beers, laughs, and the kind of stories you don’t repeat to your boss on Monday morning.  But here’s the thing: adults-only doesn’t just mean “say the F-word until people clap.” It’s this strange cocktail of being relatable and edgy at the same time. 

 The Pub & Grub Comedy Tour is for grown-ups, sure, but if your whole act is nothing but blue material, you’re dead in the water before you even hit the mic. 

Treat every gig like it matters. Because if you don’t respect the stage, why the hell should anyone else?  You don’t pack up your jokes and pout just because you’re not playing a theater. You bring it. For 12 people. For a dog. For whoever the hell is listening. 

Now let me tell you something, folks… trying to do stand-up comedy twelve yards away from a country legend with 30 top ten hits is like trying to tell knock-knock jokes during a hurricane.

Every time I walk into a venue and see that dead zone right up front—you know, those six empty chairs that might as well have yellow caution tape and a biohazard sign—I know exactly what’s goin’ on: Front Row Phobia.

 The hard truth about stand-up comedy: not every joke is meant for every person—and that’s perfectly okay. 

Why The Pub & Grub Comedy Tour™ consists of professional comics over social media “stars” — and how one YouTube hotshot just killed comedy at another venue forever.  Don’t miss this behind-the-scenes truth bomb from the frontlines of the bar comedy scene.

 You ever meet one of those comedians—or hell, a business owner—who says, “I’m just trying to figure it out as I go!” Yeah? You know what we used to call people like that? Unemployed.   Everybody’s trying to reinvent the wheel.   Newsflash: the wheel works just fine.  You just need to learn how to drive.   Too many comics—and business owners—are out here trying to freestyle life like it’s a jazz solo. No structure. No strategy.  Here’s the truth: business should be treated like a science project, not an art project.  The ones who make it in this game are not the ones who are the funniest.  They are the ones who follow a system.