A hush falls over the crowd, invisible to the performers on stage whose eyes dart from the bright lights to their scribbled notes, prepared to slay. An audience, blessed with the relinquishment of expectation – they haven’t paid for this – waits expectantly. Still, these few seconds between acts brim with trepidation. The comic breathes out once, clasping the mic with one hand and launches into their set. Any given week, this scene plays out across town. At Florida State’s own Club Downunder, at Fermentation Lounge, at Birds Aphrodisiac Oyster Shack every Wednesday… Tallahassee residents and students alike have access to local, student and out-of-town comedians.
As the leaves begin to change and temperatures drop, warmth can be found in your pumpkin spice latte just as easily as from the warm, belly-laughter induced by any outing to a local open mic. John Michael White, a mathematics student at FSU, performs magic tricks and the darkest one-liners you’ve ever heard this semester regularly at Birds. In his ironic t-shirts and Cola-stained jeans, his optical illusions and escapist maneuvers will have you in stitches just as much as his wise-cracks and all-too-accurate quips on loneliness. It’s almost hard to believe such a hallowed performer on the Tallahassee comedy scene is just 19. Between the melancholy sad-guitar-boys of the Askew Student Life Center open mic, local comedians like Eddie McMahon and Reymun Jarvis take the stage, prepared to antagonize and entertain. McMahon is quick and unforgiving in his wit, the gathering of musicians and their groupie-esque friends compelled to laugh and gasp in equal amounts. Jarvis is handsome as the devil, if the devil were chubby, bearded and impeccably versed in self-deprecating humor. Florida State’s artistic population is jolted into a guilty elation each time they go up.
Even in the male-dominated field of comedy – more of a plain than a field, tribal and widespread – women reign supreme, their rarity only a nuance of their undeniable talent in Tallahassee comedy. Jess Ekhdal, unmistakable in her purple hair and chicly impervious hipster-style is the Social Justice Warrior uneducated Tumblr-savvy wenches wish they were. Timely material and authenticity drive her thought-provoking sets, endearing her to the audience immediately and providing a facet of comedy often left undiscussed by the discountenance-riddled jokes of the male comic population. A particularly fantastic display on a woman’s right to choose follows a bit about Ekhdal’s pierced and tattooed nipple during one Wednesday set at Birds, causing a resounding applause and perplexed laughter simultaneously. Other comediennes like FSU Law student Kali Tripodis and local Sarah Lamb are simply funny – sharp, hilarious and driven forward with a veracity that is both dismayingly and fabulously genuine.
If you are without a sense of humor, one is easily accessible at your local open mics. See below for some upcoming shows and weekly mics where you can laugh, gasp and maybe even perform. Go forth, Collegeittes and support local comedy!
Featured Open Mics:
Fermentation Lounge
Comedy Open Mic
2nd and 4th Monday of every month
8pm
Birds Aphrodisiac Oyster Shack
Comedy Open Mic
Wednesdays
9pm
Plus: Howler-ween Comedy Show, October 30th
The Warehouse
All Arts Open Mic
Wednesdays
8:30pm
Askew Student Life Center
See ASLC Schedule
Club Downunder
Comedy Open Mic
1st Friday of every month
8:30pm