We were lucky to catch up with Neil Chris recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Neil, thanks for joining us today. Can you take us back in time to the first dollar you earned as a creative – how did it happen? What’s the story?

In the beginning of this chapter in my life I would attend 3 to 4 open mics a week despite the fact that I had to wake up at 5:30 every morning working as a landscaper doing 10 to 12 hours of physical labor but still I would head out and do these late night shows. I remember sometimes the other comics would ask me if I was ok since I would always sit at a table a lay my head on it while I waited to go on stage and after 9 months of that, I got better at it and I was invited to feature on an actual show where tickets were to be sold. I didn’t ask for a fee or didn’t even care if I got paid because I just wanted the experience of being in front of a crowd of people ready to listen to some jokes and enjoy an evening of comedy since open mic comedy is a whole different animal. A comedy show in a theater you feel the crowds energy and they are open for laughter in comparison to an open mic situation you are literally surprising the walk-in patrons with a comedy show they weren’t expecting, some people have never been to a comedy show, lots of people like to go to a bar, have drinks, talk with friends and maybe don’t care for comedy in that moment… so the feeling of doing comedy for a crowd thats ready for it was amazing. You barely get lots of laughs at an open mic with maybe 4 or 5 people but in a packed show I witnessed what those 9 months of grinding paid off. I did extremely well, it boomed my self confidence and I’ve been doing ok for myself as a comedian ever since.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Comedy came to me late in life, before I was a full time musician playing in multiple bands for a good 12 years. It was hard to get to the point where I was in my music career and up until 2020 before the global pandemic I had financial security in my art. After everything shut down most of the musicians dispersed to different states and had no income so I decided to move to Savannah G.A. for work and I chose Savannah because it’s such a nice artsy town, with great architecture, the people are friendly and I love the weather. One night I stumbled into a basement bar and saw open mic comedy for the first time in my life and when I found out anyone could get on stage it spark my interest and after a few weeks of beating around the bush and writing a few bad jokes I decided to try it, I did surprisingly well and haven’t stopped since.

Another reason why I love comedy so much is because it helped me conquer my depression. I had gone through a bad breakup, had no friends in this new town I was in, I felt lost. The open mic nights gave me a sense of community, the thought of bringing joy to others was just so fulfilling that I have something to look forward to. Moving to Charleston was interesting, only 2 open mics a week. That is not acceptable at least to me as a comic I need more opportunities so I can get better and so do the other comics in town.

So now with Comic Life I want to give back to the comedy community by making an event of the open mic show, make it a spectacle. It hasn’t been easy but Im happy to say that Charleston has more open mics and we will continue to expand to more clubs in Charleston and neighboring towns to offer this experience because if I can create an environment where more people can feel safe stepping on stage, connecting with the audience like I did when I started, who knows? Maybe that experience might save a life like comedy saved mine. If thats the case, I’m all for it!

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I knew open mics were a thing 10 years ago. It’s really the only resource I didn’t have. I had no idea of it’s existence. Definitely a tool I wish I knew sooner about.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I feel like life is a constant pivot. I’ve had dozens of experiences where I’ve had to change course on business and on life because rigidness won’t take you far. Everything changes in every aspect of life so I guess the real story would be how you deal with a life changing pivot and that to have that “never give” mind set and to keep moving forward because the more you pivot in life the more prepared you are to be under pressure.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.comiclife.pro
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/comiclifeprod?igsh=NmU5NzJmMmFwMnlh&utm_source=qr