So, fast forward to Feb 2006. I met a comic at the Comedy Zone in Knoxville by the name of Drew Thomas. He was very kind to me and answered a lot of my questions about getting into comedy. He invited me to come to an open mic in Atlanta at a venue called the Twisted Taco. After years of telling my wife I wanted to begin stand up comedy, the opportunity was now at hand. My wife and I headed to Atlanta the following week. The club was in downtown Atlanta, and to be honest, I felt a little uncomfortable with the location. We headed into the club and to my surprise there were a lot of black people. Now, don't get me wrong. My problem was that I had heard horror stories about black audiences being rough on comics, and this was my first time. I was nervous to say the least! The time came and the emcee called my name and I headed to the stage.
Like most new comics, I tried the shock and awe approach. Incest, and a lot of cursing. It did not go over well, and a black lady stood up and yelled "You ain't funny you need to kill yo'self" to which I promptly came off stage and slumped down in my seat! The emcee wasn't much help either cracking on me for another 5 mins after that. The experience made me realize that I needed to do some studying and writing if I wanted to be any good at this. That's what I began to do, and now almost 6 years later I am still studying and writing jokes.