What Makes You Mad When You're On Stage?

The one thing that makes me the angriest is people not paying attention or talking. Other comedians don’t like any sort of disruption, even if it’s positive like saying “that’s funny.”  But for me, its the not paying attention, most of all, if it's other comedians in the showroom.

As a fellow comedian, you don’t have to pay attention to me or watch my set. To be honest, I never like it when other comedians are watching my set. It’s stressful and triggers “imposter syndrome.”,  But don’t talk and disrupt the show, especially if other people can see or hear you. Obviously, if they can hear you, it’s bad but if they can see you, it sends a message that if comedians can talk, we can too.  You will never see an established comedian do this, or at least I have not. The headliner may not watch his or her openers, but they will show them respect.

Recently the host of my show actually went to the back of the showroom to continue a date, whom the host had presumably invited to the show. You can hear them laughing but not at the parts of my show, to the point where others turned back to see what was up. 

Respect the stage and the showroom and put away your phones, as they say in the announcements.
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