Alex Weiss is a senior music major and theatre minor. Besides being a standup comic, Alex also plays the drums in NSU’s instrumental ensemble. In his spare time, he enjoys writing music and hanging out with friends.
What is the best part about being a comedian? Most people assume it’s making people laugh or receiving free drinks. While both of those things are definitely great, I still find this to be a hard question to answer. But I’m going to try.
As I sit by my computer, with Mumford & Sons playing in the background, I can’t help but think about my career so far as a comic. I guess it all started 22 years ago — you know, when I was born. I was introduced to comedy at a very young age. I remember sitting in the delivery room and the nurse was doing a stand-up routine for the entire room of newborns. Believe it or not, she was the one to come up with the whole “What’s the deal with airline food?” joke. I think she was pretty lonely.
But I digress. When I was growing up, my parents watched reruns of “Seinfeld” like the show was going out of style — which, to this day, it still hasn’t. They even memorized every line and acted out every scene. So, needless to say, I never got to watch “Sesame Street”. That would explain a lot.
As I grew older, so did my taste in comedy. I began listening to a lot of Louis C.K., Dave Attell and Dane Cook — when he was funny. I can honestly say that, when I was 12, I never expected to become a comedian; I didn’t think I was that funny.
I went to my first comedy show when I was 15 and saw Dane Cook at the South Beach Comedy Festival. I remember the first thing I thought after seeing him live was “I really need to start working out.” Around this time, a few of my close friends began doing stand-up at small open mic nights around town. I would always go out to support them but I never performed.
I didn’t even get on stage until I was 20 years old. I was so ready for my first time on stage. It was at a small club called the Funky Buddha Lounge. I wrote tons of great jokes that I knew were going to kill. Everyone was going to love it. I was so prepared. So, I got on stage and … it was terrible. My jokes bombed. Everything I thought was funny was not.
This was a wake-up call for me. I thought, “You know, maybe this isn’t for me.” Despite all of these feelings, I went back with some new jokes week-after-week until people started laughing. I would even test jokes out on all of my friends, but often their reply would be “Yeah, that’s funny.” For those who aren’t aware, “Yeah, that’s funny” to a comic is like a guy asking his girlfriend “Are you OK?” and she replies, “I’m fine.”
In November 2011, I was given one of the greatest opportunities a comic could ever imagine. I was given the chance to open for one of the biggest names in comedy, Kevin Hart. Not only was I opening for him, but I was also performing in front of 3,500 people. It was an incredibly terrifying experience but also one that I will never forget. That show opened up a lot of doors for me as a comedian. I was booking pretty consistent gigs after that and doing what I loved. This still remains true today.
I have to give credit to my friends and family. I wouldn’t be anywhere without all of their support. I had no idea I would be able to do anything like this and they pushed me constantly to step outside of my comfort zone.
So, what’s the best part about being a comedian? It’s the people I’ve surrounded myself with and the experiences I’ve had.
Well, that’s the end of my story and I know what you’re all thinking: “Yeah, that’s funny.” But seriously, you never know the outcome of something unless you try. The worst thing that can happen is that you fail … and even that isn’t so bad because you can usually write a joke about it.
