Getting Booked As an Emcee
As mentioned in a previous article, emcees are almost always locally based - clubs simply don't have the budget to pay for lodging costs for that slot. If you're interested in becoming an emcee, go down to your local club and meet the booker. Call ahead and find out who books the emcees. (Bear in mind, at many clubs, particularly franchises such as the Funny Bone and the Improv, the person who handles the emcees may be different the person who books middles and headliners, so be specific.) Go see a show, introduce yourself, and find out what their policy on emcees is, and their needs - do they have a lot of emcees? Or are they looking for new openers? Many clubs may actually be seeking new openers, and you may be in the right spot at the right time. Set up a "guest set" - usually about a five-to-seven minute set which basically acts as an audition - and follow up from there.
If you don't have a club near you, you're unfortunately out of luck. Even if you have a buddy in Seattle who will let you crash on his couch, the club is not going to have a great deal of interest in giving a week, or even a couple of nights, to someone who can't reliably emcee again in the future. Clubs don't spend a great deal of time on emcees, because of the low cost and short time on stage, so if you can't contribute to their flexibility, it's unlikely they'll take the time to bring in an "outsider," so to speak. It's certainly worth the effort to try, but bear in mind it may be difficult.
Getting Booked as a Feature
Remember that, in order to even consider working as a feature, you need to have a solid thirty-minute set. Now. Not twenty-two, or eighteen, and the guess that "I can write some new stuff if I need to." Do not go too far, too fast. It is far better in comedy to be six months late than six weeks early. Don't do shows that you're not ready for - it will not only hurt you in the eyes of the booker, but it will hurt your own confidence as well.
