The Business

Hello World!

This is my first blog for The Business.

I'm one of the founding members. It started with four of us way back when.

I was two years into standup and getting nowhere. I couldn't get stagetime on a regular basis. Any comic of any genre or era will tell you stagetime is the key to developing your act, material, and voice.

I kept looking at how people got their first regular timeslots and it wasn't relevant anymore. There aren't as many clubs as there used to be, and there are more comics. Comics in the '80s were able to get feature gigs for giving rides to headliners. They were able to get onstage in timeslots that don't exist in clubs anymore. Neither of the clubs in San Francisco had an open mike night. So what to do?

Luckily, I found the help of three other comics: Alex Koll, Chris Garcia, and Sean Keane. I was good at running shows and they knew much more about comedy than I did. They helped me learn not only about the craft, but about the politics of the scene as well, which is vital. Together, we rented out The Dark Room and started the first of hundreds of shows.

As people's careers and lives changed, so did our lineup. Nato Green, Anna Saragina, Caitlin Gill, Mike Drucker, and Chris Thayer all joined the crew. Nato still remains, and now, we have three new ones: Natasha Muse, David Gborie, and Jules Posner.

There are also Business shows in three cities: New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Alex, Caitlin, Sean, Anna, and Chris Garcia are all still part of the action. New York also includes Kara Klenk, Jared Logan, and Michelle Wolf.

It's become much bigger than the initial four of us. It's evolved on its own in weird ways. The reputation of the group as a whole has grown organically. It's been a fun ride so far. I'm excited to see what happens in the future.

--Bucky Sinister