Etiquette Towards Your Host
First…
Whether you at an open spot or at a comedy club and your allotted time is five, ten, fifteen, or 30 minutes, then that is your time, not more and not less. How will you know without a watch? the venue will give you the light or you will have a clock on the stage hidden behind a speaker that you can see. The same goes for an open spot.
First, believe it in your heart and keep it there forever that, open spot does not need to exist and you do not need to perform, as far as the club is concerned. In other words, they are doing you the favour and not the other way around. Therefore, you need to follow the rules closely.
You need to be smart enough to know how to time your set during rehearsal. You are better off 30 seconds under (No more) than going 30 seconds over, I assure you.
If you get the light at a comedy club, it means, “Get the !@#$ off the stage” You have wore out your grace period and you are breaking into another person’s set.
If that other person is you then how will you finish your set without enough time? If it is another person that you managed to upset, then you just burned a bridge with a person that may have been able to help you in the future.
In some comedy club venues, there are two shows a night on Friday and Saturday with 30 minutes to clear the room and make it new again for the next crowed to come in and enjoy the show.
If you are the reason they have less time to get that done, then you have just cheesed off the host, manager, and the bar staff that are trying to clean up. You are going to have to hope that you are not so prideful that you do not think you need to make formal apology or you may be doing your shows in another town before too long.
These people can make you or break you in the world of comedy. You need to treat each one of them as if they are the CEO of a company that you want to work for forever…because they are. Once they feel that they are no longer in need of your services, it’s off to another city to start over again. Life is hard enough without making it harder on yourself and you do so by making it harder on others. a little bit of pure comedian etiquette will go a long way.
Do unto others, as you want them to do unto you…Or suffer the repercussions.