DBC

Shane Gillis on his first comedy weekend: bombed drunk, crashed a wedding, told to be a teacher. Joe Rogan: Saying you're 10 years in and doing your first special is about right. It really is a 10-year journey, and only if you work hard. The saddest thing is an open micer you've seen for 12 or 13 years who's still bombing. Shane Gillis: A club owner once told me to quit. My first club weekend ever, I'd done open mics for about three months. A local guy recommended me, so I drove out with three friends and we got a hotel room. We played drinking games with Four Lokos all day. The owner asked if I could do 20 minutes. I had about three. I went on in a tiny hotel banquet room, blacked out. Shane: There was a guy in the front row in a throwback Penguins jersey who sat there the whole show. Ten minutes in, he told his friends, "that one wasn't bad." That's when I realized how badly I was doing. Afterward the owner asked what I was studying. History. He said, "You should be a teacher." Joe: It's hard to tell when someone's young and drunk. And he didn't know you. Shane: The second night, the wedding at the hotel. We bought suits at the Salvation Army and crashed it. We took a picture with the bride, she asked who we were, and the groom tried to fight us. Then I had to leave and bomb at the show. The groomsmen showed up at the bar. The club owner agreed I sucked. Joe: First weekends are always a disaster. When did it start rolling? Shane: I'd been dabbling in central Pennsylvania, but there's only so much you can do. I moved to Philly with no job, only to do standup. Joe: You had a degree? Shane: In history. Joe: Useless. Shane: Unless you want to be a teacher. I worked the front desk at a car garage in Philly. I'd sold Hondas after college and had no idea how cars work. People would ask what was wrong with their car and I'd say, "the rotor." A history degree, a front desk job and a bombed set. That's what the first year looked like.