Column: There shouldn’t be this much comedy

If you think of Eau Claire as a music town, you wouldn’t be wrong. But you’re not paying full attention either. You’re like the person who watches the video of basketball players passing the ball around and misses the gorilla running right through the frame. The Gorilla is a comedy. Surprise! Eau Claire is also a comedy town. Great. And now you can’t miss it.

The last time I performed at a comedy open mic festival at The Plus I was 16th in the line-up, if that says anything about how the scene is going here. I was 16th and not even last. I shouldn’t be the last. We have a particular last one and if you’ve ever been to an open mic you’ll know why.

The open mic at The Plus takes place on Tuesdays. Tuesday evenings are supposed to be boring. They are not. They are probably the best night of the week for me now.

Open Mic is where comics go to do comedy for other comics. It is an infinity symbol of a system. It’s a dog chasing its own tail. It is also a school and a kind of club. It’s a comedy gym. If you want, you can watch us lift weights. People do this. It costs nothing and you get to see how the sausage is made. You can also sign up and try something out yourself. Why not? We’re all here stuffing meat into intestines to see if it holds up. No big deal.

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I started doing stand-up because I needed something all-encompassing to think about and because I wanted to have fun. And apparently I needed a lot of new friends, and I needed 95% of them men. All of these wishes came true.

Laura Buchholz

There are now other open microphones too. Last summer there was Reboot Social on Mondays. Now we have Growler Guys on Fridays. I think The Lakely has one on Wednesday. Oh Claire Improv teaches standup. And improvise. And sketch. They also have shows.

For a city the size of Eau Claire, that’s a disgrace of wealth. I shouldn’t be able to do comedy four nights a week. And yet here we are.

I’m very tired.

I’m not new to comedy. But I’m somewhat new to stand-up. I didn’t start stand-up because life was going well, I needed to cross an item off my bucket list, or because I wanted to reduce my sleep by 30%. I started because I needed something all-encompassing to think about and because I wanted to have fun. And apparently I needed a lot of new friends, and I needed 95% of them men. All of these wishes came true.

As a lifelong morning person and morning swimmer for years, getting up makes no sense to me. I’ll do it anyway. And I don’t swim. For me it was like waking up one day with four legs and a tail. It’s strange, but it’s interesting. I have a tail! Let’s see what it’s like for a while.

On stage, I would probably classify myself as a smart person who is recovering. Every person is different and that’s the fun of it. We have a Kwik Trip Manager in a fanny pack. We have a man in a leather jacket and the attitude to match. We have a manic, hyper-intelligent politician. We have a little guy with an unforgettable maroon t-shirt. We have a guy who does alternative comedy straight from the ’90s. We have a massage therapist with a cold plunge history. We have a woman who has drunk roommates. We have a Mexican dorm cop. We have a guy who paid a jellyfish to sting his girlfriend.

What else could you want?

If open mics test your patience like mine don’t, The Plus has all the current Thursday shows featuring comics from around the country. This happens every week and often twice a week. That’s because Cullen Ryan is a comedy weirdo who brings all these people here.

In short: If you live in Eau Claire and are bored, there is no excuse.

Eau Claire, music capital of the north? Secure. Fine. OK. Not counting Eau Claire, comedy capital of northern Minnesota, because we know Minneapolis? Absolutely.