As a newbie, there's a lot of "outside looking in" feeling at the open mics. There are people who are comedy friends, as in when they're out performing or watching they'll generally hang out with each other at the venue. In the real world, if you're friends with someone, it's because you like them, had adventures, shared troubles, all that stuff. So when you make each other laugh, there are years backing that up. I've touched on this before; something that you do or say that makes all your friends laugh, may or may not work on stage. That's not my point, though.
I'd sometimes see someone go up, and notice that some people would pay more attention than they did to others. They seemed to get more laughs than others did. Were they funnier than average, or were their friends boosting the laughs because they knew them? Combination? Are these people friends only because they're funnier than average? I have no idea. But that's not my point, either.
The most obvious examples are when I've been to open mics where the crowd seems completely dead. Then one person will go up, and before they're even talking, there's a lot more excitement. Like I said, maybe it's because that person is really good, or maybe because that person is one of a tight knit group of friends that are having a good time, or who knows what. Ultimately, though, I think one shouldn't care. What I mean is, I'd think the best thing is to not worry about how well someone else is doing on stage, and if they're doing well if that means people "like" them more than you. Because they might be that funny, or they might be that friendly, but it doesn't matter. That's my point.
Like any social interactions, there are times when you hear about people who really aren't friends. Perhaps they don't like each other, which is natural. Worse yet is if people pretend to like each other because they're the right people to be friends with. I've seen it in real world, and it annoys me. I haven't been around in comedy long enough to witness it personally, but I've heard whispers, and I feel sad about it. I think I view it differently because of the "stakes" involved. My motivation in this is to be funny, and maybe one day be thought of (by myself and others) as funny enough that it's worthwhile to have an audience hear my stuff. Since I'm not looking for money or fame, hearing about that kind of faking feels like exploitation on an almost sadistic level. As in "why would you do that"? But not everyone has my motivations. For some it's their everything, so maybe it's purely a means-to-an-end kind of a thing. Again, though, I have no idea. Upon reflection, that's probably my actual point.
