This is a guest post from Connected Comedian Ryan Budds, a comedian who moved from Chicago to Los Angeles recently and has learned a lot in the process. Below are his thoughts on the 10 lessons he’s learned in his first 500 days in Los Angeles – you can also hear him talk about it in more detail on a recent episode of the On The Page podcast.

If you’d like to write a guest post for Connected Comedy, please email me.

1. Get A Partner

It’s important to have someone to help balance out the LA transition. For me, it was my wife, who has been part of my career since we met in college. She was there the first time I did an open mic, and she’s the first person I turn to when I need help with anything creatively. With her steady full time job and me trying to make connections in a new city, we really succeeded in being able to afford the higher rent, gas, and living expenses.

This partner doesn’t need to be a significant other; it can be a friend you’re sharing an apartment with, a parent supporting your relocation with monetary help, or even a nest egg you’ve saved up for this huge move. Who/whatever it is, make sure it’s reliable and supportive.

2. Have A Side Business

When I first moved to LA, I had no steady income. My comedy career in the Midwest consisted of standup gigs on the weekend and trivia nights I ran at bars on the weekdays. In LA, I knew I would have very little comedy income because of the massive talent pool and almost non-existent comedy club paychecks, so my big plan was to host trivia at bars around LA to stay afloat at first.

I had a slow start with getting bars to sign on, but this side business really helped me match my wife with income after a few months. And, having just a two-hour, late night commitment to these bars each week left my days open to pursue acting auditions, classes, extra work, production jobs, and all kinds of other random “side missions” to the LA game.

Additionally, this particular side business keeps me fresh on crowd work, testing jokes, networking with players on a weekly basis and helps build my brand. Hopefully, this side business will turn into a real business – in my case in the form of a game show pitch. Try to make your side business lucrative for both your wallet and your career goals.

3. Evaluate How You Spend Your Time

As a new comic in LA, I was eager to take my stab at the ever-spreading comedy scene. I wanted to make an impression and do all the best shows I could, and I wanted to mingle at open mics and get to know everybody.

This is a great plan, but LA is seriously MASSIVE when it comes to how many comedians, mics and showcases exist. There are hundreds, seemingly, in every regard. It’s hard to get decent stage time consistently at mics, so I found myself quickly strained to hang out for four hours only to get three minutes in front of the sound guy and two comics waiting to go up after me.

Sure, open mics are great, especially when you’re starting out, but I think it’s important to make sure you’re getting what you want out of these nightly segments. Think about what you can do with that four-hour stretch rather than just conforming to this idea that “more open mics = better comedian.”

Mics are crucial for comics at any level, but evaluating that time is much more important. If you’re not growing in some way, don’t waste your time.

4. Repeat The Good Stuff

Try lots of things and do the best ones over and over again! I started making sketches with some other comedians in a group called Bitsville U.S.A. over the last year or so, and the finished products were exceptional. After seeing the final cut, I knew these were guys that I would like to work with again and again.

I think it’s important to always try new things, but you can’t deny quality if it’s consistent, and you need to embrace those instances whether they be a great acting/writing class, a particular stage around town, or even notes from a new friend on a script you’ve traded. Find people that motivate you in some way and make these people your best friends – both socially and professionally.

5. Embrace New Opportunities

Welcome the possibility of humility, try it all. One time, Central Casting called me up and asked if I could roller skate (documented on my website in my #30DaysLA blog). I couldn’t, but I said I could, because I had two days to prep and knew I could learn it if I tried hard enough.

I did, and I never fell, and I got some great screen time on How I Met Your Mother, and a great commercial spot featuring my face during the Super Bowl last year advertising that episode. NONE of that would have happened if I just politely whispered that I didn’t know how to skate and hung up the phone.

The same thing happened more recently when an agency called and asked if I had teleprompter experience. I didn’t, but I knew there was a free app called “Teleprompter” on my iPad that I could practice with for the weeks leading up to the industrial commercial taping, so I told them I could and made some very easy money for what turned out to be a three-session shoot totaling over $1,000.

Little decisions can really lead to much bigger accomplishments, and I work best under pressure, so I embrace it. Maybe you can, too.

6. Keep Reaching Out To People

On my 500th day in LA, I got a job as an Associate Producer on MTV’s Ridiculousness. I had interviewed for several jobs as a segment producer with the shows Wipeout and Mud, Sweat, and Gears, and I didn’t get either job, even after feeling like I had some of the best interviews of my life.

I was discouraged, and when I’m discouraged, I do this thing where I text everybody in my phone. Something. Anything. Just a “Hey, what’s up” or a quick joke or something and if they respond, I see where that can take me.

Around day 480 (after failing on both those interviews) I randomly text a friend of mine named Rob O’Reilly, who I knew worked on Ridiculousness. I asked if he knew of any jobs opening up, and he did. He asked for a resume, I spruced it up, sent it through, and got an interview later that afternoon.

The next day I had the job, and that next Monday, I started. NONE of that would have happened if I didn’t simply reach out. Always throw stuff out there and see what bounces back.

7. Explore The West Coast

When you get out here, LA is the hub for everything. But, the whole coast is amazing and a must-see experience. And not just the coast. Vegas is close, the Grand Canyon, San Francisco, Seattle, they’re all out this way and they’re all filled with possible opportunities you could discover in one adventurous weekend.

As a writer or creative person, you need to see some of the areas where your characters are supposedly from. Even if nothing happens from this travel for your career, you’re bound to be inspired in your surroundings

8. Share Other People’s Creations

Your work is super important, but so is the work of your peers. It’s never going to hurt you to promote someone else’s work. Find people who make stuff that appeals to you and reach out to them with a note or a critique or any response to recognize their work. They want to hear it! That’s why they’re posting stuff.

Posting links to content keeps me searching for ways to stay fresh and it really promotes the sense of community that can be lost when moving to a new city. Like a video you saw on Funny or Die? Message the uploader and see how you can be a part of the next one.

9. Buy Someone A Pizza

When my friend Ken Garr has a great comedy club weekend, he has a pizza sent to the booker’s office, thanking them for the good time. As he claims, no one is ever upset to get a free pizza.

When I interviewed for Ridiculousness, I made a connection with one of my now-bosses about his wife being from Chicago. The day after my interview, I had a Chicago-style deep dish pizza sent over from a nearby place called Taste Chicago with my boss’s names on it and the note “some Chicago love from Ryan Budds.”

Even if I didn’t get the job, maybe they’d remember me for the next opening as the “pizza guy.” Fortunately, I did get the job, and maybe it wouldn’t have mattered if I hadn’t sent a pizza but it definitely didn’t hurt. If you have an opportunity coming up, figure out how you can add a pizza (real or figurative) to the situation to better your odds

10. Pay It Forward

Do podcasts! Reply to emails! Let people take out you to lunch! Take the time to embrace all the people that took time to embrace you.

I let a guy named Jared Iverson take me out to lunch because he really enjoyed my last appearance on the On The Page podcast, and now we’re friends. Jared then came to one of my trivia nights and made more friends, including some actors that are appearing in tons of new movies and projects. I love interacting with people that like what I’m doing. As a performer, I’m looking for attention, and until I’m TMZ-status, let’s keep it coming.

READ THIS NEXT: 5 Reasons You Haven’t Made It In Hollywood Yet

This is a guest post from Connected Comedian Rich Williams, who has been a part of the Houston comedy scene for the last four years. If you’d like to write a guest post with an overview of your local comedy scene for Connected Comedy, please email me.

1. Houston Audiences Are Diverse…And Somewhat Segregated

Houston is a port city with an amazing blend of cultures from around the world. With 10 colleges and universities within the Houston metropolitan area, it’s also one of the most educated cities. That said, the crowds range from extremely diverse to extremely homogenous depending on what side of town you’re on.

Houston’s strongest comics tailor their material, with minor tweaks, to work in front of whatever audience they’re performing for that night.

2. Living In Houston Is Affordable

The fair market rent for a 2-bedroom apartment is $872. If you’re willing to live outside the loop or outside the beltway and share an apartment/house, you can find some very good deals. Of course, you will spend more on transportation and give up on convenience if you live outside the beltway and you should know that nearly all of the prominent open mics are inside the 610 loop.

3. You’re Going To Need A Car

In terms of square mileage, Houston is larger than the state of New Jersey. The good news is, the best open mics are literally within a 10-mile radius of each other.

The bad news? Houston’s rail system is virtually non-existent (there is one track that runs from the Medical Center to downtown that is adjacent to exactly ZERO comedy clubs or open mics) and most of the buses shut down by 10 pm. This means to get to any open mic or comedy club, you have to drive yourself or carpool.

4. There Are Only Two Comedy Clubs, And Only One Of Them Cares About You

Within the last five years, Houston’s comedy scene shrank from four comedy clubs to one – the Houston Improv.

Fortunately, the Joke Joint Comedy Showcase (formerly the Comedy Showcase) was resurrected, and in its new incarnation, is really going out of its way to cultivate and feature local talent. It hosts a weekly open mic with a built-in workshop for both budding and experienced comics.

The Joke Joint is also the fastest way for a comic with skills to get host and feature experience. Not to say that the Improv doesn’t feature local talent, but their open mic is only once a month and breaking into their host/feature ranks can be difficult.

5. To Connect To The Open Mic Scene, You’ve Got To Go Online

If you ever want to know where to go for stage time on any particular night in Houston, your first stop should be the Comedy Scene In Houston website. This is critical because open mics tend to have a 2-month half-life in the city, and you don’t want to spend hard earned gas money only to show up to an empty bar.

If you plan on actually performing, a few of the open mics require that you sign up online by either sending an email message or filling out a form online. For example, Rudyards – one of the hottest open mics in town – happens every Monday, but you have to send the email between Thursday and Saturday of the previous week.

Warehouse Live has a Tuesday Open Mic that requires you to fill out an online signup form, but allow you to sign up for the entire month in advance.

For up to the minute updates on open mics,shows, auditions etc, make sure you join the Houston Comics and Houston Stage Time Facebook groups.

6. There’s Not Much Industry In Houston

While Houston is an outstanding training ground for young comics, if you seek to earn TV credits or get work in movies or commercials, this is NOT the place for you. Networks may come here every other year to audition talent for standup specials, but more often than not, you’ll find yourself driving to Austin (2 hours), San Antonio (3 hours), or Dallas (4 hours) to have a crack at spots on the small screen.

In addition, New Orleans (6 hours) has recently become a magnet for TV and film, with several casting agencies drawing talent from across the South for extra work in both TV and film.

7. Independent Promoters And The Rooms They Run Rule The Town

Where major clubs have closed their doors, independent promoters and non-traditional venues have stepped up to fill in the gaps. Carlos Wallace hosts the “Houston Allstars”show at the Houston Improv the 2nd Wednesday of every month. I personally produce/host two shows at Warehouse Live, The Bambou Lounge, and the Joke Joint.

Warehouse Live is stepping into the comedy game big time, with a weekly (Tuesday) open mic hosted by Gabe Bravo and Stephan Brandau, as well as periodically bringing in national headliners including Todd Barry, Chelsea Peretti, and Doug Benson.

Rudyard’s not only has one of the hottest open mics run by Dusti Rhodes, but they also have the monthly “Level Up”showcase produced by Brian Zeolla. Also, Steven Padilla runs the longest running Comedy Open Mic in Houston at St Daines every Thursday, and they also host a contest and periodic showcase. Meanwhile, Chris Oddo books the monthly “20/20/20”show, while The Hard Rock Café, Grooves Nightclub, and a host of other venues allow local comics to flourish.

In addition, MPAC, a performing arts nonprofit headed up by entertainment attorney Jalene Mack, sponsors a festival every year that features industry speakers, showcases, business panel discussions, and workshops as part of the effort to grow the Houston entertainment industry and support local talent.

Want more? You can read about other comedy scenes here.

A couple weeks ago I was following 690 people on my personal Twitter account. Then, I did a little “spring cleaning.”

I went through the list of people I was following to do two things: Determine if everybody I was following was still worth following and categorize every single person I followed into one of a series of Twitter lists based on what they tweeted about.

What I didn’t expect when I decided to do this was how much I would learn from the process. It turned out I learned so much – and so greatly improved my experience using Twitter – that I now think it’s something everybody should do every once in a while.

By the time I was done I was down to following 408 people – that’s right, I discovered that more than 40% of the people I was following on Twitter I didn’t want to follow any more! That’s a pretty big number.

But that’s not all I learned. Here’s why I think you should give it a shot…

1. It Will Change Your Approach To Twitter

A funny thing happens when you look at hundreds of Twitter accounts back-to-back and ask yourself whether you want to keep following each of them. You see trends emerge in how people use the platform and you realize how many people’s tweets just blend together.

For example, I followed a lot of comedians who for the most part did nothing but post jokes. Sure, some of them were funny (and some of them weren’t), but after a while I started to ask myself how many people tweeting random observations about what they ate or their crazy friend did I actually needed to see ? 10? 25? 100?

At some point, they started to blur together and I realized my feed was being crowded with stuff I didn’t really care that much about. My standards started to rise.

Sure, I wanted to see funny stuff in my feed, but it made me realize to justify following somebody who was primarily posting jokes/observations those jokes had to be really good and (even more importantly) really consistent.

I also realized I was way more interested in funny people who shared more than just jokes and observations. It was a way for them to stand out from the crowd and provide me with more value.

Setting aside my own personal interests, I guarantee you if you go through and analyze the people you’re following on Twitter it will definitely make you think twice about what you post on your account and look to find ways to separate yourself from what every other comic is doing.

2. You’ll Realize How Much You’re Missing – And How Much Your Followers Are Missing

As I went through the people I followed I was shocked at how many people I followed that I felt like I hadn’t seen a tweet from them in months. It wasn’t that they weren’t tweeting, it’s just that their tweets didn’t happen to occur at the moments that I was checking my feed and I basically never saw them.

This is partially what inspired me to put everybody I follow into Lists so that I’m more likely to see their posts, but it also served as a reminder that many of my own followers likely aren’t seeing my tweets either. After all, if I was following people whose tweets I wanted to see but missed them, then the chances are the same thing is happening with people who follow me.

This is also a reminder that engaging with the people you follow (or who follow you) can be a good way to remind them to check out your tweets, even if they’ve missed them in their feeds.

3. You’ll Think About Why You Follow People

When you decide to analyze who you’re following it forces you to think about what kinds of people can be the most helpful to you and your goals. For example, think about what you want to learn and what kind of content you want to be exposed to and then make sure that the majority of people you follow fit that mold.

As you break down the people you’re currently following and put them into lists based on interests, you also wind up with an interesting snapshot of exactly how much of various types of info you’re feeding yourself through your Twitter feed. That snapshot will probably surprise you – I know mine did.

Here’s the breakdown of the 7 lists that I used to categorize the people I’m following and how many people I have on each list at the moment:

• Comedy – 97 (this is for comedians and people working in the comedy biz)

• Creative People – 86 (this is a catch-all for interesting/creative/inspiring people I want to keep tabs on)

• People I Know – 63 (this is for friends and people I know “in real life”)

• Sports – 60 (this is for sports journalists, athletes, sports blogs, etc)

• Media Outlets – 57 (this is for publications, websites, etc.)

• Terps – 22 (this is for people who cover Maryland sports)

• Journalists – 20 (this is for individual journalists who cover topics I’m interested in)

These are the numbers I wound up with after shedding a couple hundred other people that I was following and they’re a little more in balance with what I really want to get out of Twitter. But initially, I was shocked to find out how many people I was following related to Sports for example, when that wasn’t really a prime thing I was focused on as relates to Twitter.

But if you don’t look at the big picture of who you’re following, you’ll never really get an accurate sense of what you’re getting out of it.

4. You’ll Be Surprised How Many People You’re Following For No Reason

As somebody who’s pretty dialed in to Twitter on a daily basis I was shocked to see how many people I was following that I had no idea why I ever followed them in the first place. I’m not even talking about accounts that had been abandoned (there were plenty of those too), but rather people who were tweeting every day and I followed them for seemingly no reason at all.

People I didn’t know, wasn’t interested in, and had no memory of why I ever hit the Follow button on their page. I’m sure you’ll find a lot of the same in your feed – it’s worth removing them because they’re not doing anything but distracting you from the people whose tweets you actually want to see.

5. You’ll Find Twitter Becomes Much More Useful To You

It may not seem like following fewer people and arranging them in Twitter lists would make much impact in your Twitter experience, but trust me it will. I always say that if you think Twitter sucks it’s because you follow the wrong people, but it’s also possible that another reason you don’t love Twitter is because you’re following too many people.

Are You Ready To Give It A Shot?

If you decide to follow my lead and review/clean up the people you follow on Twitter I’d love to hear what you learn from doing it. Let me know in the comments or tweet me!

The way Facebook determines which people it shows your fan page posts to is constantly changing, but that also means there’s constantly new strategies you can use to ensure that more people are actually seeing what you post.

I was lucky enough to have some conversations with people who work at Facebook recently and those, combined with some of my own experimentation, have led me to realize a few things that can have a big impact on getting more of your posts into people’s news feeds – even without spending any money on Facebook ads (even though I still think Facebook ads are a great tool).

Here’s what I recommend at the moment…

1. Post More Often

For the past several years Facebook actually used to punish you for posting more than a couple times a day on your fan page. But that recently changed and now there’s no penalty for frequent posting as long as you space out your posts by at least a few minutes (probably better to give it at least a 30-minute gap between posts just to be safe).

This means that chances are the more often you post, the more people will see your stuff (in total).

However, there is one big caveat to this – you still need to make sure you’re posting QUALITY content. Facebook still measures the engagement (Likes/Comments/Shares/Clicks) on every single thing you post and if your fans don’t engage with your posts, they will stop seeing them show up in their news feed.

So don’t just start posting more crap to increase the frequency because that will backfire. You want to find the right balance of quantity and (most importantly) quality posts.

2. Post Multiple Images In A Single Status Update

Because Facebook measures the quality of your posts based on the engagement your fans have with those posts, you want to post things in ways that generate the most possible engagement. One of the best ways I’ve found to do that is to post multiple photos in a single status update. This does a couple things…

First, the multi-photo post stands out in people’s news feeds because it tends to be bigger and there’s multiple thumbnail images that could catch a person’s eye. That makes them more likely to click and engage with the post.

Second, people tend to click through multiple times to view multiple photos in the post. Each of those clicks counts as engagement with the post and what winds up happening is Facebook sees the post as super engaging, which in turn tells its algorithm to show it to more fans, which in turn builds on itself and gets more of your stuff into more people’s feeds.

3. Post Your Videos In Facebook’s Video Player, Not YouTube’s

YouTube is great and you should upload all of your videos to YouTube as a general rule. However, when it comes time to share those videos on Facebook, you’ll be much better served to upload them into Facebook’s video player as well.

A lot of people are confused about Facebook’s video player, but to use it you just upload a video file the same way that you normally would a photo to post on the site.

On average, you’ll find that the same video uploaded into Facebook’s video player will get shown to at least 5 times as many people as the same video would if shared as a YouTube link. If you think about it, the reason behind this is obvious – Facebook would rather you use their video player than YouTube’s, so they’re rewarding people who do so by pushing those videos into more people’s news feeds.

4. Tag Other Fan Pages In Your Posts

This is another HUGE change that most people don’t know about. It used to be that the only people who could ever see your posts were people who were already fans of your page. But that’s not true any more.

Now, Facebook will also put your posts into the news feeds of people who have no connection to your page – but only if you’re talking about things that those people are already fans of.

For example, if you post something about the Spiderman movie and tag the Spiderman page in your post, there’s the potential for fans of Spiderman who don’t have any idea who you are to have that post show up in their news feed.

Obviously, that’s a huge opportunity for you to get exposed to new potential fans and you’d be wise to take advantage of it.

For example, here’s something I posted about Last Comic Standing and tagged the Last Comic Standing page in my post. As a result, 1,500 people who were not fans of Connected Comedy were exposed to that post.

5. Understand That Not All Engagement Is Created Equal

As I mentioned before, engagement with your posts is really the key that unlocks getting your stuff into people’s news feeds. But it’s also important to understand that not all engagement is created equal – Facebook weights different ways that people engage with your post and more highly rewards what they perceive as a bigger form of engagement.

I’m not 100% sure of this, but from conversations I’ve had with people that work for Facebook, I believe they view comments and shares as the most valuable form of engagement with a post, and then view Likes and clicks as secondary engagement metrics.

What this means for you is that you’ll want to frame your posts in a way that they generate the most possible comments and shares as opposed to just chasing Likes and clicks. Of course, those Likes and clicks are still valuable and better than no engagement at all, but the holy grail of engagement is to get people talking and sharing.

One More Thing…

If you found this post helpful, will you please take a moment and tweet about it? Thx!

This is a guest post from Connected Comedian Matt Gubser, who has lived in San Francisco for the past 14 years and performed comedy there for the past six. If you’d like to write a guest post with an overview of your local comedy scene for Connected Comedy, please email me.

1. San Francisco Audiences Are Diverse

San Francisco is one of the most diverse cities in the country. About one third of San Francisco residents were born outside the U.S., it’s one of the most educated cities in the country, has the largest gay population in the country, and registered Democrats here outnumber registered Republicans by a 6-to-1 margin.

As a result, San Francisco audiences tend to be young, smart, liberal, and skeptical. There’s a lot going on in “The City.” They want you to prove to them that you’re worth their time.

While well-worn rehashing of racial stereotypes, homophobia, and misogyny are not absent from the scene, they’re a good way to make many audiences uncomfortable.

That being said, it’s a big city. You may end up in front of rooms full of Midwestern tourists on Fisherman’s Wharf, international travelers near the hostels in the Tenderloin, or basements full of hipsters in the Mission.

2. You Probably Can’t Afford to Live In San Francisco

Rents in San Francisco are triple the national average. They’ve risen as much as 10% per month recently. So you’re going to have roommates. You’re going to have lots of roommates.

In the last year especially, rent prices have forced many San Francisco comedians out of the city to cheaper housing across the Bay. While it hasn’t happened much yet, we may see a shift in the center of the independent comedy scene from San Francisco to Oakland in the near future. Oakland may not sound quite as romantic as San Francisco, but there’s nothing sexy about paying $500/month to literally sleep in a closet.

3. Getting Around the City

Since you’ve already spent all your money on rent, the good news is you can get probably get by without a car. BART is the hub of San Francisco’s public transportation system. Its 100+ miles of track connect San Francisco to the Peninsula and East Bay, and by 2016 will extend south to downtown San Jose.

Much of the comedy happening in San Francisco (and Oakland, for that matter) takes place in the BART-accessible neighborhoods of SoMa, the Tenderloin, and the Mission. The rest are a (usually) quick bus-ride away.

4. You’re Going to Spend Some Time at the Laundromat

On most nights, there are three to five open mics within San Francisco (Friday and Saturday being the exceptions) with at least that many also happening in nearby cities. If you’re willing to put in the effort, you can get up 15+ times a week.

The keystone of the open mic scene is the Brainwash Laundromat & Cafe’s Thursday night open mic, run for the last 15 years by Tony Sparks, the “Godfather” of San Francisco Comedy. The Brainwash currently hosts mics and showcases four nights per week, as well as a monthly Saturday show.

5. There Are Two Main Comedy Clubs

There are two comedy clubs in San Francisco, the Punch Line and Cobb’s. Both are owned by Live Nation.

The audition process starts with the Sunday Showcase at the Punch Line. You purchase a punch card, show up for a year, and then get your chance to do five minutes. If that goes well, you get back up in three to six months, eventually graduating to off-night Cobb’s showcases and an audition if all goes according to plan. If you pass your audition, you’re added to the rotation of openers, which currently numbers around 70.

Even if you’re not one of the dozen or so comics performing, Sunday nights at the Punch Line offer some of the best opportunities to meet other locals, as there are generally 50+ comics in attendance every week.

6. There’s A Lot More Independent Rooms

Live Nation may have a chokehold on the clubs, but there are up to a dozen additional shows going on any given night in bars, black boxes, and basements across the city. It takes time and effort to get a new show going. The Business, one of the most successful independent shows in San Francisco (and now with offshoots in New York & Los Angeles) took several years to hit its stride, but now consistently sells out.

Even in a city with as much going on as San Francisco, the audiences are there if you’re willing to put in the work. Current New York comic Jabari Davis’ shows at the late Purple Onion and Stroy Moyd’s ongoing shows at the 500-seat Great Star Theatre are notable examples of recent independent success.

7. You Are Not Alone

San Francisco proper has about 750,000 residents, but the Greater Bay Area contains 10 times that many, as well as four additional comedy clubs. The two East Bay clubs, E One Entertainment & Tommy T’s, as well as the San Jose Improv an hour to the south, pull their hosts from the stables of local comics that produce off-night (usually Wednesday) showcases at each respective club.

Rooster T. Feather’s, also in the San Jose area, books hosts from their weekly Wednesday “New Talent Night” and annual comedy competition. Santa Cruz has at least one show every night of the week. The North Bay has several monthly shows. Sacramento and its four additional comedy clubs is just 90 miles up Interstate 80.

8. You May Hit Your Head

San Francisco is a great place to develop, but there’s no industry here. You still need to move to New York or Los Angeles. Great comics come out of San Francisco all the time (Al Madrigal, W. Kamau Bell, Ali Wong, Moshe Kasher, Emily Heller, Alex Koll, Greg Edwards, and Chris Garcia all within the last couple years for example), but the key is in the leaving.

Once you’re featuring regularly at Cobb’s and the Punchline, there’s nowhere else to go. San Francisco has a low ceiling. Fortunately it’s just a 5-hour drive to Los Angeles, giving Bay Area comics ample opportunity to get comfortable with the LA scene before making the move.

9. It’s Not Quite What It Used to Be

But really, what is? San Francisco has been a hotbed of stand-up since the early 70’s, peaking at 14 full-time comedy clubs during the comedy boom. It now has two. While the annual Comedy Day still draws a few thousand people to Golden Gate Park every fall, it’s well down from the 20,000 that attended at its peak.

The San Francisco Comedy Competition still attracts solid talent locally and from around the country, but in the age of YouTube, is no longer the career-maker it once was. A glance at the list of past finalists reveals some pretty impressive names.

There is new blood however! Now in its 13th year, SF Sketchfest has expanded from its humble 2002 beginnings of six sketch groups in one theater to become a nearly three-week-long festival embracing all things comedy in venues across the city. At least three other local stand-up festivals and celebrations are also planning to debut over the next year.

10. Get To Know BACN

The best way to stay up to date on the happenings of the San Francisco stand up scene is the Bay Area Comedy Network Facebook group. It can be difficult to stay on top of everything within a community the size of San Francisco’s, especially given the fluid nature of comedy rooms. A list of all the shows, open mics, and community news in the Greater Bay Area is posted to the group each day.

Matt Gubser is a San Francisco Bay Area comedian who compiles The Rundown, a daily list of Bay Area stand-up shows and open mics. Follow him on Twitter.