New Faces Comedy Show: More Than a Free Beer

photography by Kyle Pik / @post_piks

To A Comic So Good, They’re Sexy - f25 - Rozco’s Comedy Club (ATX)

This was at the open mic Wednesday night. I’ve been to open mics all over Austin, but this was the first one I had seen you perform at. 

I ended up standing next to you in the back of the bar, waiting in line for the bathroom. We made eye contact and I smiled purely out of courtesy, at which point you opened up your phone and started some vigorous typing. You probably didn’t know that I could see you were just punching numbers into your calculator app. By the time I came out of the bathroom, you were up on the stage. That was a set that no one knew would change my life forever. Hilarious, refreshing…I’ve never seen someone go from so unassuming to so irresistible that quickly. A “tight five,” to be exact. 

I’m not going to leave a description, because it simply doesn’t matter anymore. With a brain like that – to come up with a perfect blend of crowd work and set-ups with consistent laughter – you must know the effect you have on innocent (and flexible) women like me, because it is borderline criminal. 

Trust me, I was shocked, too – if you asked my friends what my type is, it would be the polar opposite of you. I cannot stress that enough. But I have to have you. 

Not to mention afterwards when you immediately bolted out the door. Hilarious and ALREADY ignoring me? Can’t find you anywhere on social media. Playing hard to get won’t stop this lustful heart.

You had mentioned a marriage in one of your one-liners, but I didn’t see a ring on that finger. I don’t care that you’re a liar and your fly was down – email me with a joke from your set so I know it’s you, and I’ll help you fix that fly mano e mano at the Super 8. Don’t let us pass each other like two ships in the night, baby. If only there was a way I could see you and your fantastic set again…

⎯

Cut to the soft, white beerbelly of Austin’s comedy scene. It has always been there, but in recent years has spilled over the waistband of expectations into visibility. The scene became much more prevalent to the rest of Austin (and, frankly, the world) thanks to Professional Guy, Joe Rogan. Renowned for a myriad of random titles that I can’t quite keep track of – including owning a comedy club in the heart of Dirty Sixth Street and hosting the number one podcast in the world – it’s hard to not mention how genuinely impactful his presence and word-of-mouth has been to the community. I was at a comedy club getting ready for a show when the bartenders found out that they were mentioned in an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience. It was a guest describing the venue and Rogan saying, “Oh yeah, I’ve heard of that place.” Not even thirty seconds worth of recognition, but the club’s namedrop alone was enough to send the bartenders into tearful embraces of joy.

Comics travel to Austin like it’s birthright (no relation to Israel), each of them with a goal to make “the comedy thing” more than just a “thing.” And don’t take

my sarcasm throughout this article the wrong way – Austin is, quite literally, the best place to do this (other than Hollywood, I guess, but if you live there, there’s no way you’re reading this cool magazine. I bet you don’t have anything like this over there. Eat shit, boner. Hahahaha.) To put it into perspective, Austin has anywhere from eight to fourteen open mic opportunities in. A. Single. Night. Other cities don’t even hit double digits in a WEEK. That’s right, take off your glasses and clean them to make sure you read that right the first time. You think the comics are sweaty from stage lights and nerves? No, you fool – they’re

busting ass hoofin’ it up and down Sixth Street like absolute tanks. Yeah, his jokes are funny, but you should see the calves on the man.

Eddie Lersa @eddielersa

While one’s trust in a society of celebrities that they’ve developed one-sided, parasocial relationships with becoming an open invitation is just one side of the metaphorical coin, the other side is where the court jester finds the painful irony in it all. Eddie Lersa is one of these comics, a local treasure that I see literally everywhere – the Where’s Waldo of the comedy scene both physically and metaphorically. Seriously, we spent weeks scheduling and rescheduling an in-person interview, but I would see his name on the list of every open mic I went to. Forced to play a game of I Spy until I saw his backwards hat lurking in the shadows “on deck.” Couldn’t escape the man.

He came to Austin in October 2023 with only a handful of open mics under his belt and saw the action around him as a consistent path towards getting better.

“Here, there’s so many open mics,” Lersa said, looking out the window of Hideout Coffee. “I’m doing three or four today because I got shit I want to say. It really affords you the opportunity to throw shit against the wall.” He picked up his phone and chuckled. “There’s so many half-baked ideas in here, I’m always trying new stuff,” he revealed. When Lersa wasn’t doing open mics and getting his name out there, he was outside barking for shows he wanted to be on. Standing in the sun handing out flyers, getting ignored by passersby (probably the farmer’s tan).

Ah, the life of a comic. Always loitering.

Austin is a magical fairyland where stagetime is easily accessible, whether you’re a seasoned comic or

trying it out for the first time because your drunk friends decide they hate you enough to force a tight three out of you. It’s a way to get practice and receive that constructive criticism while holding the potential of “being seen.” However, Lersa noticed that there was an abundance of paid shows with not a lot of opportunities for comics like him – dare I say, a new face – to get a paid spot with a comedy club. While stage time looked to be plentiful, paid stage time seemed like a hug from a conservative grandfather: elusive and terrifying.

Thus, the New Faces Comedy Show was born, held once a month at Rozco’s Comedy Club. It’s not unlike your average comedy show, where one would pay for a ticket to watch openers that lead up to a final headliner act.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: Gavin, what is this? I know you are extremely good-looking with impeccable taste, you only like things that other people of good morals and character should also like. But why should I care about this particular show?

First of all, thank you, I’m blushing. Second of all, New Faces Comedy Show puts in the effort to particularly showcase coming from the often overlooked Austin, Texas right outside your doorstep. (And I’m not talking about the comics that live in their cars illegally parked on your residential street.)

A line-up is usually organized in some way or another, maybe by the touring headliner themselves who found comics they enjoy or someone with a general concept/theme in mind. Let me tell you, that is not the case here. At a New Faces show, the headliner and a couple acts before them may be picked ahead of time, people that you would normally find on paid gigs around Austin. Before that, however, the first four acts of the show are reserved spots for local comics, vetted from Rozco’s Wednesday night open mics.

Hence the New Faces title, blatantly promoting its mission to bring never-before-actually-seen faces to the stage for a chance in the spotlight. When so much opportunity feels almost immobilizing, New Faces aims to be a clear target for rising comedians to get their foot in the door. Once picked for the show, there are opportunities to network within the industry – the classic “you never know who will be in the audience” type of deal. Other comedians and potential show-runners may be in attendance.

It’s not news to say that comics are used to reimbursement for a show in the form of a can of beer or a bag of weed, maybe even happy about it. Nine times out of ten, that’s normally the venue budget for comedy, anyways. To each their own. Unfortunately, they also have to eat – so money has to get involved at some point. A slice of Roppolo’s pizza is $6.25 after tax, so they need at least that much.

Here’s another sweet treat for ya. Long story short: They pay. Being a show with ticket sales, New Faces is sometimes a comedian’s first paid gig – a reputation that, on top of the high regards that Rozco’s is held within, makes getting on the show a rung in the proverbial ladder. The open mic lists hit maximum capacity within minutes, a feat in and of itself when a comic’s worst enemy is punctuality. One comic went so far as to put his name as “Timmy NewFaces” on the signup sheet, almost like he wanted to be on the show or something.

As someone who has been in attendance, it has been nothing short of the Breakfast Club, fist-pump-in-the-sky kind of feeling when I see comics that have consistently made me laugh getting the stage time I always thought they deserved. Or being able to see an actual new face that just makes me piss myself from laughter. Like, this clown has been living amongst us this whole time?

Kylie Kaiser @kylie.kaiser.comedy13

Lersa could not steer this ship alone. Technical show operations on top of the added demand of social media presence and promotion start to pile on. While many other shows tend to fail here, this is where co-host and fellow comic Kylie Kaiser comes in.

Kaiser has lived a multitude of lives before landing in Austin. Music business

in Nashville, the college professor of every man’s dream, a competitive bodybuilder stint. Survey says: She could kick your ass. And mine, too. An absolute badass on and off the stage, she and Lersa share a similar start. Kaiser is just under two years into her comedy career, diving headfirst into the Austin scene after she realized she wouldn’t have to make a separate Instagram account for this one. (As a woman, that struck a chord within me. Like, this is so her.) She was actually featured on the earlier New Faces shows before Lersa invited her to cohost.

In this new, fucked-up age of comedy, being funny is only half the battle. Busting

a solid three minutes down on a crowd of unsuspecting victims can only take

you so far.

The emergence of social media has required comics to take extra lengths to post clips of your set (with captions), email and DM management and an added layer of social skills. With the stereotypical comic being chronically late, bad at management and somewhere on the spectrum of mental unease, it’s a lot to take charge of when all you want to do is make people giggle. While it seems like a “blind leading the blind” type of situation, according to Kaiser, she believes that being on this show can be a real gateway to comedians taking their careers seriously.

In the blind leading the blind, the community as a whole has grown to be interconnected and inspired by one another. Rather than resentment for what others have, Kaiser sees it as a learning experience. With that, every bit of experience and knowledge that she (and Lersa) have at their disposal, they are willing to share.

“I have a leg up, in some regard, of having a background and organizing, people and marketing and things like that. It would be a disadvantage to me and to other comics in the scene to not try to do something with it,” Kaiser pointed out. “Don’t look at other success and get mad that it’s not happening or your show isn’t selling. Be inspired by that, talk to them about it. Most people here are not trying to gatekeep.”

I still know what you’re thinking: What an opportunity! But Gavin, you had to have asked more about this. With that big head of your’s, your brain must have been cookin’...

And boy, was it. Using the elusive powers of the press, I probed the minds of these co-hosts, manipulating their brain like putty in my hands to answer the burning question: What catches their eye on that stage? What’s a court jester gotta do to make a shilling these days?

Kaiser kept it real with me, and I know you probably wish it was some secret formula. Sure, the amount of laughs you may get for a set is important. However, it truly is based on you. How often they see you out signing up and actually trying. Structure of jokes, comfortability on the stage. But, most importantly, IMPROVEMENT.

You can show up to every open mic and bomb like it’s D-Day, but actively exhibit that you take the criticism and your time onstage and use it to get incrementally better. Toughen your skin, stick it out and see if it sparks that passion in you ... now THAT’S the money shot. As Kaiser put it:

“Is it the side thing you just do for fun, or is it that thing that’s keeping you going in every other aspect of your life? Because for me, it is.”

When asked for any parting advice, both Lersa and Kaiser had similar sentiments of always improving and never quitting.

“I’m gonna go the more cheesy route that [Eddie] will make fun of me for, but don’t quit. There’s going to be a lot of nights where it feels like it’s going nowhere. I’ve been there,” Kaiser assured. “Three weeks of being tired of eating ramen again, but then I’ll do a 10 minute set and crush it and leave thinking, ‘I’ll eat ramen forever!’”

With that, while this article is aimed to highlight New Faces and the amazing community that it has garnered for new comics, I would be extremely remiss as a journalist if I did not take the proper time to specifically note the work Lersa and Kaiser have done – not just with the show but as comics themselves. Just under three years in comedy combined, these people came to Austin launching headfirst into their careers. Sure, they bartend on the side, but I think that just makes them funnier comics. As Lersa pointed out:

“Crowdwork is just like bartending, you just get to say what you’re thinking out loud.”

Now, they both run a successful show that comics actively want to be on. While they both are extremely humble in the work that they’ve done for themselves

and the comics around them, they are two of the many faces in this ever-growing city that invite people in to keep trying. And that, dear reader, is so. Fucking. Austin.

Check out New Faces Comedy Show at Rozco’s once a month. Obviously those dates change and I can’t tell the future, no matter how sexy I am. So, in lieu of that, follow the show’s social media (@newfacesaustin on Instagram), as well as Eddie Lersa (@eddielersa) and Kylie Kaiser (@kylie.kaiser.comedy13).