Heckled by 10 Comedians at Her First Open Mic — She Didn't Quit | Caitlin Menosky

Caitlin Menosky's first Columbus open mic went about as badly as it can go — only woman on the lineup, put up last, and heckled through her whole set by a room full of comedians she'd never met. One comic's apology afterward is the reason she didn't quit. Now she's headlining 45 minutes and building toward an hour.   Caitlin sits down with Ira Cross at Rehab Tavern to talk about memorizing Jim Gaffigan specials as a kid, bombing in front of parents' weekend at a Catholic university, why "polite but firm" beats coming out swinging on hecklers, doing a show at a literal rest stop, and why it takes less than two hours to find out if comedy is for you.   First Mic is the show where comics tell the story of their first time on stage. New episodes weekly.   FOLLOW CAITLIN Instagram: https://instagram.com/caitlintwois TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@caitlin.comedy YouTube: @CaitlinMenosky Facebook: Caitlin Menosky   CATCH HER LIVE Hot Girl Summer at Hashtag Comedy — Saturday, June 13   FOLLOW FIRST MIC / INDIE COMEDY COLLECTIVE YouTube: https://youtube.com/@IndieComedyCollective Instagram: https://instagram.com/indiecomedycollective   Recorded at Rehab Tavern, Franklinton — Columbus, OH   CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold open 00:37 Caitlin with two i's (read the poster, people) 01:17 Why comedy? A kid who memorized Gaffigan specials 02:18 Everybody used to suck at walking 04:44 Why Columbus? 06:37 Hocking County → Chicago improv → the gap between open mics and Gaffigan 08:04 Advertising into the void: Columbus comedy nobody knows about 09:27 First time on stage: parents' weekend at a Catholic university 11:21 The post-bomb reality check every comic needs 12:02 If you're a megalomaniac and you just started, you're trash 13:24 Advice: sub two hours to try out a dream 16:18 Her first Columbus mic: heckled by the whole lineup (the Ty Moore story) 18:23 How to handle hecklers: polite but firm 21:12 "No, thank you." 21:43 Teacher talk & catch a bubble 23:33 Rapid fire: favorite Columbus comic 24:39 Patton Oswalt and the height dilemma 25:51 Favorite open mic: Hashtag on Fridays 26:43 Could you do an hour? 27:34 Weirdest gig: a rest stop in Western PA 29:17 Social media takes & where to find Caitlin 30:41 Hot Girl Summer at Hashtag — June 13