Mike P's First Time
A special guest column from Michael Pasvar
Today’s newsletter was written by Michael Pasvar, a fellow Sooner and comedian, who will be headlining the comedy show in Norman, OK with me on January 18. You can get tickets here. I wrote about how my comedy journey should have started in Norman in a previous post.
On January 18th I am traveling to do comedy in one of my favorite cities in the country: Norman, OK. Fellow Sooner alumna Scott Bedgood and Stephanie Stephens will be joining me. An idea that Scott and I put into motion while road tripping for a gig in Tyler, TX in April 2024 is finally coming to fruition in a few days.
Norman, OK holds a special place in my heart. It is where I attended college, made some of my best friends, was humbled many many times, and where I first discovered one of the loves of my life: stand up comedy.
The idea of doing stand up was something I had talked about doing since I was a junior in High School. As a theater kid I was no stranger to the stage, but had never really had the time to work on stand up, because I was always working on a show, or prepping for the next play. Being in a play is all consuming. From developing your character, to learning lines, to countless nights in rehearsals there is really not much time for anything.
I started OU in the Fall of 2006 after attending a junior college in West Texas for two years. Essentially the only thing I did at the junior college was act in plays. Three shows per semester, plus class for other subjects, took up every waking hour I had.
During the fall semester of my sophomore year I was offered a scholarship to OU’s School of Drama. I was ecstatic, as OU was my top choice. I finished up my time at the junior college and prepared to join the prestigious OU School of Drama in the Fall of 2006.
A Humbled Party Animal
The first of many times I was humbled in Norman happened on the second day of school. At OU we would audition for every play for the entire semester all at once. Each student would prepare two monologues, perform them for all of the directors and when that was over the directors would post a list of actors they wanted to see and read for each role.
There were four plays that semester. Each show had multiple male roles that I could have been chosen for, so I was full of anticipation and excitement as I showed up to the Fine Arts Center to check out the lists. That excitement quickly faded as I read through each list and didn’t find “Michael Pasvar” on any of them.
It was truly one of the most embarrassing and humbling moments of my short life. Suddenly instead of the all-consuming life of preparing for plays, I had basically nothing on my plate besides class. Fortunately, this newfound freedom gave me plenty of time to start working on comedy bits.
So, of course, during the fall of 2006 I did everything but write comedy bits.
I partied.
Complained about not being in any shows.
Went to football games.
Told people how much I wanted to do stand up.
Partied some more.
Again told people about my desire to do stand up.
Went to some more parties.
Was forced to learn to sew in my costume construction class.
Partied some more, but this time I threw the party.
Googled open mics in Norman, OK.
Embarrassed myself every Tuesday and Thursday in my Modern Dance class.
Visited West Texas to party with my junior college friends.
Got a dog.
When I checked the lists at the beginning of the spring semester in 2007, I was once again nowhere to be found. Another humbling.
I told myself that this was clearly a sign that I should start doing comedy. This semester was going to be different. No more complaining to people about not being in shows. Go out and control what you can, go get on a different kind of stage.
This semester was in fact different. Over Christmas break I had turned 21. So of course, I told people that I was going to do comedy. Instead I
Partied, but at bars now because I was now older, sophisticated and too mature for house parties.
Googled the same open mics I had googled a couple of months prior and decided it was time to get to work.
Went to basketball games.
Partied in OKC bars, because sometimes you have to experience more expensive drinks.
Wrote down some comedy ideas.
Got cast in an opera to do fighting scenes alongside a bunch of OU football players.
Freestyle rap battled with former OU running back Allen Patrick at Opera rehearsal.
Then, finally after nearly 7 months of talking about it, I went to my first comedy open mic on Tuesday in April of 2007.
Mike P, Open Mic Star
When you first start doing comedy it is easy to get people to come out to your “shows”. Everyone wants to come out and support you. Their curiosity level is high and they have no idea that you’re likely going to be terrible.
So 20 of my friends packed out the open mic at Othello’s on Campus Corner to watch me attempt to do stand up for the first time. The night was interesting. Besides my friends the only other people in the bar were other comics and Oklahoma radio legend Al Eschbach. Al is from New Jersey and has the loudest, thickest Jersey accent in the world. This being Oklahoma, everyone in the entire state knows his voice, and he likes it that way. It makes perfect sense that he would frequent Othello’s every single Tuesday during open mic night, and sit in the back talking loudly during every single comics set. Open mics are the best.
I watched a few comics. Paced back and forth going over my set. Sat down with my friends. Got back up and paced back and forth some more. Listened to Al order pasta. Listened to Al break down the Sooners spring game performance. Finally it was time for me to do my set. My friends cheered me on as I approached the stage. It might still be the most enthusiastic reception I’ve ever gotten as I walked to the stage in my entire career.
One of my roommates, who I had known since I was in 5th grade, looked on like a proud papa. It was time for me to finally tell these amazing jokes that I had been dreaming of telling since I was in the 11th grade.
Let me set the scene a bit: Most people these days know me as Michael Pasvar, husband, father of two, clean-cut businessman. But in college, I was Mike P. In case you forgot I was Mike P., I made sure to rock a Phillies flat bill fitted cap…you know, because it has a P on it. Plus, when tilted to the side a bit it looked sick with my diamond-studded earrings. Imagine the crowd watching that guy, all 6 feet 210 lbs of him, walking up to the stage. They knew they were in for some raunchy stuff.
Stuff like, how my dog loved baked cheetos because it was different than the dog food he ate three times a day for his entire life.
You know, edgy stuff like that.
In fact, I did five whole minutes about my dog. See, I wasn’t wasting my time during the Fall semester. I was gathering material for my legendary open mic set. When I got back to my table all my friends lied to me and told me I crushed. We high fived, waited for the last few comics to go up and then left for the evening. It was one of my favorite nights. Finally I was back on a stage and it felt great.
I continued to do comedy off and on during my last year and half in Norman. Even though I didn’t start taking comedy seriously until I moved to Dallas after graduation, Norman is where I got my start in comedy. There have been many periods where comedy has taken a backseat in my life, I say I’ve been doing comedy the past 17 and half years, ever since that night at Othello’s.
Michael Pasvar, Professional
For the past eight years I’ve been doing comedy seriously and professionally. I’ve performed all across the country in clubs, bars, porches, living rooms, conference rooms, hotel ballrooms, a storage unit ,and a garage. Driven hours upon hours to perform for 30 minutes.
A month ago I released my first special “I Like Your Jesus” at the end of 2024. I have performed in front of jam-packed sold out crowds full of strangers, and in front of crowds of just 2 people. Some crowds liked me, some even loved me, others hated me, and, worst of all, some just stared blankly at me.
I have gotten to do a lot of cool things because of comedy, however, nothing quite gets me excited like performing in the city where I got my start.
I return to Norman as Michael Pasvar, a professional comedian. I no longer have the fitted hat or the diamond-studded earrings. They were fake diamonds anyway.
I’ve been humbled many, many times by life, but I’ve taken those lumps and turned them into comedy that’s much better than those five minutes about my dog. Many of the same friends who saw that first open mic at Othello’s in 2007 will be at the show at The Opolis in 2025. After the show, you can ask them which performance they liked better.
If you live in the area please join us at the Opolis at 8pm on January 18th. You can buy your tickets here.
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