rant · moment 5 of 18
The Laughing Buddha Bringer Show Scam
from Built To Win · #43
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
3 minTim tears into the "Laughing Buddha" open mic/bringer show scam, describing how it extracts money and false promises (like a promised comedy tape) from eager amateur comics who bring their own audiences.
- 9:22Tim describes everyone he meets at Vice claiming to do open mics and calling themselves Laughing Buddha, which annoys him.
- 9:39A Vice editor who makes more money than him is now a panhandler across the street, yet people still ask her advice more than they ask Tim.
- 10:08Tim explains the Laughing Buddha scam: people pay to perform at shows and bring six to twenty people to see them at 4 p.m. on a Tuesday.
- 10:44Tim closed out one of their shows and admits it's a great scam, though he doesn't hate on it because it serves a purpose and keeps certain people out of the legitimate world.
- 11:11Tim says if he were running a bringer showcase and kept hiring people at SNL, he could single-handedly ruin their account.
- 11:38After closing out a Laughing Buddha show, they told Tim he'd get a six-minute tape but later charged him twenty dollars at the door and thirty after the fact.
- 12:03Tim explains the real problem isn't bringers themselves—it's when they start promising agents and road work to people in year seven of comedy.
- 12:20Tim worked on a double-decker tour bus for ten hours a day and then did comedy at night, rejecting the idea that he owes anyone road work.
- 12:31Tim expresses pride in a kid's choice and warns rich people doing comedy to be careful about disgracing the class he loves.
- 12:42Tim tells someone not to go back to Miami in disgrace and warns against degrading the comedy community he cares about.
Laughing BuddhaVice