From Private Comedy Show for Dogs to Roasting the President

the journey of Stand-up is WILD

Todd Doram performing at Dont tell comedy — **Todd Marcel Doram & Griff Pippin doing Stand-Up Comedy for dogs and their owners at Zoom Room Huntington Beach**

About 10 years ago I faced a turning point; start getting good at Standup-Comedy or quit. It was also around then that I realized I didn't have the time for the traditional open-mic grind of waiting hours at the big comedy clubs. It's at those open mics where you wait hours, just to wonder if maybe your name is gonna be pulled from a lottery, just to do 3 minutes of material to an audience of mostly comics. Not an option for my work schedule. Needing a plan, I called my friend Griff Pippin, and we decided on asking our friend Alyssa Sabo if she would open her North Hollywood apartment to create our own invite-only mic with guaranteed time slots. Thankfully Alyssa was down, and we created the Coldwater Comedy Club. Named because she lived on Coldwater Blvd (genius I know,) and because we were a very tight club of supportive comics all looking to improve our game.

Initially, driving 1.5hrs to drive to North Hollywood, then another 45 minutes home for 7 minutes of open mic time was tough. As modest as it was, this North Hollywood apartment open mic stage hosted some comics who went onto to do big things!

For starters, the photo you see above was when Griff Pippin and I did a Private Event Comedy Show at a Dog Training Facility for Dog Owners and their pets, who were dressed in Halloween Costumes. This particular show concluded a series of comedy shows at Dog Training Facilities. No seats, no stage lighting, just right. With the owners and their dogs completely confused as to why we were there, we set out to crack jokes. For 10min Griff bombed. Then I grabbed the microphone and told dog jokes for 2min, which crushed, then I told regular jokes and bombed as well for another 10 minutes . Not being funny is one thing, but bombing in front of a French Bull Dog dressed like a Baby Shark is entirely different flavor of humble pie. In the end, Griff and I had a blast, were grateful for the gigs (to this day.)

Since that photo, Griff has come to make his living roasting US Presidents, celebrities and star athletes worldwide. My private event comedy show business has given me audiences with multiple Fortune 100 Companies and even the Governor of Nevada. But it all had to start somewhere. . . and I'm glad it started in that North Hollywood 1 bedroom apartment with the Coldwater Comedy Club.