Ten years ago I went to Grumpy’s in downtown Minneapolis to get a spot at a brand new open mic hosted by this new comic I met a couple times at ACME. It was in a narrow side room and the tiny stage was occupied by a soundboard and, for some reason, a man. A large, intimidating man with wild hair and a beard sat on the stage so comics had to perform in front of the stage while he loomed over him.

The comic was Chris Maddock and the ominous shadow was Stand Up! Records owner Dan Schlissel. Thankfully, they figured out that The sound board and therefore Dan didn’t need to be onstage. I kept coming back week after week because it was a fun room, my friends were there and they give a drink ticket to each comic that performs. Most open mics don’t do that. I’ve done at least 150 sets there. That’s a lot of free drinks.

Anyway, I’m not going to get too much into the history or how Grumpy’s open mic has gained a rep as the toughest room in the country because most of that was covered in a great vita.mn article that I would totally link but I’m writing this on an iPod. I will, however, say this.

Chris and his open mic are a shining example of one of the best qualities a comedian can have. Tenacity. There have been some really, really bad shows there. Horrible. Plenty of open mics have stopped under more favorable circumstances but Chris keeps going because comics need the stage time and I need the free drinks.

To celebrate 10 years of the toughest stage in the world Chris started today’s open mic at 11 AM and will keep going until bar close. You have no excuse to not go pay tribute to the most metal open mic host on earth.

Congrats, Madoo! Here’s to 10 more years and 10 more audience members!