Local venues give comedians chance to work on their craft
TOLEDO – Emily Garrow does not have fond memories of her first time on stage.
She was there hoping to be funny. Tell a few jokes. Make the audience laugh. It was Garrow’s inaugural moment to either sink or swim as a budding comedian.
“Funny people should just be left to be funny.”
Late comedian Patrice O’Neal
“It was open mic [night] at the Ottawa Tavern on Adams St.,” Garrow recalled. “It was kind of open to anyone who walked in and signed up. I had watched a few times and got brave enough to go up on stage.
“My first time was pretty terrible. My jokes were just not all there yet and the microphone went out and not everyone could hear me. I didn’t get very many laughs and I went home and cried.”
That was three years ago, and though the Ottawa Tavern permanently closed in December, Garrow continued with comedy – and now her prowess as a comedian has done a 180.
Comedian Dave Crumbley persuaded Garrow to take her shot on stage that night at the Ottawa Tavern. Crumbley is the executive producer and talent coordinator for Crumbley Comedy, which promotes shows at small venues around Toledo.
Garrow is one of 90 comedians Crumbley Comedy promotes locally.
“Emily is an incredible joke writer,” Crumbley said. “With Emily everything is earned and honest. A brilliant joke writer. No mess on it. It’s spotless.”
Crumbley wasn’t a class clown growing up. He had a “terrible” stutter until age 10 or 11 and said he was fascinated with anyone who could speak confidently to an audience. He loved pro wrestling and enjoyed listening to entertainers like Howard Stern, people who could confidently communicate to a mass audience.
“Stand-up is hard in general,” Crumbley, 39, said. “It takes years to get really good. A good stand-up comedian communicates effectively with confidence and knows exactly where the line is every night.”
As of 2024, there were an estimated 1,072 comedy clubs in the United States. Levis Commons in Perrysburg is the site of one national brand, The Funny Bone (formerly Fat Fish Blue) and regularly brings in national acts, such as DL Hughley.
“They are the big dog,” Crumbley said. “They have stars over there. They are very intelligent business people.”
Other comedy venues
Garrow and her fellow local comedians perform at smaller, non-traditional venues around Toledo, such as Home Slice Pizza, Chevy’s Place, Jake’s Saloon, Bent Custom Neon, Toledo Tech Loft, Great Black Swamp Brewing and Earnest Brew Works, which has locations in downtown Toledo, Westgate, and south Toledo.
Most of the shows are free.
- Free shows are held Sundays at Home Slice Pizza – it recently increased capacity by 20 by expanding to the heated and enclosed patio for their shows
- Tuesdays at Chevy’s Place
- Thursdays at Jake’s Saloon
- Crumbley said they also sell ticketed shows with headliners at Bent Custom Neon and Toledo Tech Loft.
As many as 200-300 people attend some of these events on any given week, Crumbley noted, but most of the establishments seat around 50 people per show.
Crumbley serves as host – he estimates he’s hosted 1,200 shows over the last several years – and does about five minutes of stand-up before introducing each comedian on stage.
“As a host, all I care about is the show being good,” he said. “We will send 15 comedians on stage at the free shows, doing five-minute sets. We’ve had comedians who are regulars at Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase, like Brad Wenzel, who was on Conan O’Brien’s show three times.
“Getting professional comedians to come out to open mics, they set the tone for our local crew. They learn from these people who are super accomplished,” he said.
Besides Garrow, some other regular local comedians include Miss DivaNae, Tha Grizz, Van Morgan and Casey Heller.
Garrow, 34, a native of Temperance, Mich., works as a dental receptionist and said she really started to “hone in” on her stand-up routine early last year. She teams up with Crumbley for about four to six shows a month.
“I’m pretty awkward in real life and I have terrible anxiety,” Garrow admitted.
“I appreciate Dave for pushing me. He wouldn’t put me on a booked show until I could show up on stage without a notebook. Shout out to Dave for taking up the comedy scene locally and giving comedians an opportunity to practice and get good,” said Garrow.
For more information on local comedy shows, visit crumbleycomedy.com.
