Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Petit.
Hi Alex, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Like most Comedians, ever since I could remember I always wanted to make people laugh. And sometimes I actually did. Then I got older and in lots of trouble for stupid stuff that came out of my mouth until I realized you can pretty much say whatever you want with a microphone in your hand and get away with it, if you end with a joke (that people laugh at)!
Thus began my comedy journey. No classes, no help, just hopped on a stage and bombed horribly over and over again. This is the way to do it. Learning from reps. About two dozen open mics later I was able to actually get paid to do comedy! I still remember the feeling I got when I was handed the $20 check from the Comedy Palace in Kearny Mesa, now Mic Drop Comedy Club. That was on November 20th, 2019. Now, six years later, comedy is how I make my living.
My need for attention and being the smartest guy in the room wasn’t being satiated by the scarce stage time I was getting as a new comedian, so I found the perfect gig. I started hosting bar trivia. As a regular trivia player and now three-time game show contestant, I was a natural fit. It didn’t take long for me to become the permanent Trivia Host at Duck Foot Brewing Miramar. It took even less time for one of the owners to suggest I host a comedy show there on Valentine’s Day 2020.
So I did! And by all accounts it was both hilarious and awfully executed. I didn’t know the first thing about hosting, booked comedians for way more time than they had, and subsequently roasted the whole 30 member audience when I ran out of material. Despite that, Duck Foot Comedy Night was born! The next show was scheduled for March of 2020.
Oh have you caught on yet? That’s when the world shut down due to COVID-19. The show was postponed and wouldn’t happen until June of 2021. That show had to be held outside, out of necessary precautions due to the pandemic. Little did I know it would continue to be outside due to the impressive crowds that could hardly fit inside the brewery.
Since our humble beginnings of performing poorly hosted and overbooked comedy shows using a stack of pallets as a makeshift stage, I’ve put on over 75 monthly shows at Duck Foot and transformed a modest “comedy night” into a monthly event that draws out over 300 audience members to see the best comedians from San Diego and LA every month! It was even named one of the best places to see Stand-Up Comedy in all of San Diego by the San Diego Union Tribune while two brick and mortar Comedy Clubs failed to make the list.
It wasn’t long after that I ended up mentoring a 10-year old shy kid named Kyle Wang, who became my comedy protege and the little brother I never had (even though I do have a little brother, sorry Dylan). I got him on stage for the first time in June of 2022 at the age of 10, and now at 14, he has over 10k Instagram followers and is rubbing elbows with famous comedians such as Joe Wong, Jeff Arcuri, and Jimmy O. Yang.
It wasn’t long before Duck Foot Comedy wasn’t enough for me, and that’s when I noticed the old fabric store on Adams Avenue in my neighborhood was being remodeled into a multi-use space. Walking by one day I swore I would produce a comedy show there one day. Two years later I produced and performed on 26 shows there helping celebrate the culture of Normal Heights, which my show, Abnormal Nights, takes its name from.
Another 300 folks come out every month to see the secret line-up of comedians I’ve cultivated into an impressive lineup with the help of my co-producer McKay Bushnell. Our combined efforts have made Abnormal Nights and Duck Foot Comedy Night fight for the title of the largest monthly independent comedy show in San Diego. I guess if both of your shows are tied for first it’s a good sign!
Finally, I wanted to mention that my shows are FREE. My goal is to have my comedians reach the largest number of people and bring the joy of laughter to as many ears as possible every month. Post show, if the audience thinks we’ve earned it, then we ask politely for donations and make our profits that way.
When I’m not busy producing, writing trivia games, coaching Kyle, teaching the Stand-Up For Kids Class at Mic Drop Comedy, I am likely using my amateur graphic design skills to make posters for my shows, writing jokes or participating in the 48 Hour film Project. That’s about it. See you at the next show!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Smooth is earned. Years ago, I’d get to Duck Foot Brewing around 2pm to begin setting up for a 7pm show to support 80-100 guests. Now I can swing by at 5pm, be completely set up by 6pm and relax for the final hour before hopping on stage to host. That too four long years to perfect that process. And I couldn’t do it without the amazing staff at Duck Foot Brewing, especially the owner Brett Goldstock, who for some irrational reason, always says yes to my crazy ideas.
We went from a flimsy stage of stacked pallets to a personally designed, custom stage, faux brick backdrop and neon sign, reminiscent of any 1980s New York City basement comedy club, except you know, in a parking lot.
The Adams Ave Theater show was also not without it’s difficulties. The first five shows were so riddled with faulty microphones, faulty HDMI cords that cast a giant blue screen on the stage instead of our logo in the middle of a performance, and late start times we debated changing the name of the show to “Technical Difficulties” and just lean into it!
Over the years we fine tuned our AV issues from trial and error and our amazing volunteer sound tech Saagar Patel who ensures every show has clear crisp audio so my bad jokes can be heard in surround sound.
Not to mention the dozen or so times I absolutely bombed during a performance. It happens, and it is part of the business. The sooner you learn from those mistakes and bounce back the better you will be.
I think that’s ultimately what makes my shows so special. I ensure every single month that I do something new to make it better. At least on improvement, no matter how small, as a way to show the audience I care about them and that I appreciate their patronage. They could be anywhere else that night doing anything else and they chose to give me 90 minutes to entertain them. I take that responsibility very seriously.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As a comedian, I know I’m just okay. I’ve got some good stuff and can manage a crowd well. I doubt a Netflix special is in my near future. I’ve accepted that. But as a producer? Who knows? That is something I can take a lot of pride in. The effort and blood, sweat and tears I’ve poured into Duck Foot Comedy Night and Abnormal Nights are evident. The audiences prove that.
As a comedy and trivia host I have also started to host corporate gigs which I find fits my skills very nicely. I was honored to recently be able to host the 2025 The One Club Awards San Diego ceremony, had the time of my life and am very excited for more opportunities like that to come my way!
The shows, the gigs, the trivia, all of that is really superficial compared to the impact I have been able to have on my protégé, Kyle Wang’s, life.
When I met him at 10, he was the shyest kid in class with one friend. Now he’s an internet sensation, has already headlined a club, is class President, and has what the kids call “The Rizz”.
Not having kids myself, being an important part of his development has been the most rewarding and important part of my life. Knowing whatever he achieves in life, I can probably go ahead and take full credit for. 😉
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity” that’s a quote from some old dead Roman philosopher. And he’s got a point. I have been absolutely blessed by fate many times in many situations that I thought had the craziest odds. But I’ve always traced it back to treating people kindly, maintaining relationships, being at the right place at the right time and paying it forward. Doing those things will make you 10 times as lucky as the guy sitting on the couch at home waiting for his big break. Great things happen to those who show up!
Contact Info:
- Website: alexisntfunny.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alex.isnt.funny/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abpetit
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_TKt8BzduXEXu8VBJCqpIw
- Other: https://linktr.ee/alexisntfunny
