It all started at Eastside Tavern.

Maddie Bunten, who uses they/them and he/him pronouns, felt nervous to perform their set to a mix of familiar faces and strangers. Early in the fall semester of 2019, in the downtown Columbia karaoke bar on East Broadway, Bunten didn’t realize they would become president of Fishbowl Stand Up. With a bit of experience in sketch comedy writing and improv with MU Battlewhale, MU Improv and Comedy Wars, Bunten decided to try a new form of comedy:  stand-up. After their first stand-up routine at Eastside Tavern, Bunten said they were both embarrassed and excited to keep performing.

In fall 2019, there were three comedy organizations on MU’s campus: MU Improv, MU Battlewhale and Comedy Wars. Bunten noticed, though, that there were no official stand-up comedy groups. After Bunten and their friends continued to do stand-up at Eastside Tavern, people at their performances expressed interest in trying stand-up themselves.

This is where the idea of Fishbowl Stand Up began.

“We thought starting the club would be a good place for people to come and try it out without feeling the pressure of having to be up [on stage],” Bunten said. “[It’s about] writing [sets] and going for it.” 

Fishbowl Stand Up started around October 2019 when the group first performed at The Shack in the Student Center. But, just as the organization picked up in March 2020, campus shut down due to the surge of COVID-19 cases. While Fishbowl Stand Up did record stand-up pieces during the 2020-2021 academic school year, they said it wasn’t as gratifying for the group as live performances were.

“One of the best parts about stand-up is being in front of a crowd,” Bunten said. “Since you’re by yourself, that’s where you get your energy from and that’s what makes the set really special.” 

This school year, Fishbowl Stand Up holds their practices on Mondays from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. in person. Practices consist mainly of members presenting and critiquing their stand-up sets or doing workshops and games to perfect their skills. One game they play, identical to the name of the organization, is called “fishbowl.”

“It basically [starts with] a word that you draw out of a hat,” said Tricia Carver-Horner, vice president of Fishbowl Stand Up. “So, you could say, ‘Record store,’ and then you would have to come up with a joke about it.” 

Their practices are a time to focus on aspects of individual performance, such as flow and physicality. A stand-up comedian’s process of creating a set depends on their style. 

“I just go about my daily life and jokes pop up in my head,” said Felix Wang, treasurer of Fishbowl Stand Up. “I can’t really describe how it works. I feel like it’s just certain things that trigger connections in my head. I see something funny happen and I’m like, ‘Oh, that could be the basis of a joke.’” 

Sometimes stand-up requires the comedian to find topics that are relatable to a majority of the audience, but they often create sets by taking experiences from their own life. 

“It can be really intimidating,” Carver-Horner said. “You’re not only performing for an audience, you’re performing things that are written by you and potentially about you … [However], it’s also one of the greatest feelings ever to get a laugh from an audience and be able to share a piece of yourself.”

Although it can be daunting in the beginning, Wang encourages anyone interested to try stand-up comedy.

“I thought it was scary at first, but I realized people do stand-up every day when they’re talking to their friends,” Wang said. “Basically, just add a couple more people, and it’s not as bad as people might think.”

What began at Eastside Tavern is now evolving. Fishbowl Stand Up performed at the Welcome Week Comedy Showcase on Aug. 21, which sparked more interest in their club. 

“Stand-up can be a very lonely activity if you don’t have people to bounce ideas off of,” Carver-Horner said. “And being in a club that that’s the purpose of is really nice. I definitely would not have started doing stand-up if I hadn’t been in this group.”

Members of Fishbowl Stand Up perform live every other Monday at 8 p.m. in The Shack.

Edited by Shannon Worley, sworley@themaneater.com