Meet Ty Colgate | Comedian

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ty Colgate and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ty, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
This is always a tricky question. There’s a lot of hopes and dreams in the world and like most things that make us feel good too much of it can be bad. The reality is 98% (maybe 99% if we’re rounding up) of people won’t accomplish their hopes and dreams. At best, you’ll find something not awful to do and, if you’re really lucky, it’ll pay most of your bills. Unless the job is fun, then it’ll probably pay half of your bills and at some point you’ll have to decide between getting that root canal or surviving eviction one more month.

I do stand-up comedy. It’s truly one of the dumbest things you can pursue with your life. It’s filled with narcissism, lies, low pay, identity politics, and, worse yet, bad jokes. I know many comedians who claim they do this for the people. For anyone younger than 25 that sounds really poetic. The reality is: no one does stand-up comedy for the people. They do it only for themselves. It feels good to make strangers laugh. Half the time, these strangers didn’t even know comedy was going on and the other half of the time these strangers think they’re funnier than you. The amount of unbridled ego it takes to convince yourself that you’re doing an unnecessary thing for the people is hard to measure, but I can confidently say it takes a lot of it. We’re not curing cancer. We’re not giving glasses to people in impoverished countries. We’re not even changing peoples minds most of the time. We’re just having fun and making sure other people have fun too.

I can only speak for the thing I do; however, if you can face the honest truths of what you do and you’re pretty good at, then what the hell. Keep going. If you’re still convincing yourself the world needs another musician, comedian, actor, writer, director, model, or any other job that usually takes resources and gives only a little and you’re okay at it, then it’s time to start looking into those coding bootcamps. The world needs more digital ditch diggers.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Like I said, I’m a comedian. I’ve also helped promote and produce shows all over the Atlanta metro, but usually I try to stick to my lane and do comedy.

I started stand-up in 2018 and, after countless bombs, found out I’m not bad at it. When I first moved to Atlanta I was trying to work my way into do film work and do stand-up at the same time. I learned very quickly I needed to choose one or the other because there wasn’t enough time in the day to do both; however, I also needed money, so I took a job at The Weather Channel where I worked nights and would often sneak out early from my shift so I could go be last at hundreds of awful open mics. The pandemic happened and I had a chance to really think about the priorities in my life. As soon as things started to slow down with Covid, I quit The Weather Channel and moved on to pursuing stand-up comedy as aggressive as I could. Now I’m the brokest, but happiest I’ve ever been.

Most of the challenges you face in stand-up are gatekeepers and yourself. Woody Allen once said “80% of success is showing up.” He also said “the heart wants what it wants” but we’ll pretend he didn’t say that one and didn’t marry his step-daughter. Stand-up requires you to go to many bad shows and terrible open mics. It’s a rite of passage, but also it’s the only way to get better. A lot of comedians try to avoid this step. Those comedians are bad. Also a lot of comedians get stuck on the bad shows and terrible open mics level for too long. Those comedians are also bad. At some point, you start building an act and you need to have a lot of faith and confidence in it. You need to take it on the road and prove you’re funny everywhere. Obviously this isn’t easy and it’s why many comics in Atl choose to just do comedy here and play scene politics.

Some of the big lessons I’ve learned is: always move the mic stand out from in front of you and, ideally, make audiences laugh; however, that last one can be pretty controversial because for many comedians, it can get in the way of them telling their story.

Though I doubt this is reaching the world, for anyone that’s reading this my story is like a lot of Americans. It was pretty messy at the beginning and after a lot of reckless experimentation I’ve learned to love myself and appreciate what makes different places and people unique. I love doing comedy to salt of the Earth people in a rural town as much as I love talking to yuppies in a big city. I think there’s a fun quality to everyone if you look hard enough. That’s why I go on the road as much as possible and say yes to maybe too many shows. I was a kid that didn’t have the money to travel growing up. Now I still don’t have the money, but luckily some people pay for me to go to them and for that I say thank you.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’d say check out a show at Star Bar, 529 or Bogg’s Social. Magic City is expensive but worth seeing at least one time before you become old and boring. Piedmont Park is always great when the weather is nice. And Kimball House is worth every penny.

Also, selfishly, Fifth Place Comedy at Joystick Gamebar. Personally, I think my co-producer Lakan and I have done a pretty good job.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My girlfriend is the most important person when it comes to my career. She’s helped guide me through some of the darkest moments in my life and helped me realize my own potential. She’s a special person that couldn’t be replicated if you tried. She’s my best friend, my mentor, and my most important partner.

I owe a lot to my mom for all the craziness that led me to comedy and my dad for showing me that being funny is the best tool to navigate this crazy world. My step-mom is another amazing woman who has given me the insight that blood does not dictate your love for someone. She had no business being as good of a mother as she was all these years.

I need to give a special shout out to my grandparents for immediately being a part of my life (even if the beginning of it was messy). And a special thank you to my friend Mekael. Without him, I truly would be an only child.

Website: www.fifthplacecomedy.com

Instagram: @ty.colgate

Twitter: @tycolgate

Facebook: Ty Colgate

Youtube: Ty Colgate

Image Credits
Shelby Paige Friedman & Lola Scott