Comedian Mike E. Winfield brings his standup routine to the Auburn Avenue Theater for a bundle of laughs Friday night.
It’s been a whirlwind couple of years for the Baltimore-based comedian, who made his national TV debut on the “Late Show with David Letterman” last November.
According to Winfield, he began his almost decade-long journey in standup as a freshman in college.“I had to go in front of the class and give speeches,” Winfield recalled. “Everybody would laugh and be entertained, not because of the content of my speeches but because of the delivery.”
On the advice of his instructor, Winfield decided to perform at a local open mic night.
“It was the worst,” Winfield said. “I thought I was so funny that I didn’t have to write any jokes. I thought I’d just be able to talk for five minutes. As soon as I saw those bright lights, there were all kinds of expectations.
“I had brought a pack of Mentos,” he continued. “I took them out and one of them rolled out and hit the stage. It was so quiet that we could all hear the Mento roll across the stage until it fell off.”
The experience was so awful that Winfield swore off standup and returned to school to get an English degree.
“But after I graduated, I decided I didn’t want to go to work with an English degree,” he said. “I realized you could actually get paid to perform and realized it wasn’t out of the question to pursue this as a career.”
Determined not to make the same mistake twice, Winfield concentrated on his material.
Winfield soon found success working local and then national comedy club circuits.His hard work paid off when he was given the opportunity to perform on Letterman.
“That was great. I was excited,” he said. “The environment was so comfortable. All it was was just another performance in front of theater audience. Dave was cool.”
Winfield did so well on the show that he’s currently working on more material for another appearance on the show.
And the Letterman set isn’t all he’s working on.
“I have a TV show right now … and we’ll probably be walking into Comedy Central this week to see if they buy it,” Winfield said. “It’s like a sketch show, but the hook is that I play myself in every sketch.”
In the meantime, Winfield intends to continue touring.
“I’m gone doing shows at least two weekends out of the month,” he said. “This is my ninth year of doing standup. And the past two years have been the best. I’m just pushing … to get my exposure.”
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Showtime
• What: Auburn Avenue Theater presents Comedy at the Ave
• When: 7:30 p.m., Friday, May 13
• Where: Auburn Avenue Theater, 10 Auburn Ave.
• Tickets: $17 regular, $15 students, seniors. Call 253-931-3043, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or online through Brown Paper Tickets at www.auburnwa.gov.
