What is laughter?

With Omaha in the rearview we headed for Gillette, Wyoming. It was extremely difficult finding comedy anywhere in Wyoming. They don’t have any comedy clubs and mics are non-existent. We reached out to comedians in neighboring states asking if they knew of any shows, but they said there’s nothing except private gigs (corporate events, special parties, etc).

We thought all hope was lost until we stumbled across an eventbrite page listing two comedy shows at the end of July - one in Gillette and one in Casper. We clicked the shows info page and discovered it was two comedians doing the exact same thing as Dan and I: travelling the country, living in their vehicle, and performing standup in every state.

We figured “What the hell, let’s see if these guys want openers or features. It’s our last shot”. We sent them a message and they took us on. It was a huge relief - if we hadn’t performed on their shows we would’ve had to shout our sets through bullhorns at bewildered passersby.

The Rolling Greenroom

The comedians are Cody Woods (LA) and James Myers (NY). Together, they make up ‘The Rolling Greenroom’.

These guys are veteran comics - they’ve toured colleges, performed on USO shows, and have been on Hulu, Comedy Central, and Sirius XM. We were pumped when they took us on -- not only because we could cross Wyoming off our list, but because we could learn from working with more experienced guys.

Instead of a van, they bought a big ol’ motorhome, fixed it up, painted it green, and started their own roadshow.

We knew the guys had other gigs booked before the show in Gillette, but we didn’t know where. Our plan was to meet them in Wyoming on Saturday but that’s not quite how things worked out.

Chance encounter

The drive from Omaha to Gillette is about ten hours. You head North on I-29 until it meets I-90 West outside Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We had done a show in Sioux Falls at Boss’ Comedy Club about a month prior and really enjoyed it. Before hopping on 90 West for seven hours, we decided to spend the night in Sioux Falls.

On Wednesday morning as we arrived at the gym we spotted The Rolling Greenroom RV in the Planet Fitness parking lot.

This was totally unexpected but awesome. Cody and James had a brewery show scheduled for the following day and said they could put us on. A bonus show for Thursday? Hell yeah.

It was cool getting to know the guys and to have an RV/Van crossover tour. We shot some footage for our respective channels and got to know one another over sake at a Japanese restaurant.

Boss’ Comedy

We were also in luck because it was Wednesday -- the night Boss’ Comedy Club runs weekly shows. All the house comedians are hilarious (shout out to Zach Dresch, Skyler Bolks, and Nathan Hults!) and Boss’ packs the house.

Having an $8 cover for all-you-can-drink keg privileges during the show certainly helps fill the room. It’s a toss-up whether the patrons enjoy the comedy or alcohol more but it doesn’t really matter - booze and laughs always go hand in hand.

For the most part the show was completely normal … but there’s always one or two odd sets. For instance one guy dropped an ‘N-bomb’ with a hard R and another comic yelled and almost fought audience members for talking loudly. Just another night in the life of a comic.

First show with The Rolling Greenroom

The following night we joined Cody and James for a show at Remedy Brewing. Cody and James bookended the show -- Cody opened up with 30 minutes, dan I did 10, a local guy (shoutout again to Zach Dresch) did 7, and James closed with another 30.

On the road again

Gillette was still a solid 5 hours out, so on Friday morning we began chipping away at the drive. We knocked out 4 hours and stopped on the Western edge of South Dakota in Rapid City.

The next day we met up in Gillette where we met up for the show at Big Lost Meadery. It was awesome. Gillette was a cool town. In step with the medieval, old-timey vibe of the meadery, big heavy wooden tables and chairs were arranged all around. The low ceilings provided great acoustics

Dan and I opened the show this time ‘round. The reason Cody and James bookended the show in Sioux Falls was because they needed to determine if we were any good - or in their words “we had to make sure you guys didn’t suck”.

That sounds harsh but it’s not. They had never seen us perform before. If we ate shit back to back at the beginning of their show, not only would it kill the crowds energy but it would reflect poorly on them. People would leave bad reviews, making future ticket sales difficult. In reality it was a compliment - it meant we were good enough to earn their trust.

Remember when we said there’s no comedy in Wyoming? It’s absolutely true, but that doesn’t mean people don’t want it. On the contrary, they are starved for comedy and pounce on it like ravenous beasts. The crowd was amazing. Dan and I each got 12 minutes each, Cody and James did about 45 each.

After the show a lot of people thanked us all heartily, saying things like “I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard” and “that was the most fun we’ve had in months”. Many asked about when we were coming back and how they could follow us. They even left nice reviews on The Rolling Greenroom facebook page. We were thrilled that everyone had a blast and went home happy.

The next show was in Casper, Wyoming.