University of Iowa fourth-year student Zach Jakubiak, a regular at Alley Cat’s open mic nights, performed his first open mic back in his hometown of Milwaukee. Jakubiak’s journey as a local stand-up comedian has led him to alter his style multiple times, and he now tries to bring laughter and fun to both himself and his audience.

The Daily Iowan: What inspired you to try stand-up comedy for the first time?

Zach Jakubiak: I enjoy presenting to and interacting with people constantly. And I’ve had a couple of people who have told me over time “Oh, you should try doing stand-up comedy. You should do this.” I do remember, in one event, I was at my senior year hockey banquet, and the woman running it all, without even asking me, just threw me up on the mic. I got up there, I joked around a little bit, and I specifically remember one of my teammates was like, “You should do stand-up.” It’s strange, but that got me into it.

Do you remember your first open mic? What was it like?

I do. I’m not a person who gets very nervous, although a lot of people say it’s nerve-racking. I did it back home in Milwaukee. It didn’t go very well. Pretty much everybody bombs their first open mic. I got some chuckles, but I mean, it was just a mess looking back. It was just a hot mess. The first thing I said when I got up there was, “All right, everybody. This is my first time, you know? So you can take out your earplugs. It’s not really going to get loud.” But it was a very welcoming community.

How often do you perform?

At my peak, I was performing four times a week. And they were all late at night and extremely inconvenient. But it’s a ton of fun. If you’re into it, it’s a very weird community. Alley Cat has three open mics a week. They have Sunday night, Monday, and Thursday. I was mostly on Sundays.

What is the hardest thing about doing open mics?

The hardest thing is time management. I don’t even mean doing your five minutes up there or whatever. I mean, you’re dedicating a lot of late hours. For me, that’s when I’m very productive. But the time can be rough if you’re doing the late-night mics, which is when most of them are.

How do you mentally prepare to go on stage?

For me, I perform 100 percent sober every time. A lot of people like to have a beer before they go on stage. Some people get really messed up and then go up there. I want to have a strong habit of performing sober to the point that when I do bigger things or I get bigger shows, I don’t try to lean into alcohol or anything else to get me going. Everybody is different, I will tell you. You’ll learn that with comedy, everybody’s so unique.

You mentioned during your first open mic experience, a joke bombed. How do you respond to bombs?

I’ve changed my method a few times.

What I do now is kind of funny. I come up with five or six catchphrases to have in the back of my head, so when it’s really not going well, you can kind of just jump to those. My friend also told me, “If you want it, there’s a lot of good constructive criticism in comedy communities.”

You always have a weakness to improve on, and you always have a strength you can lean into more. What’s going to happen if you ever do comedy? You are going to suck, dude. You’re going to suck for a good long time. When you become more used to it, you start finding your groove and gain confidence.

Even if people aren’t laughing all the time, you’re going to enjoy yourself so much more.