RED MIC
Comedian FAQ

Hey comedy legends,

First off — thank you for being part of this growing comedy community. RED MIC  is all about creating more opportunities for comedians across Europe and putting the European comedy scene on the global map.

We receive hundreds of applications each season, and as much as we’d love to answer every message personally, this project takes up a ton of time to run — from booking venues and recording shows to editing and promoting clips. So we put together this FAQ page to hopefully answer the most common questions and take a little bit of the load off.

What is RED MIC?
RED MIC is a Europe-wide stand-up comedy project that records and promotes some of the best comedians from across the continent. We produce high-quality live shows and professional video recordings with the goal of giving comedians more visibility, stage time, and opportunities to grow their audience beyond their local scene. The idea started simple — to showcase how funny, diverse, and world-class the European comedy scene really is — and to build a platform that connects comedians and fans across borders. Every RED MIC show is professionally filmed, edited, and shared online so your best material can reach audiences everywhere. Our long-term mission is to help put European comedy on the global map — and have a great time doing it.

We get hundreds of applications for every round — roughly ten times more comedians than we can fit into our lineups. If you weren’t selected this time, it doesn’t mean we didn’t like your work. It’s usually about balancing styles, languages, and experience levels to make the overall show flow.

We also keep an eye on progress — we notice when comedians are developing, improving, or updating their material. So even if you didn’t get a spot this round, you might already be on our radar for the next season.

This is probably the hardest question to answer — because there’s no exact formula. Comedy is subjective, and what kills one night might fall flat the next. That’s why we have multiple people review every submission. We discuss, compare, and select the comedians we think are the best fit for each lineup. When we watch submission videos, we look at a lot more than just “is it funny?”. Here are some of the things we pay attention to:
  • Stage presence and confidence – Are you comfortable on stage and in control of the room?
  • Experience and structure – Does your set have rhythm, pacing, and flow?
  • Originality and authenticity – Do you bring something distinct or personal to the stage?
  • Audience connection – Are you engaging with the crowd (not to be confused with crowdwork), not just reciting jokes in their general direction?
We value comedians who bring their own voice and perspective — not necessarily the most polished act, but someone who feels real and knows how to connect. Besides submission videos, we also keep our ears to the ground. We visit shows, watch lineups, and ask trusted people across the scene about who’s standing out. Comedy is a small world, and recommendations often help us discover great acts we might have missed otherwise. If none of us have worked with you before, we sometimes check in with local showrunners, bookers, or promoters we know. We don’t just ask if you’re funny — we ask if you’re consistent, reliable, and good to work with. Because the very first sentence we ever wrote in the RED MIC business plan was:
“Don’t be a dick.”
That’s one of our core values, and we expect it to go both ways — we treat comedians with respect and professionalism, and we expect the same from our comedians.

Your video submission is the most important part of your application. It should be a stand-up clip of at least 5 minutes, recorded in front of a live audience.

Here are some common mistakes to avoid (we see these a lot!):

  • 🚫 A single-joke reel
  • 🚫 Crowd work clips
  • 🚫 Instagram profile links (we won’t dig through your feed)
  • 🚫 Non-English material
  • 🚫 Expiring or private links
  • 🚫 Fake laughter added in editing (yes, it’s happened)

We review a huge number of videos, so if your submission doesn’t meet these basics, we’ll move on without asking for a new link. Help us help you — make sure your clip is clear, accessible, and truly represents your live set.

Almost all sets are filmed and published — that’s one of the things that makes RED MIC special. However, every recording goes through a quality check before release. Sometimes a set just doesn’t land the way it usually does, or there’s a technical issue, or a heckler throws off the flow. These things happen! This is why, whenever possible, we offer comedians more than one show — so you have multiple chances to capture your best work. Our goal is to raise the quality and standard of recorded stand-up across Europe, so just give your absolute best killer set, and it will make it online.
With RED MIC , it’s always a per-night fee, not per show. That means if we have two shows on the same night, you’ll still receive one fixed amount. Fees are standardized across cities and venues, and only vary based on set length. You’ll always know your fee upfront when you’re confirmed for a show. This helps keep things fair and avoids everyone rushing to apply for the biggest venues or the nights with two shows.

Sadly, we can’t. There just isn’t the budget for it — we pay around five comedians per night a similar fee, and that’s where the resources go. We completely understand that travel can be a challenge, and we’re constantly looking for ways to make it more affordable in the future as the project grows.

At RED MIC , we don’t have a traditional “headliner” format — everyone on the lineup is pretty much equally featured. Sets typically range from 8 to 15 minutes, depending on the show. This format keeps the energy high and lets us showcase the tightest material and most diverse mix of styles in one night.
You always own your jokes. RED MIC holds exclusive rights to the recorded footage for one year after release so we can promote and distribute it professionally. After that, you’re free to use the clip however you like.

Comedians receive 50% of all monetization revenue from their clips. There’s a €20 minimum payout threshold to keep admin manageable, and we check twice a year — around January 1st and July 1st — to see who’s eligible for payment.

That said, YouTube pays depressingly little. For most full sets under 50K views, there usually isn’t enough revenue to trigger a payout (so maybe hold off on buying that yacht just yet 😄). The threshold for shorts is even higher.

We’re actively exploring new ways to generate income from the content, and if any of those deals happen, the same 50/50 rule will apply to comedians.

We aim to send out two sign-up emails a year:

  • Early May → booking shows for the second half of the year
  • Early November → booking shows for the first half of the following year

Booking venues across multiple countries is a huge puzzle, so sometimes the signup might go out a little later than planned.

We usually finish booking all shows within two months after the sign-up email is sent. Only selected comedians receive an email. If you don’t get one, it simply means you weren’t picked this round.

Why we don’t send rejections:

  • Following up individually takes too much time (and we know comedians want detailed feedback — which we can’t realistically give).
  • We sometimes reopen applications due to dropouts, so we like to keep your info on file.
  • And honestly — our inboxes are already on life support 🙂

So please don’t DM us about your application status — if you’re selected, you’ll definitely hear from us!

Absolutely — you can apply every round! In general, if you’ve already performed on a recorded RED MIC show, we won’t record you again for about a year (sometimes longer). However, we’re running more non-recorded shows these days. This means comedians who’ve already been part of RED MIC often get priority consideration.

We’d love to — but with hundreds of submissions every round, it’s simply not possible to give individual feedback. Please don’t take silence as discouragement. We genuinely appreciate the time and effort every comedian puts into applying and performing. Keep improving, keep applying, and keep going — progress is always noticed.

We appreciate every single comedian who signs up, shares their clips, and helps make RED MIC what it is. Our mission is to grow opportunities, connections, and visibility for comedians across Europe — and together, we’re building something that can genuinely put European comedy on the world stage.

Keep writing. Keep performing. Keep applying.
We can’t wait to see you on the RED MIC stage soon!