Same Place, Same Faces: How Strangers Become Your Boys

Most advice tells you to meet more people. Go to more events. Try something new every weekend.

I'd tell you to see the same people more.

Think about it. One night out with strangers, you start from zero with every person. Next weekend, new event, zero again. You can do that all year and still have nobody to call.

What happened at the mics

When I got into comedy, I went to the same mics every week. Again and again and again. I saw the same guys at least three times a week.

Friday nights were my favorite. Not a lot of people had work the next day, so everybody wanted to hang out after. Talk, chill, go to a bar, whatever. If it was somebody's birthday, we'd go.

Nobody ever sat down and said, "Let's be a friend group." We just kept seeing each other until we were one.

Why it works

The first time you walk in, you're a stranger. Saying anything feels like a big move.

By the third or fourth time, those guys know your face and you know theirs. Saying "what's up" feels normal. You've been around.

That's the part most guys skip. They go once, nobody talks to them, and they decide that place doesn't work. They left before the place had a chance to do anything.

Pick your mics

It doesn't have to be comedy. It has to repeat. A gym class at the same time. A pickup game. A class. A league. A church. An open mic. Same people, same time, every week.

Then stay after. Whatever happens after is where the friendship starts. At the mics, it was the hang after.

Your move: pick one place that repeats and go four weeks in a row before you judge it. Week one, you're new. By week four, people know your face.