Getting Choosy with Comedian and Booker, Steve Ausburne

05/05/24 • 63 min

Sometimes whether we like it or not we are at the mercy of a "picker" or someone who gets to decide if we get to go on stage or not: casting directors, producers, bookers, or maybe it's just the guy who got tasked with hiring entertainment for his company's annual Christmas party! Either way you'll encounter plenty of so called gatekeepers no matter what artistic path you take.
In this episode we talk to Steve Ausburne, a comedian and one of the bookers for the SF Punchline Sunday Showcase. We cover:

How Steve's comedic style has changed over time
How he recovers from a "bad night"
His thought process behind booking the Sunday Showcase

BONUS: I ask him the question we've all been wondering. . . this and more!
The "great book on comedy" that Holly can't remember the name of is Finding Your Comic Genius by Adam Bloom
About Today's Guest, Steve Ausburne
Steve Ausburne’s comedy career started with MC/Host work for friends with bands. His first attempt at actual stand up ended with a lifetime ban from a church in Grant’s Pass, Oregon.

Buoyed by that successful start, Steve has since embraced the stage as a place to present a spoken word memoir of all the embarrassing life moments that lurk in a place that only stand up or therapy sessions can reveal.
Also, he is allergic to cats.

Steve peddles his comedic wares throughout Sonoma County and the San Francisco Bay Area. He produces comedy shows throughout California's Wine Country and in addition to comedy performances, he is available for auctioneering, event hosting, work parties, voice acting, and private dancing.

Some of his accomplishments include: regular at Punch Line, Cobb's Comedy Club, and Rooster T Feathers; opened for Nimesh Patel, Michael Kosta, Rory Scovel and more!

To learn more or contact him for bookings please visit steveausburne.com

About Your Host, Holly Shaw
Before becoming a comedian, Holly Shaw spent a lifetime on stage, T.V. and film as an actor, professional dancer and later as a speaker, coach and hypnotherapist. She's authored two books: the Amazon bestseller, The Creative Formula, as well as Making Art In the Middle of Madness and she was a regular teacher at SAG/AFTRA's conservatories in San Francisco as well as Los Angeles. Her podcast, Performers & Creators Lab, was named One of the Most Outstanding Podcasts of 2019 by Databird Research. Through all of her offerings she has helped thousands of performing artists, some of them Emmy Award winning and Grammy nominated, overcome stage fright, impostor syndrome, and creative blocks so that they can create the work they were born to make and become undeniably magnetic performers. To learn more about Holly's work as a coach please visit www.performersandcreatorslab.com To learn more about her life as a joke teller please visit hollyshawcomedy.com

How Steve's comedic style has changed over time
How he recovers from a "bad night"
His thought process behind booking the Sunday Showcase

Some of his accomplishments include: regular at Punch Line, Cobb's Comedy Club, and Rooster T Feathers; opened for Nimesh Patel, Michael Kosta, Rory Scovel and more!

To learn more or contact him for bookings please visit steveausburne.com

Previous Episode

What's Really Holding You Back from Being Bold

Holly shares about what's really holding you back from being bold, asking for what you want, and letting go of what other people think of you. Followed by a quick exercise to help fortify your self-confidence and recognize just how damn resilient you really are.
In this episode:

Holly shares about her new writing project and what it made her realize about stand up comedy and how she's able to do it.
Emotional fluency, queen years, and the truth about what it really takes to be bold in life and in art
Relaxing guided meditation exercise to help separate you from your past and fortify your future!

Looking for unique gifts for the holidays? Look no further! Holly's got two books already published and easily available for purchase online: Order The Creative Formula and Making Art In the Middle of Madness today and get them in time for the holidays!
About Your Host, Holly Shaw
Before becoming a comedian, Holly Shaw spent a lifetime on stage, T.V. and film as an actor, professional dancer and later as a speaker, coach and hypnotherapist. She's authored two books: the Amazon bestseller, The Creative Formula, as well as Making Art In the Middle of Madness and she was a regular teacher at SAG/AFTRA's conservatories in San Francisco as well as Los Angeles. Her podcast, Performers & Creators Lab, was named One of the Most Outstanding Podcasts of 2019 by Databird Research. Through all of her offerings she has helped thousands of performing artists, some of them Emmy Award winning and Grammy nominated, overcome stage fright, impostor syndrome, and creative blocks so that they can create the work they were born to make and become undeniably magnetic performers. To learn more, please visit www.performersandcreatorslab.com

About the Composer: Dan Cantrell is an Emmy award winning composer and multi-instrumentalist known for his innovative film scoring approach, and his virtuosic abilities on the accordion, piano and musical saw. “Hauntingly beautiful...quirky and energetic” says the San Francisco Bay Guardian. His extensive scoring catalogue spans a wide range of emotion and style. Dan’s compositions for film and television have earned him numerous awards including an Emmy Award for KQED’s Home-Front,a Golden Gate award for the soundtrack to the documentary Divided Loyalties, and an Annie nomination for his work on three seasons of Cartoon Network’s the Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. Visit bellowhead.com

Next Episode

Finding Your Own Set of Keys

Throughout your life you obtain different keys: your house key, the keys to the family car. But these keys aren't just physical but also mental, emotional, metaphysical. Listen as Holly explores what it really means to experience safety, privacy, freedom and belonging.
In this episode we cover:

Mimetic Desire: what is it and how could it be ruining your life
Four Basic Needs we all share
An honest look at how you are meeting these needs in your life today

The book Holly mentions in this episode, Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire In Everyday Life by Luke Burgis can be found here>>
About Your Host, Holly Shaw
Before becoming a comedian, Holly Shaw spent a lifetime on stage, T.V. and film as an actor, professional dancer and later as a speaker, coach and hypnotherapist. She's authored two books: the Amazon bestseller, The Creative Formula, as well as Making Art In the Middle of Madness and she was a regular teacher at SAG/AFTRA's conservatories in San Francisco as well as Los Angeles. Her podcast, Performers & Creators Lab, was named One of the Most Outstanding Podcasts of 2019 by Databird Research. Through all of her offerings she has helped thousands of performing artists, some of them Emmy Award winning and Grammy nominated, overcome stage fright, impostor syndrome, and creative blocks so that they can create the work they were born to make and become undeniably magnetic performers. To learn more, please visit www.performersandcreatorslab.com