Meet Anthony Mayo

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Anthony Mayo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Anthony , so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

Its a great story about being humble. I was doing a show for Bob Sumner, one of the founders of Def Comedy Jam. I did a showcase in New Jersey for him and he took interest in me. Brought me back to feature for the same show a few months later. I was excited and over confident because after this show I was suppose to get my date to do the Apollo Comedy Club in New York. Before I got on stage the host was Marshall Brandon who is on tour with Dave Chapelle. Before he brought me up he did 15 minutes of jokes and killed it! He was a tough act to follow. Before I got on stage Bob Sumner said “I will give you your Apollo date when you get off”. I got on stage with too much confidence and my set didn’t go as planned. The crowd was tough after a great set from Marshall Brandon. I got off stage very upset with myself, my confidence went away and my self esteem was at its lowest. I sat in the lobby the rest of the show beating myself up. After the show, Bob Sumner walked up to me and asked me how I did. I thought I was being honest with myself and told him, I could of did better, but its hard following Marshall. Bob said thats not the right attitude. He said “I brought you here because I know your funny, I don’t care how the crowd react. You can’t please everybody. With that being said, I want you to do another show for me before I give you your Appllo date becuase When I put your name on that marquee I want you to be fully confident in yourself”. At that moment I was even more upset and my confidence was really shattered. But after about a week of being upset, I realized the lesson in what Bob did and said. Even though I lost my Apollo date, my confidence went up, and I stop letting the crowd reaction get to me. It was one of the best lessons I learned thus far in comedy. And it helped me move forward in my career with my confidence and self esteem being up. Sometimes it takes failing to succeed.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am a stand up comedian. I enjoy the feeling of making people laugh as well as expressing myself in a comical way. Its a coping mechanism for me as well. Its like therapy. Its rewarding and becuase of the lesson i learned about being confident, I have moved up and able to work with alot of comics I grew up watching as a kid as well as upcoming big name comics. All I want is the support from people to follow my path. They can follow me on Instagram at Anthonymayocomedy. And keep up with my upcoming shows.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The 3 most important skills that helped me was my sense of humor, my patience, the life experiences I been though to help me tell my story. The advice I would have for new comics in their journey is to stay humble, stay patient, and keep working on your craft no matter how good you think you are. Its ok to fail, just learn from it and don’t let it slow you down or make you give up. Don’t get the mind frame your not good enough and realize every opportunity is not for you.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

I have alot of people who helped me get to where I am in my career. I have 3 people that currently is helping me. My first person is Nichelle Murdock who has managed a lot of big name comics and she helps me keep a positive mind frame as well as showing me the ropes on the business of comedy which has helped me tremendously in my success thus far. She runs a show at the Comedy store called “Crackem up” and I had the opportunity to perform there because of her. And my second person who is pretty much my mentor in comedy is a Comedian name Shaun Jones. He is a veteran and he pretty much has shown me the ropes about comedy on the business side and comedy side. He gives me real criticism and help me see different point of views for my jokes. Hes somebody I can call for anything even if its not comedy related. He has given me many opportunities that helped me move foward in my career. He also is a big part of my success. Last but not least I have my partner in crime Ashley Moodie. She has been with me since day 1 of my comedy journey. She the one who talked me into getting on stage for the first time and have been to pretty much every show since. Gives me criticism on how I did, she records and take pictures for me, she just my partner in crime. I wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t for her. I have many other people who I can name thats helped me alot, but these are the 3 people that is currently my biggest help in my journey.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Chris ML Bates
Ashley Moodie
Jessie Vinson

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