2025 Recap: The Month That Wouldn’t End

It was a long year, but 2025 is finally over.

What’s that? It’s only February?

In the world of politics and global events, things have been eerily quiet. We all secretly hope something would happen to distract us from our families, our friends, and putting love into the world…but every day is just the same old boring routine. Neighbors being neighborly, kids being kids. Nothing to report.

No news is good news, I guess.

Thankfully, the Huntsville comedy scene is pretty active. Here are a few highlights:

I’m still doing this. It’s a fine line between midlife crisis and a creative pursuit you stupidly ignored for 20 years. I’m not into labels, but it’s my third year in comedy and I’m gaining steam. Doesn’t feel like buying a Harley.
Record Bookings. I played 9 booked shows in the month of January, all in the Huntsville/Madison, Alabama area. It’s the most bookings I’ve had in a single month to date. Not huge - but a PR.
Biggest Room. I hosted a New Year’s Eve show with 325 people in a sold out Levity Live. It was a high water mark for crowd size. Of course, it wasn’t my name on the poster (I was just the bird on the rhino), but a full room makes the comedy pop.
Record Moolah. I earned more money doing comedy in January than in any previous month since I started. Almost enough to cover how much I paid for overpriced chicken sandwiches and drinks at the comedy club on nights when I wasn’t performing.
Record Night. I did three shows back-to-back (1 paid, 2 open mics) on a single night—the most I’ve done so far. It speaks volumes about how the Huntsville comedy scene is keeping pace with population growth across North Alabama. A rare occurrence a year ago.
20 Minutes of New Material. I did a Standup / Improv mashup show at Shenanigans alongside Rocket City Improv and the Fantastic Invaders. For the show, I wrote and performed five 5-minute stories based on true events in my life. Four of these stories were new for the stage, upping my repertoire to more 50+ minutes of solid stage material. I’ll keep trimming as I refine the stories, but I’m now closing in on my first full hour.
Good consistency. I took the mic 18 times in January—better than once every other day. That includes all performances, from paid shows with big crowds to open mics in the corner of a bar with 3 patrons and a few comics. That repetition is enough to improve a bit or work on some new material. It’s probably not enough to get better fast like big city comics who can play as many shows in a week as I did all month.

Upcoming Shows

Here’s where to catch me in February and beyond. The list evolves - check back often.

in the Hopper: Bits I’m Developing

Tariffs have been in the news lately. I read a few idiotic comments on social media (the comedy version of mining for gold in an outhouse) and I think it’s kinda sad but kinda funny how little any of us understand tariffs and their likely impact. I think it could be funny to “lecture” the audience about tariffs, using increasingly outrageous analogies until it becomes clear that I myself have no idea what a tariff is.

So here’s the rough sketch of one part of that bit:

“Tariffs have been in the news a lot lately. A lot of people are worried. And I understand why—tariffs, after all, are just a way of punishing ourselves for buying the things we want to buy, and ALSO punish the people that sell to us.

Like I can make a cup of coffee at home, and it’s pretty good. And it’s cheap. Starbucks is expensive, but they have syrups and espresso and foamed oat milk. To control how much Starbucks I buy, I decide to enact a TARIFF.

So now when I go to Starbucks, they happily sell me a drink, and I happily pay for it. They EXPORT the coffee through the drive thru window, I IMPORT the coffee into my vehicle…and then I…PUNCH MYSELF IN THE FACE and PLOW MY CAR INTO THE SIDE OF THE BUILDING…because that’s how tariffs work.”

Ask Dan Price: BAD Advice for the Insufferable

You’ve got to be pretty desperate to seek advice from a globally distributed newspaper, and that kind of desperation is the fecund soil from which comedy fruit springs forth. Here is an actual reader submission in the Washington Post advice column…along with the response they would have gotten from me.

“Hi Elaine: I am a 28-year-old proud Afro-Latina, and I’m about to start grad school. My mom, sister and I immigrated to this country when I was 11. My mom worked really hard so my sister could have more opportunities.

I met my boyfriend of Hinge, and we’ve been together for almost a year. He is White and lives in Rhode Island….”

Dan Price Responds: Ugh, STOP. I scrolled ahead and there are like SIX PAGES of me-me-me preamble to your juvenile question “What do I do now?”

I’ll summarize: you are spending the summer with your White Rhode Island bro-friend and his mom, who turns out to be (cue the shocking reveal)—a Trump supporter. This lady—who must LOVE sharing her home with some girl her son found on Hinge—has an uncomfortable opinion on police violence and race, and she didn’t mind laying those eggs in your brain.

I get that you are upset. But what were you expecting?

Our country is full of dumbasses with opinions—some are uninformed, some are ugly. Mostly, they are just stupid. Stupidity, it turns out, might be the one trait we all have in common. Stupid people are like zombies in a Romero picture—they are everywhere, they are insatiable, they are coming to eat your brains.

Did you think you are above the stupidity around you?

You met your boyfriend on Hinge…that’s not exactly the Aston Martin show room for life partners. Hinge’s powerful AI matched you for a reason. Trust me, ya boi’s mom is JUST as disappointed in the “catch” her little special man reeled in off the internet.

Big Lesson: you should NEVER meet the family of some White dude from Rhode Island you met online. Meeting a boyfriend’s family is like reading the comments after an internet news article—none of them are going to make you feel good, and at least one is going to suggest that you kill yourself.

Your question was “What do I do now?” Well, he’s from Rhode Island, a state no one is actually from. It’s so small, there isn’t enough land for cemeteries, so they’ve grown proficient at hiding bodies. If you haven’t seen a Jordan Peele movie recently, let me help: JUST RELAX. You are meant for each other, and his family will come around soon. Stick around and see what happens out of morbid curiosity. How bad could it be?

And be sure to keep us posted here at the Washington Post—where the most important thing we have to worry about is how your boyfriend‘s mom’s politics compare to yours.

Snack Recs

Dan loves to snack. This is the segment where I share notes on a few surprisingly good bites I’ve snagged in the past month.

Sitar Indian Restaurant, Birmingham, AL—located in the medical district this place is the best Indian food I’ve ever eaten in the United States. That’s a bold statement, but I’m serious. Looking forward to our next MRI, as an excuse to eat here. Interior is nothing special. All the effort is in the food.

Amy’s King Cake, Dan’s House—my wife makes New Orleans style king cakes every year for my son’s birthday. She knocked it out of the park once again. Happy Birthday, David - Brava, Amy!

Meet the new fentanyl.

Available at Publix.

Double Smash Burger at Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar—this chain restaurant’s most reasonably priced burger is exactly what you want when you realize you crave a burger. Get the tots.

Taco Bell Spicy Bean Dip (Cravings Dip)—found this at Publix…those Taco Bell people are wizards. I don’t know what to say except I can’t imagine watching football without it. It’s made with just four ingredients, one of which is crack.

Backstage Notes

A little salt and pepper from behind the scenes.

Chip off the old Block—My daughter flew to the UK for a semester abroad—and promptly got stuck in Atlanta for 24 hours. Glad to see my experience with Delta can be passed on seamlessly to the next generation.
Raised the Roof—I cannot believe how much a new roof costs. It’s like buying a new car that I’ll never drive. The roof literally costs the same as 2+ years apartment rental. I saved for months and now it’s gone. Home ownership is the dream until you realize the home owns you.

NYE backstage with the very funny Derek Stroup and Drew Harrison. I look exhausted.

1 Degrees of Nate Bargatze—I did two shows on New Years’ Eve hosting for local native Derek Stroup (and his Nashville-based feature, Drew Harrison) at Levity Live. Derek’s comedy career is taking off—he’s gone from Denver to NYC, had a great spot on the Tonight Show, and just performed with Nate Bargatze on the live Grand Ole Opry Christmas Special (produced by Lorne Michaels). At Levity Live he had an Impressive, high-energy performance—there were moments in his set where the laughter came in explosions of sound from the audience, big vibrational roars that you could feel through the walls. Backstage we talked about the industry and a few war stories. Lot’s of name dropping in a fun way. Great guys - so thankful for that shot.
Craig Ferguson Had COVID—300+ comedy fans eagerly awaited show time at Levity Live, happily chatting over drinks in a SELL OUT CROWD. I was a full paying customer in the audience with my friends Mike and Mary Lee. When management announced that “due to circumstances beyond our control” there would be no show, the crowd was not happy. Nobody told the club about Craig’s COVID-induced cancellation. People were in revolt. I have seen so many 1-star reviews in a single night since Howard the Duck: The Musical.
Valentines Day is Friday, 14 February—here’s a quick reminder from a guy who knows…DO NOT take the person you love to a comedy show. There is no romance in that. Go to dinner, see a movie, snuggle in the park or under a blanket. Nothing kills the mood faster than a comedian. But if you are lonely and need to get out of the house, come to Homegrown Comedy Show, 8pm at Straight To Ale. It’s Free!
Shout Out to Huntsville Open Mics—we are lucky to have comedy open mics Sunday-Thursday every week in a wide variety of joints across town. Phat Sammy’s (Wednesday) and The Shop Cannabar (1st and 3rd Monday) are very different…but something about those neon lights makes me feel at home. Probably it was growing up in Louisiana, which is like being raised in a bar.

Dan Price is a Huntsville-based writer and comedian documenting the comedy journey in middle age. Connect on all social media platforms @danpriceink and via email at dan@danpriceink.com.