The Beginning is Always Today
Will you be able to say that you were there for it?
Something special is happening. Have you felt it? There’s a rumble underfoot; a buzz in the air. North Texas has an arts & entertainment scene that continues to grow and thrive, and you can feel something is building.
Nearly everyone had their plans detoured by the pandemic in some way, but with it now falling away in the rearview mirror, artists and creatives have been greeted with a wide-open road ahead, and the opportunity for a fresh start.
What’s the risk in trying a different route when you’re already in the middle of nowhere?
The Story of Mitch Burrow
You may have caught some of comedian Mitch Burrow’s story in various interviews he’s given and his regular radio appearances, however, if you’re unfamiliar, let me recap.
Mitch is a veteran who served with honor in Iraq in 2003 and began pursuing his comedy career when he got back home. Originally from Georgia, Mitch and his wife Leigh moved all over the country in pursuit of success, and little-by-little, they started to find it… in Austin and Dallas and Seattle and Los Angeles.
Mitch is a very funny man, and everywhere he performed — The Laugh Factory, The Comedy Store, and others — people could see it. Success was knocking and jobs were cropping up in Hollywood. Mitch got the job as the audience warmup comedian for “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” and a national TV commercial for a retailer celebrating their 25th anniversary.
If you put yourself in Mitch’s shoes, you can just imagine how it must have felt. After all the late nights and traveling and motel stays, something was about to happen.
Unfortunately, the thing that was about to happen was the pandemic. The audience warmup comedian for “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” would no longer be needed because there would be no audience. The big national retailer would not be running their anniversary commercial starring Mitch Burrow because they didn’t think it was appropriate to be celebrating anything.
After that I decided I didn’t want to mess with the Hollywood industry anymore. I moved away, and I decided to do it on my own surrounded by real people.
The crushing blow, however, was Mitch’s experience on America’s Got Talent. Just like Dallas comedian and ventriloquist Terry Fator, magician Mat Franco, and comedian and ventriloquist Paul Zerdin, Mitch got four yes votes from the AGT judges and was, presumably, sent through to the finals. Unlike Zerdin, Franco and Fator, however, Mitch did not go on to win America’s Got Talent. The show producers called to say they had decided to cut Mitch’s segment. No substantial reason was given, just a vague requirement that each audition fit with the “theme” producers had in mind for the season. They didn’t think Mitch fit, so out he went. Apparently, it happens all the time, to plenty of performers.
Leigh told me if they had aired the episode, Mitch would have been able to sell out rooms everywhere he went, but it was not to be. His episode never aired. It was like it never happened.
“After that I decided I didn’t want to mess with the Hollywood industry anymore. I moved away, and I decided to do it on my own surrounded by real people,” Mitch told me.
The Burrows needed to put dinner on the table for their toddler Billie and pay the bills, and believing that maybe it wasn’t meant to be, they left Hollywood behind and moved back to Wichita Falls. Talking to Leigh, she told me those were some low times for Mitch. He was tormented about whether to leave comedy behind.
Mitch went back to work at a blue collar job where he’d previously worked. “I wasn’t back at that job for a week when I wondered ‘What am I doing?’” he told me. He was ready to jump back into comedy with both feet.
Second Chances
History is replete with comebacks and Cinderella stories from those who made the most of second chances. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. Author Jack London got 600 rejection slips for his first story. Singer Kat Perkins got unceremoniously booted by the judges of American Idol only to win The Voice a few years later. Sundance Head had a nearly identical experience.
Author Mary Shelley said the beginning is always today, and that is the truth. The future begins right now.
Mitch Burrow started down the road back to standup comedy and began performing at Joe Rogan’s Comedy Mothership in Austin, among others. In June of 2023, he hosted and headlined the first Liquid Laughs standup comedy event in Wichita Falls.
He sold out the room and got resoundingly great reviews. A member of Wichita Falls’ finest, who just so happens to be my brother-in-law, cried tears of laughter at the show, and I have the photo to prove it.
Now, the second Liquid Laughs is on the way; this time with two shows and five comedians on the bill, including two female comics.
Something is in the air.
Will You Be Able to Say You Were There?
You know how, when your buddy gets drunk, he’s always telling stories about how he used to party and hang out with Bowling for Soup when they were on their way up? You might get tired of hearing him tell the same story over and over, but hey, he can say he was there.
Something is still happening in Wichita Falls, perhaps due in-part to our isolation. Big national acts do not come through Wichita Falls very often, because it’s not geographically “on the way” to anything, and DFW is just two hours away. Our local artists are our stars, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
The story of Mitch Burrow is only one of many Wichita Falls artists who have tasted success at the next level, and I’ll tell you about another one soon. For now, the next Liquid Laughs is on the way, and tickets are available.
Will you be able to say you were there?
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All photos by the author, © FallstownFUSE.com
