Today we’d like to introduce you to Noah Robertson.
Noah, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I have been a professional, touring musician for a big part of my life. I’ve spent most of my time on stage performing in various ways. I always had comedy in the back of my mind. I’ve always been business minded, despite being a “creative type”. Our kind aren’t always business savvy, but I loved promotion and marketing and booking and everything else that comes with being involved in the entertainment industry. I started booking and promoting shows under the moniker ‘Swimming with Sharks Entertainment’ in 2004 and later started a couple independent record labels called ‘Zombie Shark Records’ and ‘Swimming with Sharks Records’. I enjoyed promoting and booking bands and helping independent artists, as well as progressing my own projects. I reached a point where I needed to take a break from the music industry and just naturally fell into doing standup comedy. I started doing open mics and eventually started my own open mic called Swimming with Sharks. I used much of my knowledge and experience from the music side, for the comedy side of my journey. I started booking shows and eventually just decided to go ahead and try to build my own underground comedy club. I built a stage, and installed curtains and lights, tables and chairs, a sound system and setup a comedy club in a band rehearsal room. Then that grew into a location at a music studio. Then that grew into a restaurant partnership in Deep Ellum at Buzz Brews. Now, we’ve landed in the basement of Frankie’s Downtown and it’s a glorious place for comedy in Dallas. I think we’ve really built something special. And my little open mic has now become a full-blown comedy shows meets late night talk show meets live podcast. We have an awesome community of local and traveling comics and it just keeps growing!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I have a lot of motivations for delving into the entrepreneurial side of the entertainment business. First of all, I’ve had many experiences with businesses and owners that I thought were doing it differently than I would. Whether it was their interactions with their customers or their staff or their failure to capitalize on opportunities, it occurred to me that I could do it and do it my way. Also, as a creative-minded individual, it’s fun for me to learn and employ different processes and build things from the ground up. I enjoy the journey. It also creates an opportunity for me to help others, which is one of my main motivations behind a lot of what I do. I enjoy building up the people around me and helping us all to grow together. That’s community. But this is a business of people and musicians, comedians are all insane in different ways. So the toughest part of navigating the music and comedy industry, has been navigating this sea of crazy creatures called artists. Dealing with management and owners and bookers, etc. has also been a challenge, because sometimes you just don’t see eye to eye; but I try to be a team player. Same thing in music. Try being in a band and living together in a van traveling the country. It’s a recipe for disaster.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m lucky enough to be a world-traveled performer with decades of experience. I began my comedy journey as a stand-up comedian in Los Angeles, CA, performing at the World Famous Comedy Store in Hollywood. I’ve toured the world playing drums and performing on international tours and festivals with many of the biggest names in Rock and Metal music. I’ve made several appearances on the Kill Tony! show in Hollywood, CA and Austin, TX.
I currently host and produce a number of regular comedy showcases and events at several venues in Dallas, Texas, and I’m the owner and founder of Shark’s Comedy Club. My live show, Swimming with Sharks, has built a loyal following and is notorious for being one of the wildest and most unique comedy shows in Dallas, Texas—combining a live comedy show with a podcast-meets-late-night-talk-show setting. The Dallas Observer called the Swimming with Sharks Comedy Showcase and Open Mic “one of the best open mics in Dallas.” I also recently founded SharkFest, a comedy festival held in Dallas, Texas.
I think what sets Swimming with Sharks Entertainment apart from others is unique events and marketing tactics. We are heavy on branding and we do a lot to offer interesting events that people will want to come to. People have come to expect something different from a Swimming with Sharks show or event. We also are very independent and we love working with independent artists. We do this for the love of it and to help the scene and help others get where they want to be. I’ll be doing this until I can’t anymore.
Despite all of this, I think teaching and being a mentor for kids has been the most rewarding thing I have done, by far. I’ve been teaching since 2001, I studied Music Education in college. I am currently the music director of School of Rock Dallas. It’s awesome!
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I take huge risks and always have. I am aware of this one life we have to live. I’ve always known that it would take risk and sacrifice and bold moves to do something in the entertainment business. For instance, I packed everything I owned into my car, including my drums, and moved to Hollywood, California. All for the dream. And it led to amazing things. You have to go for it.
Pricing:
- We have a live show happening called Swimming with Sharks every Thursday at Shark’s Comedy Club at 930pm and it’s FREE.
- We also have live comedy shows on Fridays at Shark’s Comedy Club, at 8pm and 930pm.
- Check out Shark’s Comedy Club!
- www.sharkscomedyclub.com
- www.swimmingwithsharksentertainment.com
Contact Info:
- Website: www.noahsharkrobertson.com | www.swimmingwithsharksentertainment.com | www.sharkscomedyclub.com
- Instagram: noahsharkrobertson
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/sharkdrummer
- Twitter: sharknoah
- Youtube: @swimmingwithsharks
