This episode is about Joe Bates’ long, strange relationship with stand-up, why he stopped chasing it, and how improv became a healthier creative/social outlet. The strongest spine is: stand-up gives you freedom, identity, ego, and pain; improv gives you structure, community, and relief. The episode also becomes a funny inside-baseball conversation about comedy clubs, open mics, delusion, social media comics, bad stand-up, character work, and the Denver scene.

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In this episode of In on the Bit, Christie Buchele sits down with Matt to talk through what’s actually happening on stage when a set works—and when it doesn’t. What starts around bombing turns into a more honest conversation about control, reading the room, and how much of comedy is just reacting in real time instead of trying to force something to land.

They get into the difference between missing a joke and losing the audience, how comics learn to adjust on the fly, and why some of the best moments come from things not going according to plan. It’s a look at the part of comedy you don’t see from the crowd—the constant recalibration, the instincts you build, and the reality that getting better isn’t about avoiding failure, it’s about knowing what to do with it.

In this episode of In on the Bit, Christie Buchele and Cass get into the difference between collaboration and competition in comedy through improv and stand-up. What starts as just talking about styles turns into something bigger about how people actually show up on stage and around each other. Improv is about trust and building something together in the moment, while stand-up can feel more like you are trying to win the room and earn their attention.

As they talk through starting out, finding community, and being in the Denver scene, it becomes less about comedy and more about how those mindsets shape how you think about yourself and other people. From bombing to feedback to making friends and figuring out what actually matters, it keeps coming back to the same idea. At some point, you have to decide: are you trying to compete for the moment, or trust you can create it with someone else?

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