When then-roommates Evan Galpert, Jessie Gaumond, Phil Johnson and Nick Pelton first gathered in their living room back in 2014 to write comedy together, they couldn’t have predicted how their small creative experiment would grow.
“Me, Jesse, Nick and Phil, we were all trying to write some sketch stuff together,” Galpert explains. “We weren’t sure what the direction was going to be, and we weren’t having a whole lot of luck with getting a particular momentum in any one way.”
That’s when inspiration struck.
“I pitched the idea to them—what if we gave ourselves two weeks to come up with five minutes (of material) and present it to each other?” Galpert recalls. “It allowed everybody to use their own comedic voice instead of trying to find one unified comedic voice.”
From those humble beginnings, local troupe Wayward Comedy took shape. And rather than staying in that comfortable space, its c-founders immediately aimed higher by booking their first-ever show at the Jean Cocteau Cinema—an ambitious start for a fledgling comedy group.
The bold move paid off, and the success of that first show led to the establishment of Wayward Wednesdays at Chili Line Brewery, a weekly open mic that ran for seven years before ending in 2023.
“People were just excited that there was comedy in Santa Fe,” Galpert notes wistfully.
That excitement led to demand, which has since led to expansion. Beyond their regular open mic, Wayward Comedy now puts on five showcases monthly at various venues as well as a regular open mic event at Cake’s Café downtown. Its members are also exploring additional monthly shows at Chili Line and Dr. Field Goods, while organizing larger events at Paradiso. That determination to create space for comedy in Santa Fe runs throughout the story of Wayward Comedy.
TJ Jones, another core member who immediately joined after attending a Wayward open mic night, recalls his own anecdote upon entering Santa Fe’s comedy world. His first set, a performance for which he spent nearly a year preparing, was notably ambitious.
“I first did standup at the Cowgirl in 2004,” he says. When the promoter initially balked at Jones asking for an hour, he struck a deal: “I said, well, I’ll tell you what, if I’m doing well, just let me keep going.” He ended up doing a full 45-minute set.
The open mic remains a vital testing ground for Wayward’s members and local up-and-coming jokesmiths, though the hosts playfully warn first-timers about spontaneous performances.
“I do announce it at the beginning of every open mic…let’s say you’re sitting out there in the audience and you’ve had a few drinks and you’re watching the show and you’re like, ‘Oh, I could do that!’” Jones says. “Just don’t. Go home, write some jokes, come back next week. They still do it.”
Even so, Wayward Comedy shows tend to come with a large audience draw. But growing attendance creates new challenges, too.
“Before, I was always worried about not having enough people show up. Now we don’t have enough seating,” Jones notes. “The other night at Roots and Leaves [Kave Bar], it was so packed that there was no place left for anybody to sit.”
Perhaps that’s because there’s almost always something or someone new at a Wayward show. The troupe maintains an admirably open-door policy that could make most comedy collectives nervous.
“There’s not much of a barrier,” Jones notes. “I think it’s just about creating opportunity. People ask if it’s a comedy-specific open mic, and it is, but you could still do funny songs or funny poems, or if you have a funny interpretive dance or burlesque...anything that’s funny!”
That fluid structure is part of the group’s strength.
“It is kind of a big group of people and people come in and go out, so it’s constantly changing,” Jones says. “When opportunities come up to do sketch comedy or things like that, there’s usually somebody like Isabel Madley or Evan [Galpert] who will step up.”
Looking ahead, the group has ambitions to expand its reach beyond northern New Mexico.
“The goal is to put together a little group and go to Denver, Tulsa, Phoenix or El Paso,” Jones says, adding that there’s more than enough material mineable from the current social climate alone. In fact, Jones sees fertile creative opportunities in challenging times.
“Fighting is fun...anger gets things done,” he says. “Fighting against an oppressive regime creates creativity. I think a lot of the time comedy comes from this angry place where you’re fed up and you want to express how fed up you are. It’s cathartic for the audience and it’s kind of dangerous for the performer in a way. You gotta find the humor in it or else we’re just gonna be miserable.”
