Meet Comedian Marquay Belcher

For some, comedy isn’t a huge tour, sold-out shows, or national or even regional recognition; it’s an outlet, a community, a home. Marquay Belcher has been on stage for about five years, and while each set brings more experience and confidence to his comedy career, he’s perfectly fine with the local stage as long as he can continue to introduce new faces to it.

The Cellar – Open Mic Details:

Every Wednesday Night Up to 20 Comedians
3 – 5 minute sets
Free Event
21+

Time:
doors open at 7 p.m.
sign-up at 7:30 p.m.
show starts at 8 p.m.

Stage time is not guaranteed!
Hosted by: Marquay Belcher

Growing up in Michigan, Marquay loved comedy. Comedy shows, comedy specials, anything comedy that he could get his eyes and ears on.

“There’s this special, ‘Robin Williams: An Evening at the Met’ and it sounds silly, but I watched that four times a week,” Marquay said. “I could recite it live.”

In his 20s, Marquay moved to Hawaii. And although it might sound like someone’s dream, being on vacation mode 24/7 wasn’t doing it for Marquay. Drawn towards the entertainment world, he attended music school intending to become a record label owner. He and his then-girlfriend lived in Minneapolis while Marquay was developing his label career. They were there until it was evident that his family—which now consists of him, his wife, and their son—needed to move to Fargo for more opportunities for his wife’s job as a doctor. That was about 14 years ago.

For many years after moving to the FM area—still drawn to the entertainment business—Marquay ran a DJ business. In time, he slowed down and retired the DJing equipment—unless someone is doing a 90s hip-hop party—and now his day job is in sales. Right about the time that he stopped DJing, an old coworker told him that her son was doing stand-up comedy in town, Marquay was immediately intrigued.

“I got into comedy at a very young age, but it wasn’t until I moved to Fargo that, I mean it sounds so silly, but that’s when I figured out that normal people can do things like that…” Marquay said. “Even as much as I enjoyed comedy as a kid, I never considered it as a career or anything like that, until I got here and she said that her son just went to open mic. Something clicked, I thought, ‘Whoa, I could do that’—well, not even, I went to it and thought, ‘Wow. There are people who actually do comedy.'” After going to the open mic, and witnessing returning performers and first-timers do both really well and bomb, he thought it was just really fun. There was something extremely intriguing about the mundanity of these people’s lives during the day compared to the excitement of their stage time at night.

“It was really interesting to see that those people just left work, then they were doing comedy, and then they would go back to their regular life. Fast forward to now, where the people I watched at the open mic are now doing national podcasts, that’s really awesome,” he said. “So I guess, to answer the question, when did I get into comedy? I was always into it from a young age, but I didn’t know that it was something a regular person could do until almost too late in life, I suppose.”

The First Open Mic

Courtney’s Comedy Club was the premier comedy spot in the FM area. Established in 1992 the club had a long history. It was named after the original owner’s daughter and was known as the “House that Laughs Built.” The club hosted a variety of nightly events, like karaoke, free poker nights, and open mic nights. Unfortunately, it has since closed down but many who have been a part of the local scene remember this club, especially its neon sign—which Marquay still regrets not snagging for a keepsake when they closed their doors!

Before Front Street’s Cellar was the Valley’s go-to comedy spot, Courtney’s Comedy Club in Moorhead was the stage on fire with local comedy shows. Throughout the years, there have been other spots to host open mics around town, including the since-closed Pickled Parrot as well as Dempsey’s Public House—which is where Marquay went for his first time in the spotlight.

“I guess I just needed to know for myself, like, can I get up on stage and tell a joke? Would I be good at this? Would I be nervous? I just had to do it, to try it. That was five years ago.”

He was both nervous and not, always being the guy who was not easily embarrassed. He cracked jokes often, admitting that it might have been a little bit of a defense mechanism for situations. Almost like a class clown, but not in a negative light—there’s one instance of clowning that he remembers to this day.

“Miss Knightling—she was my art teacher. We were doing something in class, all gathered around her, and I don’t remember what she said to prompt what I said, and I don’t even remember what I said, but I said something. And I started looking around to make sure that everybody thought that what I said was funny, and then she said, ‘That’s right, Marquay, look around and make sure everybody thinks it’s funny.’ I was like, ‘Am I doing that?’ And I was doing that, and it just got real. It made me more aware of public speaking, I suppose, like, if you want to be in control of the crowd, you have to be in control of the crowd. I thought, I want to make sure these people enjoyed my joke.”

Still to this day, he admitted he never knew if they did or not—but he does know—that was one moment he remembers looking for his audience’s feedback after a joke, just as he does today

Make sure to check out Marquay’s podcast, hosted by him and fellow comedian Blaise Kautzman, called “I Woke Up For This” live on Tuesday mornings from 8 – 9 a.m. and released on streaming platforms on Wednesdays!

What's So Funny?

Marquay loosely coined his style of comedy as “misdirection,” meaning he would start with a joke that you, as the listener, think is going one way, but then he will come in with a punchline or detail that will make you realize you misunderstand what the story was about in the first place—and it’s usually absurd, and usually very funny.

“There are other jokes where you can take a real-life situation, and then maybe you can twist it a little bit to make it a little bit more funny. But, I don’t know if I have a comedy style, I think that wouldn’t necessarily be for me to answer. Some comedians, you can tell there’s like, a formula that they use, plug and play if you will, which is fine, but I don’t have that—a set style.”

Each week, Marquay hosts the open mic at The Cellar on Wednesdays. He starts the show with some jokes, gets everyone in the audience hyped up for the evening, and introduces each comedian after their timeslot is up. It can be a delicate job to uphold. Whether it’s making the comedians feel welcomed and encrouaged without overstepping or engaging with the audience. But, Marquay loves it.

He might switch up his set or style night after night at a back-to-back show or midshow if he notices something that is or isn’t working with the audience. But there’s a sense of casualness when Marquay is on stage. It’s not that it’s carelessness in a negative way, but rather an aloofness. You can tell that ultimately, he is unbothered about being up there—unbothered but comfortable enough to be himself and to be funny.

When Marquay is on stage, the audience feels like they can see him just being himself. Sometimes comedians enter the stage with this persona, sometimes they enter and give a bit from start to finish never fully revealing themselves, and sometimes they radiate the energy of authenticity. No one is superior to another, but they are all hard to do well. Marquay is unruffled yet engaged, and welcoming while being just plain funny.

The Long Game

Marquay is extremely passionate about the local comedy scene, The Cellar’s open mics, his friends and peers in the community, and welcoming in new folks (expirienced or not, comedians or audience members), and that’s where he would be comfortable staying at.

“My goal, I guess in comedy, isn’t the same as a lot of the other guys. I think that comedy like I was talking about earlier, I feel like my time has passed. [Maybe] not passed, but I don’t have any dreams or aspirations or goals or hopes for it. I don’t see myself going on the road to do comedy, to get famous, or to get paid for doing comedy, the stuff you have to do before you get enough money to maintain a lifestyle like that,” he said.

There’s no part of Marquay that looks down on those who are doing stand-up and grinding to become nationally recognized, in fact, some of his close friends who perform every week are—it’s just not his goal right now.

“My goal now is to see people develop their style, become better comedians, and then ultimately take it somewhere else… It’s cool to be like, ‘I watched them from the beginning, grow into that.’ I guess that’s my goal, to water the flowers. They call me the comedy dad, I don’t really take that title too seriously, but I do like to see the seeds grow.”

Q&A with Marquay

Q: Pre-show rituals?

A: I wouldn’t say there’s a ritual, but there’s like, a routine. I feel like that might be part of where the “comedy dad” part comes from. Because I have kicked people off stage. I have told people that they can’t do certain things and kicked people out of the establishment, but I’m not a bouncer or anything. It’s not part of my job description if you will, but I do feel a responsibility to protect the open mic in general. If there’s somebody causing trouble, I don’t want that for the establishment. I don’t want that for the open mic

Q: What isn’t funny?

*Note: there was much deliberation, discussion, and doubting that happened before this answer. Too much to print here, but trust that this decision was not made lightly.
A: Stolen jokes.

Keep up to date with Marquay’s upcoming shows and more online, and check out the next open mic he’s hosting!

Instagram | @marquayquay
Instagram | @thecellarfargo