Adam Hrabik Adds it Up

I saw Adam Hra­bik for the first time at, coin­ci­den­tal­ly, my own first time see­ing an open mic at Cap City Com­e­dy. Lit­tle did I know before­hand the highs and lows that can roll across the stage in such an open envi­ron­ment. Thank­ful­ly, Hra­bik clear­ly knew what to expect and han­dled it like a pro. All in all, the way he ran the show became one of my favorite parts of the night.

Raised in the tiny (I’m not exag­ger­at­ing) town of Louisville, Nebras­ka, Hra­bik was drawn to com­e­dy ear­ly on, absorb­ing records from the likes of Dane Cook and Lewis Black. He knew it was some­thing that he was drawn to, but didn’t real­ly jump into the scene until his col­lege years. 

In a piv­ot from a pur­suit of an Archi­tec­tur­al Engi­neer­ing degree (I wish I knew enough about it to make some kind of but­tress joke here), Hra­bik turned to Jour­nal­ism. At the same time, he start­ed up the famil­iar lad­der of climb­ing and learn­ing in the open mic scene in Nebras­ka. In addi­tion to time on stage, he tried his hand at writ­ing for Col­lege Humor and the Oma­ha World Her­ald.

When it came time to make a move into a more vibrant com­e­dy scene and set­tle down, Hra­bik nar­rowed it down to Den­ver or Austin; luck­i­ly he land­ed in our fair city in 2011. 

His inau­gur­al open mic was at Cher­ry­wood Cof­fee House, a venue we hear time and time again on Com­e­dy Wham. Many per­for­mances lat­er, he nailed the hon­or of a final­ist spot in Fun­ni­est Per­son in Austin. (Check out his FPIA 2015 per­for­mance here.) He’s also done fes­ti­vals, and pod­casts like Drunk­Cast Live (includ­ing one the night of this inter­view. Take that, serendipity!). 

There’s plen­ty in the future for Hra­bik, includ­ing more writ­ing, more unique show endeav­ors, and pos­si­bly being shred­ded by a wheat thresh­er. We’re hop­ing for every­thing but the last one.