Orlando Baxter has performed for a Worcester crowd at least 50 times over the course of his 14-year stand-up career. But this weekend, as he returned home to throw it down for his first weekend slate of shows at the booming WooHaha Comedy Club, where he sold out three out of five shows, something felt different for Baxter.
“This weekend was different for me because the ticket was hot,” Baxter tells Vanyaland. “I kept getting phone calls from people asking about coming out to a show, and usually, I have no problem telling them to show up because there usually are seats, but this weekend was the first time I was like ‘there’s nothing I can do about it.’”
That’s one hell of a feeling.
Coming off the five-show stint, Baxter sees the response he received from club-goers this weekend as representative of both his growth as a comedian, and his return to Wormtown after not being home as much over the last few months. While seeing everyone still come out to support him after all these years, Baxter found beauty in having to turn people away as tickets became more scarce.
“It was a beautiful moment for me when I had to tell people that they should’ve gotten their tickets,” says Baxter with a chuckle, adding “and for them to realize that they can’t just make a phone call to get admitted, was a step up for me, personally. I’ve never had to do that, and now to able to do that, and do it in my hometown is very special to me, and I’m proud of that.”