08/20/2026
Tomorrow Night is the night. When I first announced this show I had no remote idea that I would be announcing it as the last show produced by D.C. Famous Presents. But, here we are and this is it. After three years of constructing this company to be the vessel for my footprint on the world, and the past month of internal dialogue, I finally said out loud "I'm walking away!" I finally realized that I cannot afford to carry out my mission and to convince myself that I could any longer will literally destroy the fabric of my life.
In making the decision to no longer produce comedy shows, I'm also electing to step away from performing stand up comedy as well. I'm choosing to do so because I started this to not just be a performer, that was secondary. I started this to to create my own opportunities, to be the example to others of how to look outside of the parameters of what everybody subscribes to and mine for gold in the places that most lack the creativity to venture into. I wanted create opportunities for those that get locked out because the caliber of their talent and the power of their voices intimidate the gate keepers of the comedy and entertainment ethos. It's why I consciously curated every single performer on my stages; to put them in front of audiences that not only needed to hear their voice but see them up close.
I mean, I literally took a Mexican, a white woman, and a 6'4'' tall black man to perform in from of a room full of farmers. And I showed up in a red velvet blazer with red velvet shoes. And you know what? Those MF'ers laughed their pale asses off. For most of that room, they'd never seen a live comedy show before. Hell, most of them had never seen a black person up close before. They're farmers so I know they've seen plenty of Mexicans. 🤣 I've always said that if I can make you laugh; then there's absolutely no way that you can truly hate me. That's the power of comedy. Laughter is the most involuntary human response and it connects people through their humanity.
It's crazy to be announcing this because I was finally hitting my stride with how to leave audiences with a piece of me. My call and response became my "Amen!" at my shows. I'd be on stage telling a story and there have been times that people in the audience would yell out " Damn Right Slim!" even before I had the chance to. Even crazier is that they made it fit better in the funny story than I planned to. S**t, goddamn!!!! That fires me up and all of a sudden the person I have spent years trying to uncage on stage would emerge. That's when D.C. "Slim" Briggs : Professional Humorist and Damion Carlyle Briggs became unrecognizable from each other.
And it wasn't just the jokes. became my mantra for putting the spotlight on racism in America and us "Lightskins" or biracial folks experience the institution of the social construct. Shiiiit I even made some white people realize they ain't really white. 🤣But, more importantly I expanded minds and provoked thoughtful conversations around the role that race is allowed to play in our real lives, being that it's a completely made up myth used to enforce hierarchies and fuel hatred. I even went so far as to take this concept into producing as well as performing a one man show called "The Great Race Fable". I performed that s**t on a real stage too. I mean like in a theater.
Owning my entertainment production company allowed me to unapologetically think big without needing someone's approval to do so. I mean I always think big but for the first time I was the only green light needed to move forward in attempting to manifest these great ideas.
I admit, I started out with a more selfish intent. I immediately saw the gate keeping in the comedy and refused to buy into the philosophy that there's only one way to "pay your dues". I figured I had already been paid to do a few shows, I can get paid to get better. Then I produced my first show, which taught me that I could use my experience as a wedding DJ, graphic designer, promoter, public speaker, carpenter, branding specialist, retailer, and humorous spirit to begin this journey. It wasn't long before I saw that getting a business license was one way to show others that you can make your own way in this and not to wait on others. Though I believed nobody was watching, I had folks come to me and tell me that watching my grind gave them license to do their own venture. I realized that my positive footprint was manifesting in other people. The bud bloomed from there. Over the years I kept tinkering with the business model to find what worked best for me. It took me a total of 3 years to finally figure out exactly how to enterprise this company to use all of the skills and resources in my possession. I built my own stages, lighting rigs, audio set ups, used flat screen tv's to be video monitors. I even figured out merch. I worked hard as a mf'er to bring this vision to fruition. There were so many moments that I saw lights through the fog. But I also kept watching the lights drift out too. It came to a point that more money was going out than coming in. Driving to meetings, going on the road, driving to get low priced equipment, buying items to use for merch, etc. I kept with the mindset of investing in myself. I was also lucky enough to have some contributors along the way. I'm super blessed to have those that believe in me and I hate that the belief is in vain.
However, for the past month I was deliberating over the fact that my life can't afford to have this company anymore. A man of wisdom once told me that if money is your biggest problem in life, then you're doing pretty good. Up until a month ago I believed that. I believed that if you just do what you do best, the money will come. Well, folks, the reality I came to accept is that is not always the case. I love what I do. I love it from a 360 degree perspective. I love the effect it has on the world, I love the purpose it gives me, I love the way it feels so organically in my nature, I love the liberation it empowers me with, most of all I entertaining people with my intellect. This is why it's such a heavy pill to swallow when I made the decision to shut down my company, and step away from comedy. My choice to step away from comedy is based in the fact that to not be in the production side removes my desire to perform. As I said, being a performer is secondary to my desire to be a producer. I've become a great performer and I stand on that. But performing is fun. Being a producer is empowerment. It's creating your own destiny. It's unrestrained growth. it's most of all creating opportunities for those around you. Forgive me for those that prefer to just be performers, but for me it's devaluing. It's working to convince person that you are not only worthy of their attention, but also valuable enough to be allowed to make them money from your performance. Its not in my wiring. And so if I have to walk away from the business, I'm walking away from the craft. Because I can't bear to do the craft in any other way than with my liberation. As a performer the business doesn't allow that. There was a narrow lane that I fit perfectly in and I'm no longer able to build that pathway. A destiny unfullfilled.
I'm funny regardless. I was funny before I picked up a mic and I'll be funny until I am no longer walking this Earth. I've closed chapters in my life before, the difference is that each time I've closed a chapter of my life, I was choosing to do so because I felt the time had come to move on. It was my decision to move on because I had no more desire to continue. This time, for the first time in my life, I'm not acknowledging the end and choosing to move on. I'm merely accepting the inability to continue and it hurts. this one stings deep. It feels like I'm losing a family member. Its the way I feel when I visit with my brother then have to leave him. I'm sour, and I will be for a little while until the weight of it flushes my system. I never got to perform for my hometown crowd. That. Fu***ng. Sucks.
Still I want to thank every single trooper that believed in me since day one and had my back, like literally. I appreciate those that watched from afar and made sure to let me know that their eyes were on me when we'd speak. Much love to the mentors that pulled my coat to let me know what I was doing well, and remind me that my difference was my specialty. Thanks for the fans and audience members that came up to me after shows to say" You're funny AF but I'm so glad you talk about that", that s**t means more than the world to me. Thanks to the ones that offered help eventhough I had no idea to put it to use. Most of all thank to my future wife for riding this journey like a champ as long as we could; I'm sorry I didn't do better. and finally, thank you to the universal creator for guiding me in this direction. I'm not yet understanding why I'm turning my back on it but I hope it makes sense in time.
On that note, if you're actually still reading and in Minnesota, tonight is my last produced show. If you're not doing anything and want to support this comedy closeout sale, 7pm @ Underground Music Cafe & Event Space in Minneapolis. Part of me doesn't want to actually do this show because it is the last one, but I'll be damned if I'm walking out the door on a low note. I'm putting on a finale that you're all welcome to be a part of. D.C. Slim is gracing the stage one last time. Hope y'all join us.
