A comedy night collaboration hosted by East by Southeast, Dad’s Garage, Asians Advancing Justice, and Badass Asian Women! The main attraction was an all AAPI cast improv show, and arts and cuisine vendors as the preshow entertainment. That’s where I came in!
Inquiry
Now, I believe I have mentioned before that my goal for 2026 was to keep any month to two markets max… clearly, I’ve definitely broken that rule for May. Ha ha, but hear me out! ZensASIANal Comedy Night was a last minute addition to my schedule for sure but… it was free for vendors!
In late April, about two weeks before their event, I got a DM on Instagram from ExSE that they were looking for artist vendors for their AAPI comedy night with Dad’s Garage. There would be no vendor fee but we would have to provide our own tables, would I be interested and available? I gave myself a day to think about it because, oh geez, I already had so much scheduled for May. However, this would be on a Wednesday, completely different from the weekend swamps. Plus! There would be no vendor fee… and through out April I was acutely aware of how I needed more revenue to produce new merch.
So, I replied yes! I would be interested, and I got put in touch with Michelle from ExSE and Lily from Dad’s Garage for more details. I learned we’d have the option of being set up either outdoors or indoors, there’d be free parking available, and we could provide Dad’s Garage with our logos and merch images for their social media promotions. Load-in would be at 5:30 PM, and the market would be open to the public from 7 ’til 8 PM, when the comedy show would start. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but with only one hour to sell I planned a simplified setup, leaving my backdrop display and shirts at home. I asked for an indoor spot so that I wouldn’t have to worry about the weather.
ZensASIANal
I set out at 4 PM since you never know how badly rush hour traffic will go. Despite Atlanta’s best efforts, I rolled up to Dad’s Garage around 5:15. I found a few other vendors I recognized from other Asian American markets, and we looked for an unlocked door to gain entry. Eventually, Lily found us and we were let in through the front entrance to the lobby. We were able to unload our cars on the street and roll our wagons right in.
With the rain clouds above all of us vendors were moved into the lobby for the evening. Our spots were first come first serve, with Lily directing us on where to place our tables. With the concessions stand and food vendors against the far wall, and us merch vendors in a couple middle rows, I think overall the layout had good traffic flow. I set up on one of the back corners across from concessions, which let me use my two 4 foot tables in a L-shape.
I finished setting up my table around 6:30, so I stopped by Manalo’s Filipino Bakery for some dinner. Got myself a chicken bun, hotdog rolls, and tried banana ketchup for the first time! I didn’t take photos of them because I was too hungry. Our second food vendor, Beik’d Goods, had arrived with beautiful cakes! I knew I needed to get a slice before they sold out.
As we were setting up, Lily let us know that they’d sold more than one hundred tickets for the comedy show! She also told us we were welcome to stay and continue to selling after the show started. This did give me a small dilemma because my original plan was to see the show after tearing down, I didn’t want to leave my table out in the open! Fortunately, a Dad’s Garage volunteer let me know that they would be broadcasting the show on their lobby TV screen, crisis averted!
A few people began trickling in at 7 PM, but it turns out we weren’t actually open to the public until 7:10. So, I think that first wave may have been the improv performers? I recognized some of them on the TV screen later. The overhead lights were dimmed for ambiance right before opening, so I was happy to have my clip-on lights! Music began to play over the speakers with a list curated for the night, I recognized K-Pop Demon Hunters and a RRR Natuu Natuu remix.
Most of my sales happened during this pre-show period, with the smaller lobby making for a cozy atmosphere as visitors got snacks and perused our wares. The crowd was entirely adults and everyone gave off a cool vibe. My stickers performed the best, with risograph prints in second. I was really surprised when one customer bought 4 copies of my Workaholic sticker! He even taught me how to accept CashApp on Square. I didn’t think about it before but… my work does have a lot of humor to it, maybe that helped me fit in with the comedy club vibe?
As we got closer to the show, the lights began to softly flash to let people know it was time to find their seats. After the crowd thinned out, we vendors gathered together to decide whether or not we should stay open for the whole show. The food vendors had to pack up because they both sold out, but most of us artists and toy sellers decided to see what happened. I stayed in the lobby to help watch our tables with the intention to watch the show’s broadcast, but I ended up mostly chatting with Jon from NoodleBoiWasTaken and Jenny from Crying Monkey.
I made a few sales during intermission, and then a few sales during the show itself as vendors allowed themselves the time to look around. Overall, staying for the whole show seemed worth it though I didn’t make any sales after the curtain call. People did fill in the lobby again afterwards, but I think at that point most folks had already made up their minds if they were on the fence of a purchase. There was a storm warning, so I didn’t want to stay behind too long to avoid having to load-out in the rain. We said our good-byes and the event staff thanked us for coming out.
Billie’s Vendor Review
| Foot Traffic | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Attendee Vibes | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Restrooms | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Pokémon GO | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Organization | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
I’m happy with my sales from ZenASIANal! Though, it’s hard to complain when there wasn’t a table fee, haha. I appreciate that ExSE and Dad’s Garage were able to host us vendors without fees, as it really highlighted the community building aspect. I’m not sure if this will become a regular event, but I’ll keep an eye out for future emails.
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