For fun, Hickey took a not-for-credit night course on performing stand-up comedy. This video was the “final exam,” December 9, 2011, at the “Comedy Underground” in downtown Seattle. The seating capacity was 125, and the house was standing-room-only. Before the show, Mike and his classmates were milling around backstage, some pacing, some chain-smoking, some shaking with sheer panic in their eyes. “Of the twenty student performers,” Mike said, “I was scheduled to go number sixteen. As number fifteen was on-stage doing her thing, I was trying to be cool, calm, and collected, like this was no big deal. As I was reading over my 3x5 cards for the millionth time, the instructor came over, a well-traveled professional comic named Stu Stuart, and smiled. “You know, Mike, less than a month ago, I swear to God I saw Jerry Seinfeld sitting in that exact same chair doing that exact same thing – shuffling through his show notes. Right there. Right where you’re sitting.” Then he smiled and walked away. "OH gee, thanks Stu. like I wasn’t already completely freaking out!" But as Seinfeld, Chris Rock, and countless other comedians have observed, it’s really hard to make it look really easy. “I still keep my hand in from time to time – I guess all those years as the class clown finally paid off. I will never forget those eight minutes, sweating in a suit under the spotlights, the world in complete harmony. I never felt more alive. Before or since. Ever.”