As the 1980s began, stand-up comedy was on fire. Nationally, names like George Carlin, Robin Williams, and Steve Martin were becoming regular fixtures on TV. Locally, Mickey Finn's was still pulling in consistently strong crowds, out-of-town comedians were coming to perform for Twin Cities audiences, and even comedy forefather Dudley Riggs was expanding his shows to include stand-up. While the growth of stand-up comedy was great for fans and provided more opportunities for performers, things were still pretty hectic when it came to getting stage time. "Mickey Finn's was basically just Bill [Bauer] and Alex [Cole] by then, because Jeff [Gerbino] left for Los Angeles in 1980 or '81," recalls Scott Hansen. "At that point, it was just a drug den." That's not to say that the quality of comedians or the quantity of fans at Mickey Finn's had dipped, but without Hansen or Gerbino to maintain order, things could get a little out of hand. "We called ourselves the Comedic Revolutionary Council," recalls Cole, "and we had handbills made up that we handed out all over Riverplace [in Minneapolis].

At that point we had moved the stage into the basement of Mickey Finn's, and we had people like Lizz Winstead and Sid Youngers working there quite a bit. The difference between how it was with Scott in charge and what it was like with us in charge was that Scott really didn't like pushing envelopes. Billy loved it, and I was always kind of a revolutionary-minded person. So the feeling at Mickey Finn's became, go up there and do whatever you want . as long as it gets a laugh.".