These are the binding governing documents referenced on the submission page. They control in the event of any conflict with the plain-language summaries presented during submission. Please read them in full. By submitting an entry, and by participating if selected, you agree to be bound by both documents below.
No purchase of any product is necessary to enter beyond the Submission Review Fee described below. The featured-comic selection is based on merit and community support; it is not a game of chance.
This submission and selection program (the “Program”) for the multi-episode comedy discovery series Martin Lawrence Presents “Pass Tha’ Mic,” hosted by Jo Koy (the “Production”), is produced by Comic Knockout LLC and Runteldat Entertainment (together, the “Producer”), in association with Magenta Light Studios (“MLS”) and producer Leslie Small. Performances are staged at Legends Theater, Route 66 Casino Hotel, Albuquerque, New Mexico, on or about August 29–30, 2026 (the “Performance Dates”). Contact: submissions@passthamic.com · Comic Knockout, LLC, 30 North Gould Street, Suite R, Sheridan, WY 82801.
The submission period opens on June 19, 2026 and closes at 11:59 PM PST on July 30, 2026 (the “Entry Period”). The Producer’s clock is the official timekeeper. Submissions received outside the Entry Period may not be reviewed. The Producer may extend, shorten, suspend, or reopen the Entry Period in its sole discretion.
Comic registration is otherwise open to the public — newcomers, working road comics who have never had a special, and comics whose last special aired more than ten years ago are all welcome.
Enter at passthamic.com by completing the submission form, uploading your entry video, accepting these documents, and paying the Submission Review Fee. Material: your set must be your own original stand-up; it must not infringe any third party’s copyright, trademark, right of publicity, or other right, and must not contain other performers’ material without authorization. Length: entry tapes should run five (5) to seven (7) minutes maximum; sets outside this window may not be reviewed. Format: a single video file (MP4, MOV, or M4V, up to 500 MB); a single continuous take from a live or simulated club set is preferred. Content standards: adult language and edgy material are permitted, but submissions must not contain unlawful content, content that sexualizes minors, credible threats, targeted harassment, or incitement to violence. All submissions are received and cataloged as pending; submission does not guarantee review, publication, selection, or any appearance.
You may enter more than once. Community support is combined across all submissions that share your email address and displayed as a single total on each of them. The email address on your submission is the identifier that links your sets — use the same email each time you enter. Submissions made under different email addresses are treated as separate comics and their support is not combined.
A non-refundable Submission Review Fee of US $2.99 applies to each submission, charged at the time of submission through a secure, PCI-compliant payment processor. This fee covers submission processing, eligibility verification, video hosting, content moderation, and administrative review. It is charged uniformly to all submitters and has no effect on the review process or selection decisions. The fee is non-refundable regardless of whether you are selected, except where required by law.
This is a curated showcase, not a competition — there are no scores published to entrants and no eliminations. Of the twenty-four (24) featured comics:
PTM Community Discovery support is available to all registered submitters on equal terms and cannot be purchased, obtained, or influenced by any payment; the Submission Review Fee has no effect on selection under either pathway. The Producer’s determination of merit, support tallies, eligibility, and selection is final and binding.
The twenty-four (24) selected comics are invited to film a segment on Pass Tha’ Mic, filmed live before a studio audience, and are invited to grow and develop under the Runteldat umbrella, with the opportunity to receive management advice from Runteldat. The community-selected comic will additionally be invited and offered a paid, professional opportunity to open a live, on-stage Martin Lawrence comedy show. Except as expressly stated, selection and participation do not entitle any participant to compensation.
You consent to the Producer’s right to broadcast, telecast, stream, transmit, distribute, syndicate, exhibit, and otherwise exploit your submission and performance — in whole or in part — across all platforms and media worldwide, in perpetuity, including television, streaming, social media, theatrical, home video, and promotional uses, without further notice, approval, or compensation beyond what (if anything) is set out in the Participation Agreement. Submission, selection, and participation do not guarantee that your set will air in the main show; the Producer may include all or part of your set in the main program, an outtakes or “almost made it” production, a highlights, blooper, or behind-the-scenes feature, promotional materials, or any other format — or elect not to use it at all.
For comedians selected to perform at Route 66 Casino Hotel, the Producer will cover round-trip travel and hotel accommodations on a reasonable, pre-approved basis per the Producer’s travel policy. You are responsible for your own personal incidentals (e.g., hotel incidentals, room service, minibar, parking, and similar charges). As is standard hotel practice, you must provide a valid credit card to the hotel at check-in, and the hotel may place its standard hold on that card for incidentals; the Producer does not keep any card on file. Failure to appear, or to meet call times and production requirements, may forfeit selection and reimbursement.
If selected, you must, as a condition of participation: present a valid, unexpired government-issued photo ID at check-in; provide a valid credit or debit card for the Submission Review Fee and present a valid credit card to the hotel at check-in for incidentals; complete and return required tax and payment forms (e.g., IRS Form W-9) and onboarding paperwork; sign the Participation Agreement & Appearance Release and any venue or production waivers; meet all call times, rehearsals, wardrobe, and production directions; and comply with all venue, safety, and conduct policies. Identity and payment verification occur securely through the payment processor and at check-in; the Producer does not collect copies of your ID or card through the submission form.
Any travel, accommodations, paid opportunity, or other thing of value provided to a participant may constitute taxable income. Each participant is solely responsible for all applicable federal, state, and local taxes and for any reporting on amounts received. Where required, the Producer will issue an IRS Form 1099 and may require a completed Form W-9 before providing any payment or reimbursement. Participants should consult their own tax advisors.
The Producer may disqualify any submission or participant that violates these documents, provides false information, infringes third-party rights, tampers with the submission or community-support process, or whose conduct triggers the Morals & Conduct provision below — at any stage, without notice.
You agree to conduct yourself professionally and lawfully throughout your participation. The Producer may, in its sole discretion, disqualify, remove, or decline to feature any participant whose conduct — past, present, or future, on or off camera — is or becomes, in the Producer’s reasonable assessment, unlawful, dishonest, abusive, harassing, or likely to bring the participant, the Producer, Martin Lawrence, Jo Koy, the venue, or the Production into public disrepute, scandal, or ridicule, or to reflect unfavorably on the Production. This provision survives selection and performance.
You agree to keep confidential any non-public information about the Production, evaluation, other participants, and selection that you learn through your participation, and not to issue press or social statements purporting to speak for the Production without the Producer’s prior written consent. The Producer may announce participants and finalists at its discretion.
Information you provide is used to administer submissions, communicate with you, verify eligibility, and operate the Production. Payment information is handled by the payment processor and is not stored by the Producer. The Producer does not sell your personal information. See the Privacy Policy (when published) for details.
The Producer reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify, suspend, extend, or terminate the Program, the Entry Period, or any part of these documents at any time — including for reasons of fraud, technical failure, force majeure, or any cause that corrupts the administration, security, fairness, or proper operation of the Program. The version of these documents in effect at the time of your submission applies, except that the Producer may apply changes required by law.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Producer and the Released Parties (defined in the Participation Agreement) are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost data, technical malfunctions, late, lost, or misdirected submissions, or any injury or damage arising from participation in the Program or from these documents. Where liability cannot be excluded, it is limited to the amount of the Submission Review Fee you paid.
These documents are governed by the laws of the State of New Mexico, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules; the Production, performances, filming, and venue all take place in New Mexico. Binding arbitration: any dispute arising out of or relating to your submission or these documents will be resolved by binding arbitration seated in New Mexico, administered under the AAA Commercial Arbitration Rules, on an individual basis. You and the Producer waive any right to bring or participate in a class, collective, or representative action, and waive trial by jury; the Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this provision. California residents: to the extent a California-resident submitter’s claims are governed by California law notwithstanding the choice of law above, the Producer operates this Program in good-faith compliance with applicable California talent-protection statutes. If any provision is found unenforceable, the remainder stays in effect.
These Official Rules, together with the Participation Agreement & Appearance Release, constitute the entire agreement regarding your submission and supersede prior understandings. No waiver is effective unless in writing. Questions: submissions@passthamic.com · Comic Knockout, LLC, 30 North Gould Street, Suite R, Sheridan, WY 82801.
This Agreement is entered into by the participant (“you” or “Participant”) and the Producer upon your submission and acceptance, and again upon any signed copy required if you are selected. It supplements the Official Rules above.
You grant the Producer a worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, sublicensable, and transferable license to use, reproduce, host, store, adapt, excerpt, and exhibit your submission and your performance in connection with Pass Tha’ Mic, the Production, and its promotion, in any and all media now known or later developed. To the extent any footage is created by or for the Producer (including footage filmed at the performances), such footage and the audiovisual production are works made for hire owned by the Producer; to the extent any rights do not vest as a work made for hire, you irrevocably assign them to the Producer. You retain ownership of your underlying jokes and written material, subject to the license granted here.
You grant the Producer and its designees the right to record, use, and reuse your name, stage name, image, photograph, voice, likeness, performance, biographical information, and social-media handles in connection with the Production and its advertising, marketing, and promotion, in all media worldwide and in perpetuity. You waive any right to inspect or approve the finished product or the uses to which it may be applied, and you waive any claim for invasion of privacy, right of publicity, or defamation arising from authorized uses.
The Producer has the sole and absolute right to edit, cut, re-order, shorten, caption, dub, overlay, censor, or otherwise modify your submission and performance, and to combine it with other content, in its sole creative discretion. The edited result may differ from your submission, and you waive any claim based on such editing.
Nothing obligates the Producer to use your submission or performance, to feature you, or to air any portion of your set. The rights granted are effective whether or not the Producer exercises them.
You represent and warrant that: (i) the submission is your original work; (ii) you own or control all rights necessary to grant the rights in these documents; (iii) the submission does not violate any law or third-party right; and (iv) any individuals appearing or referenced in your submission have consented to the uses described here.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, you release and hold harmless the Producer (Comic Knockout LLC and Runteldat Entertainment), Magenta Light Studios (“MLS”), Martin Lawrence, Jo Koy, Leslie Small, the venue, and their respective affiliates, officers, employees, agents, and partners (the “Released Parties”) from any and all claims, damages, liabilities, costs, and expenses arising out of or relating to your submission, your participation, the uses authorized here, and any travel or appearance. You agree to indemnify the Released Parties against third-party claims arising from your submission or your breach of these documents.
You voluntarily assume all risks associated with travel to and from, and participation in, the Production and any related events, and you agree the Released Parties are not responsible for personal injury, illness, loss, or property damage except to the extent caused by their gross negligence or willful misconduct and not otherwise excludable by law.
Your participation does not create an employment, partnership, agency, or joint-venture relationship with the Producer. You are not entitled to wages, benefits, or compensation by virtue of participation except a paid opportunity expressly offered in writing (such as the community-selected comic’s paid opening opportunity). Any such paid opportunity is engaged on an independent basis and is subject to its own terms and the tax provisions of the Official Rules.
You agree to comply with all venue, safety, production, and conduct policies, with all directions of the Producer and its production staff, and with the Morals & Conduct provision of the Official Rules, which is incorporated here by reference.
You agree to keep confidential all non-public information about the Production, evaluation, other participants, and selection learned through your participation, as set out in the Official Rules, both during and after your participation.
The governing-law, binding-arbitration, class-action and jury waivers, California-resident, severability, and limitation-of-liability provisions of the Official Rules apply equally to this Agreement and are incorporated here by reference. This Agreement, together with the Official Rules, is the entire agreement between you and the Producer regarding the subject matter and supersedes prior understandings.
You agree that submitting your entry, checking the acknowledgment boxes, and/or electronically signing constitutes your acceptance of and electronic signature to these Official Rules and this Participation Agreement & Appearance Release, with the same force and effect as a handwritten signature. If you are selected, you agree to execute any additional copy of this Agreement and any venue or production waivers the Producer reasonably requires.