![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Preacher-Lawson-retro-at-Austins-Coffee.jpeg\")
A young Preacher Lawson holding court at Austin\u2019s Credit: Sarah Kinbar<\/p>\nA young Preacher Lawson holding court at Austin\u2019s Credit: Sarah Kinbar<\/p>\n
For two decades, Sunday night at Austin\u2019s Coffee was where Orlando comics tested material, bombed gloriously and became family. When the coffee shop and creative haven was forced to move, comedian Preacher Lawson stepped in to help keep that Sunday tradition alive.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really a silent investor. I don\u2019t run the business,\u201d says Lawson, who earned his comedy chops in Orlando and broke out nationally on America\u2019s Got Talent, to Orlando Weekly. \u201cMy business was just to make sure that this place doesn\u2019t get shut down, because it\u2019s the longest-running mic in Orlando.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the short version of a story that has played out since 2021, when the City of Winter Park made it known it wished to buy the land at 929\u2013957 W. Fairbanks Ave. for an intersection and drainage project. The purchase went through in late 2024, and with its lease set to expire October 31, 2025, Austin\u2019s had to act. Fast.<\/p>\n
Friends of Austin\u2019s Coffee rose to the occasion and brought in funds. Siblings Angela Whitmer and Richard Whitmer came in as co-owners, and Lawson joined them following an early-August Hail Mary call from the savvy comedy mic mainstay Craig Norberg, who had an inkling Lawson might be game.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven when he was famous, he would always come in for open mics when he was in town,\u201d says Norberg. \u201cI knew he wanted it to succeed, so I told him what was going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Norberg founded the mic the same year Austin\u2019s opened, 2003. \u201cI had been doing comedy for about a year or less,\u201d he says. \u201cI wanted more stage time for myself and the community. I really had no idea what I was doing, but I figured it was worth a shot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Intrepid comedy fan and supporter Jean Anderson first checked out Orlando comedy in 2005 or 2006. \u201cI started going to Austin\u2019s. That\u2019s where I first saw Pat Garrity. He was pretty impressive. And later on, Preacher was there. He stood out right away,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I first came up, they showed me a lot of love,\u201d says Lawson. \u201cThe owner knew my drink. It was an Arctic Thunder, basically chocolate milk, and I\u2019d get it every Sunday. They\u2019d see me walk in and just know. It\u2019s been an important place in my life for a lot of reasons. It was the first place I performed after my breakup. It was the first place I went after being on TV. The first time I felt like I really killed on stage was there. I went up to do three minutes and ended up doing 10.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dewayne Williams first braved the mic in 2012 and became a regular in 2017. \u201cAustin\u2019s played a big role in my career because it gave me stage time,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s a different energy from anywhere else in the city. The crowd is mostly college kids. A lot of them haven\u2019t lived through the things you\u2019re talking about, so getting them to relate is a challenge. It was a fun challenge because the goal is the same. Make them laugh.\u201d<\/p>\n
From the start, Norberg wanted Austin\u2019s to be what it in fact became, a home base for comedians.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first night I went, I didn\u2019t even perform. I just hung out,\u201d says Edwin Pagan. \u201cAkeem Woods was guest hosting, and Heather Shaw, Justin Lawson and Ryan Holmes were around. I went back the next Sunday and finally went up. I don\u2019t even remember how it went. At some point you stop caring about bombing; you\u2019re just happy to be up there. Where else are you gonna do comedy on a Sunday?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe real magic was outside after midnight, with everyone just hanging out and talking. There wasn\u2019t much drinking, so it was chill. That\u2019s how I met people I\u2019m still close with. Austin\u2019s was social glue for comics in this city.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawson sees it similarly. \u201cAustin\u2019s is a judgment-free zone. You could do whatever you wanted as long as you didn\u2019t hurt anyone, and nobody cared. It\u2019s weird in the best way, like family. You\u2019ve got people you love, people you argue with, people you miss. It\u2019s all family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Comedian Robin Love has been a regular at the mic, considering it a mainstay.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all keep coming back for something and at the end of the day, that\u2019s what makes it beautiful,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, Oct. 19, the comedy family gathered at the familiar building on Fairbanks for the last time. \u201cIt felt different,\u201d Pagan says. \u201cYou saw all the comics you started with, all the old faces. It wasn\u2019t a funeral; it was like a reunion. You realize how far everyone\u2019s come, and you still have that respect for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have so many memories. I was crying. It\u2019s just moving, and it\u2019s good, but I\u2019m still sad. I don\u2019t know why,\u201d says Love.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now the good news: 2240 W. Fairbanks Ave., formerly Loving Vegan Market & Cuisine in Winter Park, is the confirmed new residence of this town\u2019s favorite coffee, comedy and open mic haunt. And likely within weeks, said two insider sources, Austin\u2019s will reopen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited for the new spot,\u201d Williams says. \u201cThe longest-running open mic in Orlando gets to continue in a new location. New building, same night, same energy or better.\u201d<\/p>\n
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