James Nghiem was sick of seeing his friends move away. So he took matters into his own hands — he started a record label for comedians.

Nghiem, a comedian and OU graduate, said he started the label to provide Oklahoma comedians a way to get more exposure and opportunities without having to leave a place where they receiving paying gigs.

“I have one friend who moved to Chicago and my best friend just moved to Boston, and both of them had to start all over again,” said Nghiem, founder of the Oklahoma City-based comedy label Robot Saves City.

So far, Nghiem has two artists on his roster, Leah Kayajanian and Bradchad Porter.

Nghiem said both acts will have a full album released soon on his label. He also said he hopes to release a compilation album featuring about 20 local comedians.

For the past 3 1/2 years, Nghiem has experimented with stand-up comedy.

He performs at the handful of comedy spots he calls “laboratories for comedy” in the area: Othello’s Tuesday night open mic, the Speakeasy’s Thursday night show and the one real comedy club in town, the Loony Bin, he said.

But it only takes a couple of years before a local comic aims to be something more than — well — a local comic.

Right now, Nghiem said he is feeling the pressure of starting a comedy label out of nothing, and on his own dime at that.

“I have been working a lot of hours on this every week, but this is what I am passionate about,” he said.

Nghiem’s goals are simple and open ended at present, and he said he is hopeful this will grow.

Norman and Oklahoma City is where he is situated now, but not forever, Nghiem said.

“I love Norman and OKC, and if I could live here and be successful I would,” he said. “I am trying to make that happen, but you have to take it one day at a time.”

For more information, visit www.robotsavescity.com