Can you just answer the question of how long you've been doing it?

/u/iamgarron is right, an open mic with a bad audience is about

A) perfecting your delivery on a bit. You don't want to bring a brand new bit you've never said to a real show. It's absolutely different doing it at a mic versus doing it in your bathroom.

And B) You should be able to judge for yourself if something is really funny or not. You know that feeling you get at an open mic of "fuck you guys, that was funny"? Well if you're good enough, that feeling is correct. (and if you're not, it's very wrong)

Oh, and C) Socialization. If you aren't active in the mic scene then nobody in your local area will consider you when they're booking shows. You have to network. Some nights, the networking is 100% more important than the stage time.

If you're rethinking it, how are you going to do standup? How can you get shows without open mics? If you're rethinking open mics, then you're really just rethinking standup. Go write some sketch maybe.