At your first open mic, your mom clapped loudest in an empty coffee shop. Every future crowd started there.

Every audience you will ever have starts at one. The first person to clap did it in a room where nothing was proven and where the applause was obviously not about quality. That is what early support looks like: not judgement, just presence. It rarely gets counted later, because by then the room is full and the origin has been edited out.

Remember who was in the small room. If they are still reachable, tell them you know what that night was. And when somebody else is doing their first anything, go, even if you are the only one who does.