Don’t get the wrong idea about this venue based on its name. Yes, you walk in and are surrounded by guitars. But they have a room in the back with a terrific stage and plenty of room for seating 21 or so. The gentleman who runs the room is Phil. He’s been doing it for 10 years. Parking is on the street, and they do have a small lot in back, but it was full when I arrived at 6pm. Signup is sort of first come first choice. I was given a ticket with the number 7. Evidently, others had come before me. When the signup sheet came out, numbers were called and talent then came over and wrote their names. I took the first slot because numbers two through eleven had names on them. I suppose some people got to signup ahead of time. Even when the show started, I ended up going up third. I’m not sure what to make of that. I get the seventh number to sign up, but already ten slots are taken when it’s my turn, and even though I took the first slot, two people went before me. Oh well. Math was never my strong point. The evening started at 7pm. Talent is given two songs or ten minutes. I never got the light, but at some point I just asked the emcee who I saw approach the stage and I wrapped it up in less than a minute. There were 18 people in attendance. Mostly they get musicians, but sometimes a few comedians. I was the only comedian to go up that night, at least in the time I was there. The audience was very receptive to my set. After I left the stage the emcee told me that although they have had comedians before, this was the first time he had ever heard the room laugh. I liked that. But for that very reason, I think this room deserves your attention. They are starved for comedy, and when they hear good material, they respond very positively. My suggestion is to do this room when you have a solid ten-minute set. Don’t try out new material, even though this is an open mic. Instead, write the routine, learn it, and really test how good it is with an audience who are open to comedy and judge it simply on its humor.
Don’t get the wrong idea about this venue based on its name. Yes, you walk in and are surrounded by guitars. But they have a room in the back with a terrific stage and plenty of room for seating 21 or so.
ReplyDeleteThe gentleman who runs the room is Phil. He’s been doing it for 10 years. Parking is on the street, and they do have a small lot in back, but it was full when I arrived at 6pm. Signup is sort of first come first choice. I was given a ticket with the number 7. Evidently, others had come before me. When the signup sheet came out, numbers were called and talent then came over and wrote their names. I took the first slot because numbers two through eleven had names on them. I suppose some people got to signup ahead of time. Even when the show started, I ended up going up third. I’m not sure what to make of that. I get the seventh number to sign up, but already ten slots are taken when it’s my turn, and even though I took the first slot, two people went before me. Oh well. Math was never my strong point.
The evening started at 7pm. Talent is given two songs or ten minutes. I never got the light, but at some point I just asked the emcee who I saw approach the stage and I wrapped it up in less than a minute. There were 18 people in attendance. Mostly they get musicians, but sometimes a few comedians. I was the only comedian to go up that night, at least in the time I was there.
The audience was very receptive to my set. After I left the stage the emcee told me that although they have had comedians before, this was the first time he had ever heard the room laugh. I liked that. But for that very reason, I think this room deserves your attention. They are starved for comedy, and when they hear good material, they respond very positively. My suggestion is to do this room when you have a solid ten-minute set. Don’t try out new material, even though this is an open mic. Instead, write the routine, learn it, and really test how good it is with an audience who are open to comedy and judge it simply on its humor.