Monday, September 12, 2016

Tuesday Mic at Poor House Bistro

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  1. Open mic at Poor House Bistro takes place outside on their stage, a canopy overhead. Though a hot evening sun seeped its way onto the stage at times while setting, the audience sat in shade while a couple musicians wore sunglasses to offset the direct sunlight.
    They have a parking lot, but street parking is free as well. The outside seats over a hundred but some seating takes place to one side, making it a little difficult to include them when you’re performing. The stage is a square platform a foot high and could easily fit a 5 piece band. I arrived at 5pm, and no one was here. The signup sheet came out about 5:17 by the manager of the bistro. Interesting to note, there are no signups after 8pm.
    Primarily known for having shows with bands, open mic at Poor House welcomes all talent. Jeff, who has been running the room for over 6 years, is a musician himself and an avid Giants fan, as illustrated by the signature G cap he wore. But the show opened with a comedian, and then we had several musicians and singers till I went up. Jeff says signup is very informal. He’ll call your name, and if you’re not ready, he’ll bring up someone else and get back to you. For a comedian, I don’t think you’ll ever find yourself “not ready”, so go when you can.
    There are language restrictions. No explicit words. Euphemisms are encouraged. The reason being, there are often children in the audience, as was the case when I performed. On stage I substituted the word f**k with “Go F themselves” and it went fine. All talent gets about 10 minutes, the light at 9.
    When the evening started about 6:10pm there were 12 people there. An opening band played for about a half hour then the first open micer went up at 6:40pm. The venue goes till 9pm. By the time I went up there were 28 in attendance, and the evening only picked up as it went along.
    The bistro purports New Orleans style food, serving starters, beer and wine, salads, burgers, fried seafood, various pastas and even a little dessert. You order inside and you are alerted when the food is ready and you get it yourself. They don’t serve you at the tables. I could easily see myself spending the whole evening here just for the open mic. Dinner and drinks outside on a warm summer evening, rocking to the music of the 60s and 70s by people in their 60s and 70s and having some good food and drinks after performing myself. The audience was very receptive to comedy as much as music and even one person asked to Facebook friend me after my set.
    These were very friendly and affable people attending the open mic, and Jeff runs a very relaxed but energetic room. There is a familial quality in the air at that bistro. Anyone who passes the gate to enter is very welcomed. Give this room a try, especially if it’s summer. In the winter months, even if the outdoor is lit, somehow I don’t think it would have the same effect as a summer’s evening and summer’s sunset.

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