Touch A' Class is an urban bar. Of all the talent performing, I was the only Caucasian. Of all the audience that I saw – and there were over 60 – there were maybe two Caucasians and a couple of Asian women. The venue takes place in a second, larger room geared for open mic. They have a second bar there, and you can order food like hamburgers and chicken or catfish nuggets, wings and appetizers. They also offered bags of chips behind the counter at the main bar. They have one mic set up on a platform stage. Seating is, of course, arranged so everyone faces the stage. Andre runs the room, quite the friendly gentleman. It was my first time there, and he was very good about telling me where talent was supposed to sit, and gave me advance notice where in the lineup I was. (I went up second.) The room is meant for comedy, but once in a while they get a poet or musician or spoken word artist, but it doesn’t happen often. There are no language restrictions. They had a DJ playing music as talent went on and off stage, and he also doubles as the sound guy, which came in handy when I went up. Open mic there has been going on ten years, and I can understand why. While the bar is a full bar, there was nothing on tap. All beer came in bottles. The business has its own parking lot, but given the size of the audience, the lot fills up fast, so I recommend coming early to get a spot. The room where open mic takes place seats around 80, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve maxed out before. This room rocks. Talent gets three to five minutes. There is no signup sheet. Just tell Andre you’re there to perform, give him your name, and he’s very good about remembering when you approached him and puts you up accordingly. Andre opened with about ten minutes on stage, told everyone in the room the rules – mostly to not talk while talent is on stage and be respectful (cell phones on vibrate or mute) -- then he brought up the first comedian. Between his enthusiasm and the DJ blasting away, the energy was high in the room. The first talent was not as boisterous as Andre, and that may have worked against him. I became concerned, because my persona on stage is intentionally not dynamic in that I am not very animated with my body language nor am I loud when talking into the mic. When I finished my first joke, although I heard some laughs, someone in the audience said audibly they couldn’t hear me. I answered, “Talk to the sound guy,” and it was only a second or two later that the DJ amped up the mic to accommodate me. Guys, I have to say I had one of my best sets in recent history. I did about five minutes, getting the light at four. Admittedly the audience wasn’t used to my humor, and even Andre remarked after my set something like I was a methodical comedian, as though I had studied method acting, which got a laugh. As I stayed to support the other talent, Andre did once have to remind the room to be respectful and not talk, but that was mostly because the door to the first room where there were pool tables and a lot of noise going on, was open and it filtered into the open mic room. Still, I enthusiastically recommend doing this room. Andre is a great host and the room, as full of energy as it was, had an audience that was very supportive. You know they came for comedy, and they did appreciate any and all the talent that graced Andre’s stage.
Touch A' Class is an urban bar. Of all the talent performing, I was the only Caucasian. Of all the audience that I saw – and there were over 60 – there were maybe two Caucasians and a couple of Asian women. The venue takes place in a second, larger room geared for open mic. They have a second bar there, and you can order food like hamburgers and chicken or catfish nuggets, wings and appetizers. They also offered bags of chips behind the counter at the main bar. They have one mic set up on a platform stage. Seating is, of course, arranged so everyone faces the stage.
ReplyDeleteAndre runs the room, quite the friendly gentleman. It was my first time there, and he was very good about telling me where talent was supposed to sit, and gave me advance notice where in the lineup I was. (I went up second.) The room is meant for comedy, but once in a while they get a poet or musician or spoken word artist, but it doesn’t happen often. There are no language restrictions. They had a DJ playing music as talent went on and off stage, and he also doubles as the sound guy, which came in handy when I went up. Open mic there has been going on ten years, and I can understand why.
While the bar is a full bar, there was nothing on tap. All beer came in bottles. The business has its own parking lot, but given the size of the audience, the lot fills up fast, so I recommend coming early to get a spot. The room where open mic takes place seats around 80, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve maxed out before. This room rocks.
Talent gets three to five minutes. There is no signup sheet. Just tell Andre you’re there to perform, give him your name, and he’s very good about remembering when you approached him and puts you up accordingly.
Andre opened with about ten minutes on stage, told everyone in the room the rules – mostly to not talk while talent is on stage and be respectful (cell phones on vibrate or mute) -- then he brought up the first comedian. Between his enthusiasm and the DJ blasting away, the energy was high in the room. The first talent was not as boisterous as Andre, and that may have worked against him. I became concerned, because my persona on stage is intentionally not dynamic in that I am not very animated with my body language nor am I loud when talking into the mic. When I finished my first joke, although I heard some laughs, someone in the audience said audibly they couldn’t hear me. I answered, “Talk to the sound guy,” and it was only a second or two later that the DJ amped up the mic to accommodate me.
Guys, I have to say I had one of my best sets in recent history. I did about five minutes, getting the light at four. Admittedly the audience wasn’t used to my humor, and even Andre remarked after my set something like I was a methodical comedian, as though I had studied method acting, which got a laugh. As I stayed to support the other talent, Andre did once have to remind the room to be respectful and not talk, but that was mostly because the door to the first room where there were pool tables and a lot of noise going on, was open and it filtered into the open mic room. Still, I enthusiastically recommend doing this room. Andre is a great host and the room, as full of energy as it was, had an audience that was very supportive. You know they came for comedy, and they did appreciate any and all the talent that graced Andre’s stage.