Catfish Coffeehouse is 1 of 3 open mics found in the Clearlake area in Northern California. While the business does not serve alcohol, it does offer smoothies, shakes, coffee & tea, and serves Panini, salads, hot dogs, veggie burgers and breakfast sandwiches. Catfish has its own parking lot, and inside, the place seats about 17. When I arrived at 6:30, the signup sheet had not come out yet. No one else was there to signup, so my name stood solo in the number 2 spot on a list of 18. The room goes from 7pm to 9pm, but there have been times it’s gone past that. All genres of talent are welcome, but I would later learn I was the first comedian they ever had since the current host took over. In its history, open mic has been going on for 10 years, but our host, Chris, has been emceeing for 2. It’s first come first choice, but Chris told me he likes to mix it up, even though they chiefly attract musicians and sometimes poets. That was fine by me. I ended up going third at about 7:30pm, so it all went well. Better, even, in that more audience came into the coffeehouse as the evening went on. There were 7 audience members when Chris opened with his guitar and singing, and 2 staff worked the counter. By 7:15, the audience had more than doubled to 16. There are no language restrictions, but if you’re going to use the word f**k, don’t do it in excess. Two mics are set up to one side of the room. There is no stage or platform, but as small as the room was, it did not matter. To get to the bathroom, however, you have to go through a door just off to one side of “the stage” and that can be distracting. Wait till between talent to come and go, if you don’t want to bring attention to yourself. The evening went splendid. After the second open micer finished, from the main mic Chris asked if I wanted to go next. I performed for 10 minutes, and, wow, did the room go crazy. It was great. I stopped myself, not knowing how much stage time talent gets, and I was told to keep going, so I did another ten. After my set I noticed other talent also varying their amount of stage time. After a song, someone in the audience would yell, “Do another,” and the talent obliged. Other talent only did a couple of songs and purposefully got off. I came to realize how much a familial quality this room has, as, like the 80s TV series Cheers, “everybody knows your name.” Even as the one outsider that no one knew, I was well received and welcomed wholeheartedly. After the performance Chris said I should come back and he’d promote me, if I gave him advance notice. There can be some downtime as talent sets up their instrument, especially if more than one person is playing, but that did not deter from all the positive this room offers. Since everyone knew each other, they were very forgiving, letting talent set up accordingly. Enormously supportive room. I can’t be emphatic about that enough. Guys, this room is starving for quality standup. While predominantly a music venue, and with good reason, as the local talent rocked that I saw while I was there, variety matters. I’ll confess, Clearlake is a bit out of the way from many major metropolitan areas. I drove almost an hour and a half from the moderate city of Santa Rosa, which is 47 miles north of San Francisco, so far removed are these venues in the Clearlake area. But if you’re a nature lover, like to visit the Petrified Forest, Old Faithful, commune with nature either in the woods or on the lake, you can expect to do a few open mics in the days you are here, if you plan accordingly. Not far away are other open mics in Calistoga, Sonoma, Napa and more. Sure, it’s a bit out of the mainstream, but some of the best rooms, you’ll agree, are those not prominent on the map. This is one worth worth the drive.
Catfish Coffeehouse is 1 of 3 open mics found in the Clearlake area in Northern California. While the business does not serve alcohol, it does offer smoothies, shakes, coffee & tea, and serves Panini, salads, hot dogs, veggie burgers and breakfast sandwiches. Catfish has its own parking lot, and inside, the place seats about 17.
ReplyDeleteWhen I arrived at 6:30, the signup sheet had not come out yet. No one else was there to signup, so my name stood solo in the number 2 spot on a list of 18. The room goes from 7pm to 9pm, but there have been times it’s gone past that. All genres of talent are welcome, but I would later learn I was the first comedian they ever had since the current host took over. In its history, open mic has been going on for 10 years, but our host, Chris, has been emceeing for 2. It’s first come first choice, but Chris told me he likes to mix it up, even though they chiefly attract musicians and sometimes poets. That was fine by me. I ended up going third at about 7:30pm, so it all went well. Better, even, in that more audience came into the coffeehouse as the evening went on.
There were 7 audience members when Chris opened with his guitar and singing, and 2 staff worked the counter. By 7:15, the audience had more than doubled to 16. There are no language restrictions, but if you’re going to use the word f**k, don’t do it in excess. Two mics are set up to one side of the room. There is no stage or platform, but as small as the room was, it did not matter. To get to the bathroom, however, you have to go through a door just off to one side of “the stage” and that can be distracting. Wait till between talent to come and go, if you don’t want to bring attention to yourself.
The evening went splendid. After the second open micer finished, from the main mic Chris asked if I wanted to go next. I performed for 10 minutes, and, wow, did the room go crazy. It was great. I stopped myself, not knowing how much stage time talent gets, and I was told to keep going, so I did another ten. After my set I noticed other talent also varying their amount of stage time. After a song, someone in the audience would yell, “Do another,” and the talent obliged. Other talent only did a couple of songs and purposefully got off. I came to realize how much a familial quality this room has, as, like the 80s TV series Cheers, “everybody knows your name.” Even as the one outsider that no one knew, I was well received and welcomed wholeheartedly. After the performance Chris said I should come back and he’d promote me, if I gave him advance notice.
There can be some downtime as talent sets up their instrument, especially if more than one person is playing, but that did not deter from all the positive this room offers. Since everyone knew each other, they were very forgiving, letting talent set up accordingly. Enormously supportive room. I can’t be emphatic about that enough.
Guys, this room is starving for quality standup. While predominantly a music venue, and with good reason, as the local talent rocked that I saw while I was there, variety matters. I’ll confess, Clearlake is a bit out of the way from many major metropolitan areas. I drove almost an hour and a half from the moderate city of Santa Rosa, which is 47 miles north of San Francisco, so far removed are these venues in the Clearlake area. But if you’re a nature lover, like to visit the Petrified Forest, Old Faithful, commune with nature either in the woods or on the lake, you can expect to do a few open mics in the days you are here, if you plan accordingly. Not far away are other open mics in Calistoga, Sonoma, Napa and more. Sure, it’s a bit out of the mainstream, but some of the best rooms, you’ll agree, are those not prominent on the map.
This is one worth worth the drive.