Run by a woman named Bri Blue, this venue called Speak Easy Open Mic has been going on for about three and a half years. All genres of talent are welcome. The doors open at 7pm, signup is 7:30, show starts at 8pm, and talent cannot sign up after 8:30pm. Bri mixes the talent, so don’t take a spot thinking you’re going to perform then. I signed up fourth, went up third. There are no language restrictions, and talent gets four minutes. Located in a theater, open mic takes place in the lobby near the bar. Chairs are set up in rows, three chairs per row. About 24 seats in all. But there are additional chairs, if necessary. They have an open bar, which features a limited alcoholic selection, wine, and hard cider. Non-alcoholic beverages are also offered. In addition, they offer make your own tacos. There is a five dollar admission fee, but the bar doesn’t insist on a price for drinks. Rather, they present a Tip Jar and ask the drinker to make a contribution. My suggestion: don’t be cheap. A DJ started playing music close to 7pm. The signup sheet actually came out early, about 7:10pm. The bar opened 7:15. We started just after 8pm. There were 17 people in the room, a mixture of talent and general audience. I noticed I was the only Caucasian in the room, and mostly the audience was women. I like doing the urban rooms. I’ve never had a bad experience yet. Bri welcomed everyone, thanked them for coming out, and asked for volunteers to go first. Two people did, then Bri chose from the signup sheet thereafter. She picked me, which was fine. By 8:35pm, the room had increased to 23, 29 by 9pm. The energy never abated the room. I was fortunate to perform the night I did. I was one of two comedians that night, and they were a very responsive audience. There were only 11 signups for the evening, yet the night went on till just after 11pm. While some talent did four minutes or less, I saw a number of talent do additional time. I, myself, did about five or six. I think if you’re rockin’ the room, they let you perform a little longer. Also, they may have a featured artist, but that’s not every week. Bri never let the room flounder in energy. Even towards the end of the night, 21 people were still on board, enjoying the show. Guys, this is a great room to do. Admittedly, four minutes goes by fast, but the audience is very good. While I was performing, I was interrupted a lot, but mostly it was because someone had something good to say about a joke I had just done. Still, internally, I could see the seconds ticking and wanted to delve more into my act before time ended. Maybe that's why I was given extra time. Certainly, I did not feel cheated. On the contrary. As often as I come to the Bay Area, I will be back.
Run by a woman named Bri Blue, this venue called Speak Easy Open Mic has been going on for about three and a half years. All genres of talent are welcome. The doors open at 7pm, signup is 7:30, show starts at 8pm, and talent cannot sign up after 8:30pm. Bri mixes the talent, so don’t take a spot thinking you’re going to perform then. I signed up fourth, went up third. There are no language restrictions, and talent gets four minutes.
ReplyDeleteLocated in a theater, open mic takes place in the lobby near the bar. Chairs are set up in rows, three chairs per row. About 24 seats in all. But there are additional chairs, if necessary. They have an open bar, which features a limited alcoholic selection, wine, and hard cider. Non-alcoholic beverages are also offered. In addition, they offer make your own tacos. There is a five dollar admission fee, but the bar doesn’t insist on a price for drinks. Rather, they present a Tip Jar and ask the drinker to make a contribution. My suggestion: don’t be cheap.
A DJ started playing music close to 7pm. The signup sheet actually came out early, about 7:10pm. The bar opened 7:15. We started just after 8pm. There were 17 people in the room, a mixture of talent and general audience. I noticed I was the only Caucasian in the room, and mostly the audience was women. I like doing the urban rooms. I’ve never had a bad experience yet.
Bri welcomed everyone, thanked them for coming out, and asked for volunteers to go first. Two people did, then Bri chose from the signup sheet thereafter. She picked me, which was fine. By 8:35pm, the room had increased to 23, 29 by 9pm. The energy never abated the room. I was fortunate to perform the night I did. I was one of two comedians that night, and they were a very responsive audience.
There were only 11 signups for the evening, yet the night went on till just after 11pm. While some talent did four minutes or less, I saw a number of talent do additional time. I, myself, did about five or six. I think if you’re rockin’ the room, they let you perform a little longer. Also, they may have a featured artist, but that’s not every week.
Bri never let the room flounder in energy. Even towards the end of the night, 21 people were still on board, enjoying the show.
Guys, this is a great room to do. Admittedly, four minutes goes by fast, but the audience is very good. While I was performing, I was interrupted a lot, but mostly it was because someone had something good to say about a joke I had just done. Still, internally, I could see the seconds ticking and wanted to delve more into my act before time ended. Maybe that's why I was given extra time. Certainly, I did not feel cheated. On the contrary.
As often as I come to the Bay Area, I will be back.