Open mic at Gold Spike has been going on since March of 2017 and is run by a gentleman names Sal. He himself does not host or perform, but he runs the sound system, and plays the role of DJ, jamming tunes before the show and between acts. Parking is on the street and it’ll cost you $4 for two hours. Open mic takes place outside Gold Spike in their courtyard, which is filled with recreational games, including tether ball, ping pong, and a large chess board that you have to pick up the pieces and walk them to their spot, so big is “the board”. But where open mic takes place, they have a nice stage, and the sound system is awesome. While spread out, the place seats over 70. Gold Spike is a full bar, but I was unhappy to get beer served in a plastic cup (and not the big ones you’d put a slurpie in) for $7. I switched to bottled beer after that. There is an adjoining business in the same building that serves appetizers, salads, pizzas, sandwiches and burgers. Some desserts, too. Signup starts at 7pm and goes till 8pm, then the show starts. The lineup is done by lottery. All genres of talent are welcome. There are no language restrictions. Talent who bring guests get 10 minutes. All other talent gets 5. However, and Sal told me this, if it’s a slow night, you’ll get more time. Sure enough, I got more. They have a raffle for free drinks, pulling 2 tickets each time it was done. The room can go till as late as 11pm. Sure enough, the evening started late: 8:27pm. Before the night began, staff started to set up the outside bar, so it made getting drinks easy, and you didn’t have to miss any of the show. While Sal worked the sound system, he also tapes every act, and with your permission, they put it on their YouTube. It’s exposure, right? I say go for it. The evening was hosted by 2 animated people. They identified themselves as Asia Jade and MP Art, if I heard them correctly. There were heating lamps on, but some of the seating doesn’t enjoy the effects of the lamp, so I was glad I had my windbreaker on. It’s early November; it’s getting cold at night in Vegas. There were 19 people total, myself included, when the room started. However, 2 of them were security, 1 was the bartender still setting up, 2 were our hosts, then there was the producer Sal, and of the remaining people 2 were not paying attention but playing a game on the grounds. I went up second and played to maybe 18. I was told during the summer this room was busy, but with the cooler temperatures, it has thinned some over the last couple weeks. As the evening went on, hotel guests came out, some to enjoy the show, but most to play games and order drinks. Sal never game me the light. I got myself off at probably 10 minutes, not wanting to go over. Sal ended up letting people do three songs, which is more than 10. We only had maybe 5 signups, and the evening ended about 10pm. The first raffle draw took place just after 9pm followed by an intermission. I think Sal was hoping more talent would show. Sure enough, they did. The open mic began again at 9:27pm with 2 more raffle draws. After which, the next talent went up. Sal told me in all the months they’ve had this mic, I was maybe the 3rd or 4th comedian they ever had. There was one more raffle draw, and I won the second one, earning a comped drink. Guys, this is a good room. It’s still relatively new, so I can see why the comedy community in Las Vegas hasn’t discovered this gem. I hope that will change. I could picture this mic during the summer, and with the outside bar, a huge crowd milling around and enjoying the mic. For a comedian, believe me, you’re going to be heard. Hell, the people around the corner of the building could hear the open mic, so booming were the speakers. If you perform during the warmer months and don’t bring a guest, you may not get as much stage time as I did, so it’s a toss up whether you’d rather play to a big crowd but with less time than playing to a smaller crowd in the winter but getting the full ten minutes.
Open mic at Gold Spike has been going on since March of 2017 and is run by a gentleman names Sal. He himself does not host or perform, but he runs the sound system, and plays the role of DJ, jamming tunes before the show and between acts.
ReplyDeleteParking is on the street and it’ll cost you $4 for two hours. Open mic takes place outside Gold Spike in their courtyard, which is filled with recreational games, including tether ball, ping pong, and a large chess board that you have to pick up the pieces and walk them to their spot, so big is “the board”. But where open mic takes place, they have a nice stage, and the sound system is awesome. While spread out, the place seats over 70. Gold Spike is a full bar, but I was unhappy to get beer served in a plastic cup (and not the big ones you’d put a slurpie in) for $7. I switched to bottled beer after that. There is an adjoining business in the same building that serves appetizers, salads, pizzas, sandwiches and burgers. Some desserts, too.
Signup starts at 7pm and goes till 8pm, then the show starts. The lineup is done by lottery. All genres of talent are welcome. There are no language restrictions. Talent who bring guests get 10 minutes. All other talent gets 5. However, and Sal told me this, if it’s a slow night, you’ll get more time. Sure enough, I got more. They have a raffle for free drinks, pulling 2 tickets each time it was done. The room can go till as late as 11pm.
Sure enough, the evening started late: 8:27pm. Before the night began, staff started to set up the outside bar, so it made getting drinks easy, and you didn’t have to miss any of the show. While Sal worked the sound system, he also tapes every act, and with your permission, they put it on their YouTube. It’s exposure, right? I say go for it. The evening was hosted by 2 animated people. They identified themselves as Asia Jade and MP Art, if I heard them correctly. There were heating lamps on, but some of the seating doesn’t enjoy the effects of the lamp, so I was glad I had my windbreaker on. It’s early November; it’s getting cold at night in Vegas.
There were 19 people total, myself included, when the room started. However, 2 of them were security, 1 was the bartender still setting up, 2 were our hosts, then there was the producer Sal, and of the remaining people 2 were not paying attention but playing a game on the grounds. I went up second and played to maybe 18. I was told during the summer this room was busy, but with the cooler temperatures, it has thinned some over the last couple weeks. As the evening went on, hotel guests came out, some to enjoy the show, but most to play games and order drinks.
Sal never game me the light. I got myself off at probably 10 minutes, not wanting to go over. Sal ended up letting people do three songs, which is more than 10. We only had maybe 5 signups, and the evening ended about 10pm. The first raffle draw took place just after 9pm followed by an intermission. I think Sal was hoping more talent would show. Sure enough, they did. The open mic began again at 9:27pm with 2 more raffle draws. After which, the next talent went up. Sal told me in all the months they’ve had this mic, I was maybe the 3rd or 4th comedian they ever had. There was one more raffle draw, and I won the second one, earning a comped drink.
Guys, this is a good room. It’s still relatively new, so I can see why the comedy community in Las Vegas hasn’t discovered this gem. I hope that will change. I could picture this mic during the summer, and with the outside bar, a huge crowd milling around and enjoying the mic. For a comedian, believe me, you’re going to be heard. Hell, the people around the corner of the building could hear the open mic, so booming were the speakers. If you perform during the warmer months and don’t bring a guest, you may not get as much stage time as I did, so it’s a toss up whether you’d rather play to a big crowd but with less time than playing to a smaller crowd in the winter but getting the full ten minutes.