This is a once a month event, so right off the top I have to say, take advantage of this room. It was the first of three I did on a Wednesday night in Seattle. Serendipity is a full bar and café. It serves appetizers, soup, salad, sandwiches and burgers. Typical café food. The room seats over 55, but with all the booths, half the seats don’t face the stage. I would say there are about 30 good seats to see the talent. The stage is a platform, located immediately to the right of the entrance. People who come in cross in front of some of the stage, but that’s okay. It won’t take away from your performance. People leaving the café are good about exiting between acts. Three mics stand proud on the stage, ready to receive what talent is ready to give it their all. Contrast to that, seven muted TVs adorned various walls in the room. Parking is on the street. This was an atypical night. Normally, Stacy, who runs the room, shows up at 6:30pm and you tell her what slot you want and she writes it on a signup board with an eraser pen. However, Stacy came late, so talent took the initiate to write their own names in, as the board was out on one of the tables. I saw someone had put their name on it, so I went ahead and put my name down, taking the 7:30pm to 7:45pm slot. By 6:38pm there were nine signups. Mostly, this room draws musicians, but all the arts are welcome. Stacy has been doing this room for a year and a half. I was told to keep it clean, though I did notice our host use the word f**k in one of her opening songs. I still kept it clean. The room goes till 10pm, and all the slots were filled before 7pm. We started the evening a little late, 7:08pm, with our host opening with a song. The TV nearest the stage was turned off. All others remained on but stayed muted. The stage was backlit, so the ability to see the artist’s face was not strong. There were 31 people in the room, half of which were paying attention to the mic. I was the only comedian in the room, as far as I knew. Everyone else was there to play and hear music. My set went well enough. I did about ten minutes. During my set both Stacy and her sound guy fiddled with the sound system, trying to make it sound well, which affected my performance. Sometimes there was an echo; sometimes the mic became hot. That, and for any comedian, not being well lit may take away from you connecting with the audience. Patrons sitting relatively close could see me well enough. Those further back, not so well. Guys, this is a good room, worth doing. I pretty much left after that, because I had two more rooms I wanted to squeeze in. As early as I arrived to the second venue, I could have stayed through two more artists and still have made it in good time to the second venue. While the stage is not the most conducive for standup, do this room anyway. The audience who are there to perform and/or just enjoy the show, do watch. People watched the musicians, and they will watch you. Stacy is a good host (I met her at another venue the week before), and her demeanor, like her room, is very inviting. Make it a stellar evening of open mic, starting with this warm and welcoming room.
This is a once a month event, so right off the top I have to say, take advantage of this room. It was the first of three I did on a Wednesday night in Seattle.
ReplyDeleteSerendipity is a full bar and café. It serves appetizers, soup, salad, sandwiches and burgers. Typical café food. The room seats over 55, but with all the booths, half the seats don’t face the stage. I would say there are about 30 good seats to see the talent. The stage is a platform, located immediately to the right of the entrance. People who come in cross in front of some of the stage, but that’s okay. It won’t take away from your performance. People leaving the café are good about exiting between acts. Three mics stand proud on the stage, ready to receive what talent is ready to give it their all. Contrast to that, seven muted TVs adorned various walls in the room. Parking is on the street.
This was an atypical night. Normally, Stacy, who runs the room, shows up at 6:30pm and you tell her what slot you want and she writes it on a signup board with an eraser pen. However, Stacy came late, so talent took the initiate to write their own names in, as the board was out on one of the tables. I saw someone had put their name on it, so I went ahead and put my name down, taking the 7:30pm to 7:45pm slot. By 6:38pm there were nine signups. Mostly, this room draws musicians, but all the arts are welcome. Stacy has been doing this room for a year and a half. I was told to keep it clean, though I did notice our host use the word f**k in one of her opening songs. I still kept it clean.
The room goes till 10pm, and all the slots were filled before 7pm. We started the evening a little late, 7:08pm, with our host opening with a song. The TV nearest the stage was turned off. All others remained on but stayed muted. The stage was backlit, so the ability to see the artist’s face was not strong. There were 31 people in the room, half of which were paying attention to the mic.
I was the only comedian in the room, as far as I knew. Everyone else was there to play and hear music. My set went well enough. I did about ten minutes. During my set both Stacy and her sound guy fiddled with the sound system, trying to make it sound well, which affected my performance. Sometimes there was an echo; sometimes the mic became hot. That, and for any comedian, not being well lit may take away from you connecting with the audience. Patrons sitting relatively close could see me well enough. Those further back, not so well.
Guys, this is a good room, worth doing. I pretty much left after that, because I had two more rooms I wanted to squeeze in. As early as I arrived to the second venue, I could have stayed through two more artists and still have made it in good time to the second venue.
While the stage is not the most conducive for standup, do this room anyway. The audience who are there to perform and/or just enjoy the show, do watch. People watched the musicians, and they will watch you. Stacy is a good host (I met her at another venue the week before), and her demeanor, like her room, is very inviting. Make it a stellar evening of open mic, starting with this warm and welcoming room.