Open mic at Culture Café is one of two mics that I know the host, Chuck, runs. Parking is on the street and it’s free. The signup sheet comes out at 6pm. Talent can email or message host, or sign up by showing up, which is what I did. While this is a weekly event, know that the first Sunday of June, September, December and March is Lady’s Night, so open mic is only for women to perform. Men can attend to watch and support. Every other week and month, all talent is welcomed, as are all expressions of art, though mostly this room attracts musicians. In fact, in all the history of Culture Café, only two other comedians have performed on this stage, and this room has been going on a year and a half. There were already three names on the signup sheet when I arrived at 6:45pm. There are 13 slots with talent getting 15 minutes each, with the sixth spot designated for a featured act who does one hour, then open mic resumes. The room goes till 11pm. If you go up before 10pm, you have to do clean comedy. After 10pm, then blue humor is more accepted. Signup is first come first choice. There is no stage, but where talent performs, the area is elevated by two small steps onto a concrete floor. The staging area holds three mics. The business itself serves $5 pints, $4 during Happy Hour, which ends at 6pm but starts again at 10pm. Other than being a full bar, the place also serves salads, sandwiches, a couple of soups and small bites. Pretty much comfort food. The whole room seats just over 60. I took the second spot, 7:30pm, because I could not commit to staying the whole evening as I had an early flight the next day. There are no TVs to distract the audience, and a tip jar is placed at the base of the stage. Any money collected typically goes to the featured artist. Chuck opened with a couple of songs. Sometimes the room can start at 7pm if a lot of people have signed up. But tonight, with the small list of signups we had, Chuck started the room at 7:30pm. There were 15 people in the room, not counting the bartender. Attendance had increased to 20 by 7:40pm but dropped to 12 in the room by 8:15pm. Though Chuck was good about introducing me as a special guest who will be doing standup, anyone not there for the open mic did not seem to be interested regardless. What people who did pay attention, I think they had a good time. One gentleman by the bar especially seemed to like me. Chuck warned me that comedy has never gone well in this room, but based on the audience’s and Chuck’s reaction, I think I broke that stigma. Guys, this is a good room. Attendance is normally higher, both in signups and general audience, but what people that were there were respectful enough to whisper if they weren’t interested in the show. The people who did listen had a good time, and with 15 minutes on stage, I was thankful to have performed. It may be a daunting task to win the whole room over, but those paying attention will be with you for the duration. Chuck is a good host and encourages all people to explore their creativity on his stage. There are other rooms in the Bellingham area, so one can easily spend a night or two while getting stage time at these venues north of Seattle.
Open mic at Culture Café is one of two mics that I know the host, Chuck, runs. Parking is on the street and it’s free. The signup sheet comes out at 6pm. Talent can email or message host, or sign up by showing up, which is what I did. While this is a weekly event, know that the first Sunday of June, September, December and March is Lady’s Night, so open mic is only for women to perform. Men can attend to watch and support. Every other week and month, all talent is welcomed, as are all expressions of art, though mostly this room attracts musicians. In fact, in all the history of Culture Café, only two other comedians have performed on this stage, and this room has been going on a year and a half.
ReplyDeleteThere were already three names on the signup sheet when I arrived at 6:45pm. There are 13 slots with talent getting 15 minutes each, with the sixth spot designated for a featured act who does one hour, then open mic resumes. The room goes till 11pm. If you go up before 10pm, you have to do clean comedy. After 10pm, then blue humor is more accepted. Signup is first come first choice. There is no stage, but where talent performs, the area is elevated by two small steps onto a concrete floor. The staging area holds three mics.
The business itself serves $5 pints, $4 during Happy Hour, which ends at 6pm but starts again at 10pm. Other than being a full bar, the place also serves salads, sandwiches, a couple of soups and small bites. Pretty much comfort food. The whole room seats just over 60. I took the second spot, 7:30pm, because I could not commit to staying the whole evening as I had an early flight the next day. There are no TVs to distract the audience, and a tip jar is placed at the base of the stage. Any money collected typically goes to the featured artist.
Chuck opened with a couple of songs. Sometimes the room can start at 7pm if a lot of people have signed up. But tonight, with the small list of signups we had, Chuck started the room at 7:30pm. There were 15 people in the room, not counting the bartender. Attendance had increased to 20 by 7:40pm but dropped to 12 in the room by 8:15pm. Though Chuck was good about introducing me as a special guest who will be doing standup, anyone not there for the open mic did not seem to be interested regardless. What people who did pay attention, I think they had a good time. One gentleman by the bar especially seemed to like me. Chuck warned me that comedy has never gone well in this room, but based on the audience’s and Chuck’s reaction, I think I broke that stigma.
Guys, this is a good room. Attendance is normally higher, both in signups and general audience, but what people that were there were respectful enough to whisper if they weren’t interested in the show. The people who did listen had a good time, and with 15 minutes on stage, I was thankful to have performed. It may be a daunting task to win the whole room over, but those paying attention will be with you for the duration. Chuck is a good host and encourages all people to explore their creativity on his stage.
There are other rooms in the Bellingham area, so one can easily spend a night or two while getting stage time at these venues north of Seattle.