Open mic at The Swiss Restaurant is open to all genres of talent but mostly attracts musicians. Parking is on the street and it is paid until 8pm, $1.50 for 90 minutes. The room is run by a gentleman named Chuck, and it’s been going on for 4 years. In as much as children are allowed on the property till 8:30pm, Chuck asked me to keep it PG-13 at most and certainly don’t say f**k. Talent gets 15 minutes, and there are 12 slots total, the room going till 10pm. Signup is first come first served. The business obviously offers food: sharables like flatbread or tacos, sandwiches, salads, and entrees like fried oyster or fish and chips, which is what I had (very good). But what amazed me about this restaurant was just how monumental this place is. Where the bar is located near the entrance, there was upstairs seating in addition to a number of tables downstairs. Then around the corner, deeper into the room, it opens up to where the mic takes place, easily seating about 80. The stage is big and elevated, well lit, with a reasonably good sound system. A brick wall is the backdrop one sees while talent performs. Then there is a third room where activities like pool, shuffleboard, skeet ball, darts and more take place. There are 3 TVs on in the area where the mic happens, but they are not a distraction. I do advise, however, if you want to enjoy the show to sit in the forward half of the room. Chuck told me on a good night they’ll get 10 signups. I arrived at 6pm, and there was already one name on the list. I took the second spot. We had 6 signups by 6:50pm. Beers are $6 a pint, and I ordered one, supporting the business, while waiting for the room to begin. The room started at 7:06pm with 9 people in the room, increasing to 14 by 7:15pm. When I went up second I performed for 18 people in the room scattered about, including in the third room, where one table had 6 people sitting, and they were eyeing me around the corner. Some people sat quite close to the stage, others further back, and some way in the back, occasionally looking at me, but they weren’t that interested. I did the full 15 minutes because I could. A second comedian – and the only other one for the night – went up after me, and during his set he mouthed F this and F that and did some R-rated material. I later found out Chuck did not warn the comedian about language and took responsibility for it, leaving the talent alone and not embarrassing him. I appreciated that. Fortunately, there were no children present the whole evening. For the rest of the night we got to enjoy some rockin’ music, some doing instruments, others performing to music on their phones hooked up to the system. Chuck was very accommodating with the talent’s needs. We ended up having 15 signups total and 15 people in the room by 8:15pm. Attendance peaked with 19 by 9pm and 17 by 9:30. We had 8 people in the room total when the last performer went up at 10pm. Guys, I won’t kid you. If you are new to standup, this room is not for you. I had to be on my game just to keep their attention, so used to music this room is. I got the occasional audible laugh, even an individual applause break a couple of times, but mostly the room just looked at me, sometimes nodding, sometimes smiling. I felt I did okay, but, wow, I would not want to do this room if I was a beginner. For a more seasoned comedian, I’d say give this room one night of your life. Fifteen minutes is a good amount of stage time, and if you want a challenge, this is a room to do. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good room. There is support; people are respecting the talent on stage by listening. They aren’t sitting there with their arms folded, judging you. I’m just suggesting that approval in that room is based more on getting people just to watch you, see what you have to offer next, than outright yuck yuck laughs, joke after joke. People commented to me after my set that they liked it, even made a FB friend from my set. It’s just that during the set, you’ll have a different experience.
Open mic at The Swiss Restaurant is open to all genres of talent but mostly attracts musicians. Parking is on the street and it is paid until 8pm, $1.50 for 90 minutes. The room is run by a gentleman named Chuck, and it’s been going on for 4 years. In as much as children are allowed on the property till 8:30pm, Chuck asked me to keep it PG-13 at most and certainly don’t say f**k. Talent gets 15 minutes, and there are 12 slots total, the room going till 10pm. Signup is first come first served.
ReplyDeleteThe business obviously offers food: sharables like flatbread or tacos, sandwiches, salads, and entrees like fried oyster or fish and chips, which is what I had (very good). But what amazed me about this restaurant was just how monumental this place is. Where the bar is located near the entrance, there was upstairs seating in addition to a number of tables downstairs. Then around the corner, deeper into the room, it opens up to where the mic takes place, easily seating about 80. The stage is big and elevated, well lit, with a reasonably good sound system. A brick wall is the backdrop one sees while talent performs. Then there is a third room where activities like pool, shuffleboard, skeet ball, darts and more take place. There are 3 TVs on in the area where the mic happens, but they are not a distraction. I do advise, however, if you want to enjoy the show to sit in the forward half of the room.
Chuck told me on a good night they’ll get 10 signups. I arrived at 6pm, and there was already one name on the list. I took the second spot. We had 6 signups by 6:50pm.
Beers are $6 a pint, and I ordered one, supporting the business, while waiting for the room to begin. The room started at 7:06pm with 9 people in the room, increasing to 14 by 7:15pm. When I went up second I performed for 18 people in the room scattered about, including in the third room, where one table had 6 people sitting, and they were eyeing me around the corner. Some people sat quite close to the stage, others further back, and some way in the back, occasionally looking at me, but they weren’t that interested. I did the full 15 minutes because I could.
A second comedian – and the only other one for the night – went up after me, and during his set he mouthed F this and F that and did some R-rated material. I later found out Chuck did not warn the comedian about language and took responsibility for it, leaving the talent alone and not embarrassing him. I appreciated that. Fortunately, there were no children present the whole evening.
For the rest of the night we got to enjoy some rockin’ music, some doing instruments, others performing to music on their phones hooked up to the system. Chuck was very accommodating with the talent’s needs.
We ended up having 15 signups total and 15 people in the room by 8:15pm. Attendance peaked with 19 by 9pm and 17 by 9:30. We had 8 people in the room total when the last performer went up at 10pm.
Guys, I won’t kid you. If you are new to standup, this room is not for you. I had to be on my game just to keep their attention, so used to music this room is. I got the occasional audible laugh, even an individual applause break a couple of times, but mostly the room just looked at me, sometimes nodding, sometimes smiling. I felt I did okay, but, wow, I would not want to do this room if I was a beginner. For a more seasoned comedian, I’d say give this room one night of your life. Fifteen minutes is a good amount of stage time, and if you want a challenge, this is a room to do.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good room. There is support; people are respecting the talent on stage by listening. They aren’t sitting there with their arms folded, judging you. I’m just suggesting that approval in that room is based more on getting people just to watch you, see what you have to offer next, than outright yuck yuck laughs, joke after joke. People commented to me after my set that they liked it, even made a FB friend from my set. It’s just that during the set, you’ll have a different experience.