Open mic at Blu Elefant has gone through some changes over the three years since they started and what I first learned about the place when it began. The room used to be standup only and took place on the last Monday of the month and was run by two comics. As of this writing, the room is now weekly, is open to all genres of talent, and is run by a gentleman name Sebastian. Signup is first come first choice. Talent gets ten minutes. There are no language restrictions. The room goes from 8pm to 10:30 when Blu closes on open mic night. Parking is on the street, but it is free. Open mic takes place on a nice platform stage. Sebastian came in about 7:25pm and set up three mics and a good sound system, and the lighting is pretty good, too. The backdrop of the stage is vinyl records on the wall mixed with some artwork. The place seats about 38. There is additional seating, just not visible to the stage. The business serves coffee, teas and smoothies, mostly. To eat they have salads, wraps and sandwiches. I bought a smoothie for $6+. By 8pm the equipment and mics were good to go. Sebastian passed around a chalkboard that you write your name on. Even though I wrote my name second, I ended up going before the other person. We started the room about 8:05pm. There were 13 people total, including the host and the one staff working. I observed I was the only Caucasian. Sebastian spoke mostly Spanish into the mic. I picked up a fraction here and there and got that he welcomed everyone, told everyone there was going to be standup later, encouraged people to sign up, a bunch of other stuff, then he started to play and sing. In Spanish. I started to wonder if this was a mostly if not all Spanish speaking audience. I speak a second language, but it’s not Spanish. After a few songs, Sebastian looked to me and I nodded. He announced my name and what I was going to do. And I did. In English. It was a unique experience for me, I must say. I don’t want to make this review about me, but I will say this: if you speak Spanish, you’re going to do remarkably well in this room. If you speak English, you will have an attentive audience, but not necessarily a lot of laughs. I chose not to do any new material. Already questionable having not tried new jokes, I decided to mentally cherry pick jokes I knew were simple and did not require much imagination. I got a singular laugh from the host here and there, and my last joke got three or four people to chuckle, but mostly they just gave me their attention, some of them smiling at me at times. After five or six minutes, I got myself off. Attendance in the room stayed consistent. There were 13 in the room when I left at 9:10pm. Guys, this was a first for me. Not being in the minority, but performing for a room that is used to entertainment in Spanish. The poet after me apologized to me while on stage before starting her poetry, because she was going to say it in Spanish. Sebastian did more singing and guitar playing after that, with a second talent joining in on percussions. Again, if you speak Spanish, absolutely do this room. If your humor is basic English -- you don’t exercise a muscular vocabulary -- I think the audience got me for the most part and will get you as well. That I got laughs at the end told me they understood me. Perhaps my other material simply did not resonate with them. Do this room, anyway. Give yourself a new challenge, winning over a room simply by being understood. And if humor. . .if laughter is universal, the scales are already tipped in your favor.
Open mic at Blu Elefant has gone through some changes over the three years since they started and what I first learned about the place when it began. The room used to be standup only and took place on the last Monday of the month and was run by two comics. As of this writing, the room is now weekly, is open to all genres of talent, and is run by a gentleman name Sebastian. Signup is first come first choice. Talent gets ten minutes. There are no language restrictions. The room goes from 8pm to 10:30 when Blu closes on open mic night. Parking is on the street, but it is free.
ReplyDeleteOpen mic takes place on a nice platform stage. Sebastian came in about 7:25pm and set up three mics and a good sound system, and the lighting is pretty good, too. The backdrop of the stage is vinyl records on the wall mixed with some artwork. The place seats about 38. There is additional seating, just not visible to the stage. The business serves coffee, teas and smoothies, mostly. To eat they have salads, wraps and sandwiches. I bought a smoothie for $6+. By 8pm the equipment and mics were good to go. Sebastian passed around a chalkboard that you write your name on. Even though I wrote my name second, I ended up going before the other person.
We started the room about 8:05pm. There were 13 people total, including the host and the one staff working. I observed I was the only Caucasian.
Sebastian spoke mostly Spanish into the mic. I picked up a fraction here and there and got that he welcomed everyone, told everyone there was going to be standup later, encouraged people to sign up, a bunch of other stuff, then he started to play and sing. In Spanish. I started to wonder if this was a mostly if not all Spanish speaking audience. I speak a second language, but it’s not Spanish.
After a few songs, Sebastian looked to me and I nodded. He announced my name and what I was going to do. And I did. In English.
It was a unique experience for me, I must say. I don’t want to make this review about me, but I will say this: if you speak Spanish, you’re going to do remarkably well in this room. If you speak English, you will have an attentive audience, but not necessarily a lot of laughs. I chose not to do any new material. Already questionable having not tried new jokes, I decided to mentally cherry pick jokes I knew were simple and did not require much imagination. I got a singular laugh from the host here and there, and my last joke got three or four people to chuckle, but mostly they just gave me their attention, some of them smiling at me at times. After five or six minutes, I got myself off.
Attendance in the room stayed consistent. There were 13 in the room when I left at 9:10pm.
Guys, this was a first for me. Not being in the minority, but performing for a room that is used to entertainment in Spanish. The poet after me apologized to me while on stage before starting her poetry, because she was going to say it in Spanish. Sebastian did more singing and guitar playing after that, with a second talent joining in on percussions.
Again, if you speak Spanish, absolutely do this room. If your humor is basic English -- you don’t exercise a muscular vocabulary -- I think the audience got me for the most part and will get you as well. That I got laughs at the end told me they understood me. Perhaps my other material simply did not resonate with them. Do this room, anyway. Give yourself a new challenge, winning over a room simply by being understood.
And if humor. . .if laughter is universal, the scales are already tipped in your favor.