Open mic at Seahold is a once a month room. The place looks like an empty church. There is no stage, but three stools are placed where the pastor would normally stand to give a sermon. There is no mic, although there is a piano to one side of the staging area, and it got plenty of use the night I was there. Open to all genres of talent, this room has been going on 26 years, one of the longest running mics I have known. Talent gets one (sometimes two) songs or four minutes. I was given five minutes because I was visiting from out of state and doing standup. There are no language restrictions, but the night I was there, there were a couple youngsters, so use your discretion. The room is not run by any one person. Jennifer manned the concession table – bottled water, cookies, coffee, tea and more; Emily was the woman from whom I learned about the room when I emailed the venue, and she was a performer that night, as well; a gentleman named David emceed. I learned they pay a rental fee to have this monthly room. Talent gets a comped food or drink. There is a separate donation jar that goes entirely to the featured act who performs after the open mic ends. About 56 collapsible, metal chairs were placed in five rows, all facing the stage area. As much as this room has expanded over the years, the night I performed, they were trying a new system to determine the lineup. Signup is from 7 to 7:20pm. Names are put in a cloth bag then drawn. A list is placed at the signup table, and our emcee announced at the beginning the lineup and whether talent got one or two songs. I ended up getting the fourth spot. The room started at 7:32pm. I counted 27 people in the room when David read the list. By the time I went up at 8pm, I played to 36 people. The room continued to 8:30 when we took a ten minute break. Seven signups had gone up by that time. I counted 13 signups total. Sitting in the room I noted the audience was for the most part an older crowd, 50 plus. After the break I counted 34 people, so mostly everyone stayed to the end. The featured act did 30 minutes, and the whole evening ended at 10pm. Guys, this is a good room to do. Five minutes is not bad, though the drive or ferry ride to get to Bainbridge Island is a bit of an investment. Seattle-based comics may be reluctant to make the journey, but comics in the Tacoma area may consider the drive. If you’re visiting from out of state, you can find quite a few mics west of Puget Sound, enough to keep you busy pretty much every night, and with this monthly room, even Saturday. The audience is very receptive to standup, I pleasantly found that out, and spending the night in the smaller towns rather than the crazy-busy Seattle was a bit of a break. Most of the people attending knew one another. There was such a communal feel to the room. You will be well received at Seahold, I can promise you that.
Open mic at Seahold is a once a month room. The place looks like an empty church. There is no stage, but three stools are placed where the pastor would normally stand to give a sermon. There is no mic, although there is a piano to one side of the staging area, and it got plenty of use the night I was there. Open to all genres of talent, this room has been going on 26 years, one of the longest running mics I have known. Talent gets one (sometimes two) songs or four minutes. I was given five minutes because I was visiting from out of state and doing standup. There are no language restrictions, but the night I was there, there were a couple youngsters, so use your discretion.
ReplyDeleteThe room is not run by any one person. Jennifer manned the concession table – bottled water, cookies, coffee, tea and more; Emily was the woman from whom I learned about the room when I emailed the venue, and she was a performer that night, as well; a gentleman named David emceed. I learned they pay a rental fee to have this monthly room. Talent gets a comped food or drink. There is a separate donation jar that goes entirely to the featured act who performs after the open mic ends. About 56 collapsible, metal chairs were placed in five rows, all facing the stage area.
As much as this room has expanded over the years, the night I performed, they were trying a new system to determine the lineup. Signup is from 7 to 7:20pm. Names are put in a cloth bag then drawn. A list is placed at the signup table, and our emcee announced at the beginning the lineup and whether talent got one or two songs. I ended up getting the fourth spot.
The room started at 7:32pm. I counted 27 people in the room when David read the list. By the time I went up at 8pm, I played to 36 people. The room continued to 8:30 when we took a ten minute break. Seven signups had gone up by that time. I counted 13 signups total. Sitting in the room I noted the audience was for the most part an older crowd, 50 plus. After the break I counted 34 people, so mostly everyone stayed to the end. The featured act did 30 minutes, and the whole evening ended at 10pm.
Guys, this is a good room to do. Five minutes is not bad, though the drive or ferry ride to get to Bainbridge Island is a bit of an investment. Seattle-based comics may be reluctant to make the journey, but comics in the Tacoma area may consider the drive. If you’re visiting from out of state, you can find quite a few mics west of Puget Sound, enough to keep you busy pretty much every night, and with this monthly room, even Saturday. The audience is very receptive to standup, I pleasantly found that out, and spending the night in the smaller towns rather than the crazy-busy Seattle was a bit of a break. Most of the people attending knew one another. There was such a communal feel to the room. You will be well received at Seahold, I can promise you that.