Open mic at Taradise is for standup only. The room has been going on ten months and is produced by a gentleman named James and hosted by another gentleman named Amani. Signup is first come first choice. There are no language restrictions. Talent gets five minutes, and you see your time is up by watching the timer that counts up at the immediate table James sits at. The business has a limited parking lot. Otherwise, parking on the street is free. The kitchen was closed the night I performed. On any other day they offer simple comfort food like burgers, sandwiches, salads and appetizers like wings, rings and nachos. Beers run $5.50 a pint or enjoy their full bar. For recreation, they offer a dart board and a pool table, none of which was used during the mic. Eight TVs play throughout the room, but when the mic starts, the five TVs not behind the bar counter are turned off. The platform stage is set up from portions leaning against the very wall the mic takes place, which is the center of the room to one side. It is quite elevated, and anyone in the room can see the stage fine. The whole place seats just over 60 who can see the stage. Seating in other parts of the room can not. There was an important basketball game that night. The mic would not take place until after the final score. The signup sheet came out just after 8pm. I took the fourth spot. The mic did not start till 9:23, almost an hour after it’s supposed to start. We had 37 people in the room when the room started. James opened with asking the room to keep the noise down and to respect those on stage. Then he brought up the emcee. During Amani’s opening routine, the noise did not die down. It wasn’t until the first comic went up that people started to focus on the stage. One side of the room, the side closest to the entrance, was more into talking among friends. I sat closer to those people than I did the part of the room focused on the show, but I could hear well enough because I was paying attention. I counted 39 people at 10:30pm. I also saw on the signup sheet we had nine signups by 10:30. After the last signup went up, the show ended with a booked headliner. He went up about 10:45pm. Attendance dropped slightly at that time: 32. The evening came to a close at 11:10pm. Guys, remember this room started terribly late, almost an hour. Everything would have started and ended that much earlier. This room beckons a “let’s start the weekend early,” doing five minutes and getting home in time for TGIF. There were more people there to watch the show than there were people wanting to perform. You can gauge your material better with a civilian crowd than anyone else. Both James and Amani are pleasant fellows, and I’m confident this room will continue for a long time. When the night ended, I helped James break the set down and thanked him. And I was thankful. I sat next to a guy who wasn’t even there for the mic, but I encouraged him to watch, talked about why I do standup, and before the night was over, he talked about going up himself one day when he can work up the courage. For me, that was the highlight of the night.
Open mic at Taradise is for standup only. The room has been going on ten months and is produced by a gentleman named James and hosted by another gentleman named Amani. Signup is first come first choice. There are no language restrictions. Talent gets five minutes, and you see your time is up by watching the timer that counts up at the immediate table James sits at.
ReplyDeleteThe business has a limited parking lot. Otherwise, parking on the street is free. The kitchen was closed the night I performed. On any other day they offer simple comfort food like burgers, sandwiches, salads and appetizers like wings, rings and nachos. Beers run $5.50 a pint or enjoy their full bar. For recreation, they offer a dart board and a pool table, none of which was used during the mic. Eight TVs play throughout the room, but when the mic starts, the five TVs not behind the bar counter are turned off.
The platform stage is set up from portions leaning against the very wall the mic takes place, which is the center of the room to one side. It is quite elevated, and anyone in the room can see the stage fine. The whole place seats just over 60 who can see the stage. Seating in other parts of the room can not.
There was an important basketball game that night. The mic would not take place until after the final score. The signup sheet came out just after 8pm. I took the fourth spot. The mic did not start till 9:23, almost an hour after it’s supposed to start.
We had 37 people in the room when the room started. James opened with asking the room to keep the noise down and to respect those on stage. Then he brought up the emcee. During Amani’s opening routine, the noise did not die down. It wasn’t until the first comic went up that people started to focus on the stage. One side of the room, the side closest to the entrance, was more into talking among friends. I sat closer to those people than I did the part of the room focused on the show, but I could hear well enough because I was paying attention.
I counted 39 people at 10:30pm. I also saw on the signup sheet we had nine signups by 10:30. After the last signup went up, the show ended with a booked headliner. He went up about 10:45pm. Attendance dropped slightly at that time: 32. The evening came to a close at 11:10pm.
Guys, remember this room started terribly late, almost an hour. Everything would have started and ended that much earlier. This room beckons a “let’s start the weekend early,” doing five minutes and getting home in time for TGIF. There were more people there to watch the show than there were people wanting to perform. You can gauge your material better with a civilian crowd than anyone else. Both James and Amani are pleasant fellows, and I’m confident this room will continue for a long time.
When the night ended, I helped James break the set down and thanked him. And I was thankful. I sat next to a guy who wasn’t even there for the mic, but I encouraged him to watch, talked about why I do standup, and before the night was over, he talked about going up himself one day when he can work up the courage. For me, that was the highlight of the night.