Open mic at Inside takes place the second Saturday of each month, and I learned from the co-founder, Simone, that the mic had it’s one-year anniversary the night we were there. The founder of the room is Sierra. All forms of talent are welcome, and while there are no language restrctions, it is emphasized that this is a safe room, so if your humor picks on people, you’re going to get silence in return. Signup is first come first choice. Talent gets five minutes. The venue takes place in a very large room. I counted about 66 seats, arranged on three sides. There is no stage. However, where the cordless mic and stand are, accompanied by a very comfortable chair, with the Inside logo in the background that is the fourth wall, everyone can see you just fine. Parking is not on the street but in lots, and there a couple lots quite close by, so parking is not an issue. People not performing pay a fee to see the show, but all talent perform for free. A dj, DJ Dia she called herself over a mic from her music station to one corner of the room, announces the talent. They offer bottles of beer, some hard alcohol drinks, and free water you serve yourself. The room goes to 11pm, and they get up as much talent as possible in that time. The doors opened at 7:36pm, with a large crowd already gathered outside. DJ Dia started the room at 8:15pm. There were too many people to count, but at least 60 were present when the first talent went up, a spoken word artist making their debut not just in that room but in life. He was terribly nervous, even stopping a couple of times and apologizing because he tripped over his words a couple times. The audience was incredibly supportive, saying not to apologize and encouraging him to continue, giving him applause for having the courage to perform. Remember, most of the world’s population can’t even be themselves and do public speaking, so to go up in front of a crowd and try to win them over with their talent takes intestinal fortitude. And, yes, it can be scary as f**k, especially for first-timers, and the room knows that. Other talent who also were nervous and said so got the same support. The room took two breaks during the evening, so people could make purchases, go outside, stretch their legs, whatever. The breaks happened at 8:50pm -- room starting again at 9:02pm -- and just after 10pm, resuming at 10:15pm. After the first break, there must have been at least 80 present, so full was the room that people had to stand in the back. It was during the second break my friend and I called it a night. I had to, however, go to Sierra and tell her what a great room she has. One local comic while on stage even said this was his favorite room to perform, and I totally got that. There were a healthy number of comedians that night, but chiefly entertainment came in the form of music, singing, poetry and spoken word, so mostly, a comedian is performing for a room of “general audience” and not fellow comics. If you said something funny, you got a laugh. All talent was made to feel valued on stage. If only more rooms could be like this. The energy was high; the attendance was high. This is a comedian’s haven. Especially for talent new to standup. You will have a grand reception.
Open mic at Inside takes place the second Saturday of each month, and I learned from the co-founder, Simone, that the mic had it’s one-year anniversary the night we were there. The founder of the room is Sierra. All forms of talent are welcome, and while there are no language restrctions, it is emphasized that this is a safe room, so if your humor picks on people, you’re going to get silence in return. Signup is first come first choice. Talent gets five minutes.
ReplyDeleteThe venue takes place in a very large room. I counted about 66 seats, arranged on three sides. There is no stage. However, where the cordless mic and stand are, accompanied by a very comfortable chair, with the Inside logo in the background that is the fourth wall, everyone can see you just fine. Parking is not on the street but in lots, and there a couple lots quite close by, so parking is not an issue. People not performing pay a fee to see the show, but all talent perform for free. A dj, DJ Dia she called herself over a mic from her music station to one corner of the room, announces the talent. They offer bottles of beer, some hard alcohol drinks, and free water you serve yourself. The room goes to 11pm, and they get up as much talent as possible in that time.
The doors opened at 7:36pm, with a large crowd already gathered outside. DJ Dia started the room at 8:15pm. There were too many people to count, but at least 60 were present when the first talent went up, a spoken word artist making their debut not just in that room but in life. He was terribly nervous, even stopping a couple of times and apologizing because he tripped over his words a couple times. The audience was incredibly supportive, saying not to apologize and encouraging him to continue, giving him applause for having the courage to perform. Remember, most of the world’s population can’t even be themselves and do public speaking, so to go up in front of a crowd and try to win them over with their talent takes intestinal fortitude. And, yes, it can be scary as f**k, especially for first-timers, and the room knows that. Other talent who also were nervous and said so got the same support.
The room took two breaks during the evening, so people could make purchases, go outside, stretch their legs, whatever. The breaks happened at 8:50pm -- room starting again at 9:02pm -- and just after 10pm, resuming at 10:15pm. After the first break, there must have been at least 80 present, so full was the room that people had to stand in the back. It was during the second break my friend and I called it a night. I had to, however, go to Sierra and tell her what a great room she has. One local comic while on stage even said this was his favorite room to perform, and I totally got that. There were a healthy number of comedians that night, but chiefly entertainment came in the form of music, singing, poetry and spoken word, so mostly, a comedian is performing for a room of “general audience” and not fellow comics. If you said something funny, you got a laugh. All talent was made to feel valued on stage.
If only more rooms could be like this. The energy was high; the attendance was high. This is a comedian’s haven. Especially for talent new to standup. You will have a grand reception.