Called “The Bomb Shelter”, open mic at 4B’s has been going on for three months as of this posting. The room is for standup only. Signup is first come first choice. The sheet comes out 8:30pm, and the show begins 9pm. There are no language restrictions. The mic is run by a gentleman named Jay. The business is a full bar, but they also serve hot dogs, popcorn and bags of chips. They soon, however, with have a functioning kitchen and will serve comfort food. Parking is in their lot. Beers run $7 a pint. The stage is a platform stage that holds a cordless mic, stand and stool. Above the stage is a TV that is turned off before the mic starts. The show takes place in the room where the bar is. Behind the stage are four pool tables and a number of pinball machines that are easily visible. When I say the room is in the bar, there are 2 entrances to that room, but the walls are not complete, leaving openings to see activity behind the stage. Inside the room you have about 35 seats, all of which can see the stage. The lighting on stage is reasonably lit from overhead. If you wear a hat, you will shade your face. Jay showed up about 8:23pm with the signup sheet. By 8:37pm we had 11 signups. As the evening went on, signups increased to 22. When the room started promptly at 9pm, we had 25 in attendance, including Jay and the 2 bartenders. The music playing in the room is turned off before the mic begins. Jay announced talent gets 5 minutes, his cell light at 4. He did some stage time himself then brought up the first talent. I signed up to go fourth. As the evening progressed, attendance stayed strong, continuing to remain 25 by 10:30, 16 peeps by 11:05pm and the room ending at 11:19pm. At 10:35pm, Jay announced the remaining talent would get 4 minutes, the light at 3. I had a great set, going up fourth, but I must confess, with all the noise from the pool tables and pinball machines, I had difficulty hearing the talent, unless they spoke somewhat loudly into the mic. That’s the choice: do you signup towards the beginning when the business is booming with activity, or do you go up towards the end, when pool playing and pinball started to see less activity, and so the mic was easier to hear, but the attendance started to lessen? I’ll leave that to the discretion of comedians; only you know how powerful your voice carries on a mic. Guys, this is a good room to do. But it’s a challenge. You are competing with noise and distractions. One comic told me he had only been doing standup a couple months, but he owned the stage when he went up. Other, more seasoned talent went up and did not do so well, because the noise drowned them out. My recommendation, get there early, so you have the most choices on the list when you think you should go up.
Called “The Bomb Shelter”, open mic at 4B’s has been going on for three months as of this posting. The room is for standup only. Signup is first come first choice. The sheet comes out 8:30pm, and the show begins 9pm. There are no language restrictions. The mic is run by a gentleman named Jay.
ReplyDeleteThe business is a full bar, but they also serve hot dogs, popcorn and bags of chips. They soon, however, with have a functioning kitchen and will serve comfort food. Parking is in their lot. Beers run $7 a pint.
The stage is a platform stage that holds a cordless mic, stand and stool. Above the stage is a TV that is turned off before the mic starts. The show takes place in the room where the bar is. Behind the stage are four pool tables and a number of pinball machines that are easily visible. When I say the room is in the bar, there are 2 entrances to that room, but the walls are not complete, leaving openings to see activity behind the stage. Inside the room you have about 35 seats, all of which can see the stage. The lighting on stage is reasonably lit from overhead. If you wear a hat, you will shade your face.
Jay showed up about 8:23pm with the signup sheet. By 8:37pm we had 11 signups. As the evening went on, signups increased to 22. When the room started promptly at 9pm, we had 25 in attendance, including Jay and the 2 bartenders. The music playing in the room is turned off before the mic begins. Jay announced talent gets 5 minutes, his cell light at 4. He did some stage time himself then brought up the first talent. I signed up to go fourth. As the evening progressed, attendance stayed strong, continuing to remain 25 by 10:30, 16 peeps by 11:05pm and the room ending at 11:19pm. At 10:35pm, Jay announced the remaining talent would get 4 minutes, the light at 3.
I had a great set, going up fourth, but I must confess, with all the noise from the pool tables and pinball machines, I had difficulty hearing the talent, unless they spoke somewhat loudly into the mic. That’s the choice: do you signup towards the beginning when the business is booming with activity, or do you go up towards the end, when pool playing and pinball started to see less activity, and so the mic was easier to hear, but the attendance started to lessen? I’ll leave that to the discretion of comedians; only you know how powerful your voice carries on a mic.
Guys, this is a good room to do. But it’s a challenge. You are competing with noise and distractions. One comic told me he had only been doing standup a couple months, but he owned the stage when he went up. Other, more seasoned talent went up and did not do so well, because the noise drowned them out. My recommendation, get there early, so you have the most choices on the list when you think you should go up.
Went tonight. The mic has been permanantly cancelled.
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