I’ll start by saying parking is on the street and, while free, it is not easy. I had to park over a block away, and I arrived almost 2 hours before the mic started. All genres of talent are welcome, but mostly this room attracts musicians. There are no restrictions. Signup is first come first choice, and talent gets 15 minutes or 3 songs. The room is run by a woman named Helen, and it’s been going on for about 4 years. Open mic happens the 2nd and 4th Thursday. The business is a bar and grill. The room seats about 40 who can see the stage. There is no stage. To the left of the entrance in one corner, drums behind 2 mics are set up, with relatively good lighting for those performing. Two pinball machines occupy the opposite side of the room, as well as 4 TVs were on with sound. (When the room starts, the TV above the stage is turned off and the rest are muted.) I arrived in plenty good time, enjoying a cheeseburger and beer – if you pay cash have small bills on hand – before Helen walked in around 7:08pm, the signup sheet with 15 slots coming out 7:15. I signed for the third spot. We had 12 in the room at 7:52pm, including the bartender Chad. When we began at 8pm, I counted 16 in the room, and we had 11 signups. People sitting at the bar showed very little interest in the open mic, preferring sports on TV, though the patrons talking do not bother the talent performing. The room goes till midnight. I performed for 15 people in the room when I went up. I did about 12 minutes, then got myself off. A couple people at the bar close to the stage watched me instead of sports. Perhaps signing up later in the evening is better, as attendance increased to 17 by 9:30 and stayed that way when I left at 10pm. I finished my set about 8:35. Guys, this is a good room to do. Those coming for the mic pay attention. There are no true distractions, even from people talking at bar. They get only a comedian every now and then, so you will be playing to a room full of civilians and not fellow comics. Fifteen minutes is quite the chunk of stage time. People laughed heartily when I did my set, so if your material is good, you’ll know it. As infrequently as they get standup, after my set, a couple musicians approached me and complimented my performance, including the host. While you don’t have to do 15 minutes, it’s a good place to practice once you’ve built up a 15-minute set and want to perform it all at once in one night. Helen is very good at asking who arrived first, so you’ll get a good slot if you show up at least an hour before the mic. I think taking a later slot, say 7th or 8th, may get you the largest audience during the night.
I’ll start by saying parking is on the street and, while free, it is not easy. I had to park over a block away, and I arrived almost 2 hours before the mic started. All genres of talent are welcome, but mostly this room attracts musicians. There are no restrictions. Signup is first come first choice, and talent gets 15 minutes or 3 songs. The room is run by a woman named Helen, and it’s been going on for about 4 years. Open mic happens the 2nd and 4th Thursday.
ReplyDeleteThe business is a bar and grill. The room seats about 40 who can see the stage. There is no stage. To the left of the entrance in one corner, drums behind 2 mics are set up, with relatively good lighting for those performing. Two pinball machines occupy the opposite side of the room, as well as 4 TVs were on with sound. (When the room starts, the TV above the stage is turned off and the rest are muted.)
I arrived in plenty good time, enjoying a cheeseburger and beer – if you pay cash have small bills on hand – before Helen walked in around 7:08pm, the signup sheet with 15 slots coming out 7:15. I signed for the third spot. We had 12 in the room at 7:52pm, including the bartender Chad. When we began at 8pm, I counted 16 in the room, and we had 11 signups. People sitting at the bar showed very little interest in the open mic, preferring sports on TV, though the patrons talking do not bother the talent performing. The room goes till midnight.
I performed for 15 people in the room when I went up. I did about 12 minutes, then got myself off. A couple people at the bar close to the stage watched me instead of sports. Perhaps signing up later in the evening is better, as attendance increased to 17 by 9:30 and stayed that way when I left at 10pm. I finished my set about 8:35.
Guys, this is a good room to do. Those coming for the mic pay attention. There are no true distractions, even from people talking at bar. They get only a comedian every now and then, so you will be playing to a room full of civilians and not fellow comics. Fifteen minutes is quite the chunk of stage time. People laughed heartily when I did my set, so if your material is good, you’ll know it. As infrequently as they get standup, after my set, a couple musicians approached me and complimented my performance, including the host. While you don’t have to do 15 minutes, it’s a good place to practice once you’ve built up a 15-minute set and want to perform it all at once in one night. Helen is very good at asking who arrived first, so you’ll get a good slot if you show up at least an hour before the mic. I think taking a later slot, say 7th or 8th, may get you the largest audience during the night.