Open Mic at Escape has been going on since December of 2022. It is hosted by two people, Erycka and James, and it is for standup only. Talent gets 5 to 7 minutes, a cell light a minute before you’re asked to wrap it up. There are no language restrictions. Signup is first come first choice. The room goes till the last talent has performed or 9:30pm, so you can arrive late and still go up. The business has a limited parking lot, and street parking is difficult. My friend and I arrived before 6:30, believing signup was 6:30. I learned signup is 7pm and the room begins 7:30. The business is a full bar, and they had a selection of comfort food. Beers ran $6.50 a pint. Where the mic takes place, I’d say the room seats close to 60 who can see the “stage”. There is no stage, however. A cordless mic and no stand or stool are all you have to work with. The area designated as the stage is reasonably lit, but I recommend not wearing a hat, if you want us to see your eyes not in shade, and if you move around, it’s possible you’ll step outside the lit area and not even know it. The backdrop of the performance area is a black curtain with columns of streaming small, white lights. The place is well air-conditioned. I’m glad I brought my windbreaker. There is a muted TV turned on near the bar, but it is not a distraction, and there is one pool table in the room where the mic takes place, but no one was playing it when we arrived, and the table stayed unused the whole evening. I don’t think anyone plays pool during the mic. The signup sheet came out at 7:15. Being the second person to arrive, I signed up second, taking the third spot. My friend signed up a couple spots after me. When the mic started at 7:33pm, I counted 27 people in the room. Other people were present in the bar, but not listening to the mic. That’s okay. Twenty-seven peeps paying attention is a robust audience. Erycka and James opened with a few minutes of banter back and forth, as well as explaining how the room works. While the talent was predominantly gay, trans or non-binary, all people are welcome. I know of at least 3 talent who are straight who performed that night. As the evening progressed, attendance started to wane some. If you do arrive late, you’ll still go up, just not to as large an audience as at the beginning of the room. The evening ended at 9:23pm. Guys, this is a good room to do. We found it by accident when another room we originally intended to do I learned was having a showcase, so that night it was a booked room, so, thankfully this monthly mic exists, so comedians can do this room and the other room another Tuesday. Erycka and James are energetic hosts. Five to 7 minutes is a good about of stage time, and mostly, talent respected the one-minute-left when they got the light. The audience is quite receptive to comedy. If you have a good joke, you’ll get the response you wanted. A couple of things this room does that I’ve never seen before – and I’ve done over 500 rooms – is, one, they give each comic a cover to put over the mic, like a condom, when they go up, and you are asked to remove it when you are done, and two, before the room begins you are asked to write down your favorite ice cream and least favorite. Comics are encouraged to pull a piece of paper with a response and see if you can make fun of the answer. I was surprised how many talent went for that. But if you run out of material before your time is up, why not do that?
Open Mic at Escape has been going on since December of 2022. It is hosted by two people, Erycka and James, and it is for standup only. Talent gets 5 to 7 minutes, a cell light a minute before you’re asked to wrap it up. There are no language restrictions. Signup is first come first choice. The room goes till the last talent has performed or 9:30pm, so you can arrive late and still go up. The business has a limited parking lot, and street parking is difficult.
ReplyDeleteMy friend and I arrived before 6:30, believing signup was 6:30. I learned signup is 7pm and the room begins 7:30. The business is a full bar, and they had a selection of comfort food. Beers ran $6.50 a pint. Where the mic takes place, I’d say the room seats close to 60 who can see the “stage”. There is no stage, however. A cordless mic and no stand or stool are all you have to work with. The area designated as the stage is reasonably lit, but I recommend not wearing a hat, if you want us to see your eyes not in shade, and if you move around, it’s possible you’ll step outside the lit area and not even know it. The backdrop of the performance area is a black curtain with columns of streaming small, white lights. The place is well air-conditioned. I’m glad I brought my windbreaker. There is a muted TV turned on near the bar, but it is not a distraction, and there is one pool table in the room where the mic takes place, but no one was playing it when we arrived, and the table stayed unused the whole evening. I don’t think anyone plays pool during the mic.
The signup sheet came out at 7:15. Being the second person to arrive, I signed up second, taking the third spot. My friend signed up a couple spots after me. When the mic started at 7:33pm, I counted 27 people in the room. Other people were present in the bar, but not listening to the mic. That’s okay. Twenty-seven peeps paying attention is a robust audience. Erycka and James opened with a few minutes of banter back and forth, as well as explaining how the room works. While the talent was predominantly gay, trans or non-binary, all people are welcome. I know of at least 3 talent who are straight who performed that night. As the evening progressed, attendance started to wane some. If you do arrive late, you’ll still go up, just not to as large an audience as at the beginning of the room. The evening ended at 9:23pm.
Guys, this is a good room to do. We found it by accident when another room we originally intended to do I learned was having a showcase, so that night it was a booked room, so, thankfully this monthly mic exists, so comedians can do this room and the other room another Tuesday. Erycka and James are energetic hosts. Five to 7 minutes is a good about of stage time, and mostly, talent respected the one-minute-left when they got the light. The audience is quite receptive to comedy. If you have a good joke, you’ll get the response you wanted.
A couple of things this room does that I’ve never seen before – and I’ve done over 500 rooms – is, one, they give each comic a cover to put over the mic, like a condom, when they go up, and you are asked to remove it when you are done, and two, before the room begins you are asked to write down your favorite ice cream and least favorite. Comics are encouraged to pull a piece of paper with a response and see if you can make fun of the answer. I was surprised how many talent went for that. But if you run out of material before your time is up, why not do that?