All genres of talent are welcome at the open mic at Craft Factory. The room seats 24 in a quite intimate setting. Parking is on the street. It’s first come first choice, and the signup sheet comes out at 6pm, the room beginning at 7pm. There is no light. Musicians play two songs, and other talent do five or six minutes and are expected to get themselves off. The room has been going on a couple of years, I am told. There are no language restrictions, but sometimes a child can be in the room during the mic, so use discretion when necessary. The room is normally run by a gentleman named Johnny Franco, but when I was at the mic, they had a guest host, Patrick, who had only hosted once before when Johnny could not be there. The business does not offer food, but they do offer tea for everyone in attendance. You may bring outside food or drink, even alcohol, and they have a refrigerator, if you want to keep your goodies cool. A tip jar stands right next to the signup sheet, if you want to support the room that way. I dropped a five in the jar as a thank you that the mic exists for comedians to tryout new material. I also bought two beers across the street at a market, and that lasted me the night, till the room ended at 8:51pm. A woman named Molly oversaw the business. She brought out the signup sheet promptly at 6pm, and I took the fifth spot. I ended up going up third, as spots one and two did not get filled. Overall, we had 8 signups when the room began. Patrick arrived with the sound system, and set up the mic, stand and speaker on a rug, which represented the stage. Everyone in the room can see talent easily. The backdrop of the performance area are cabinets and shelves with artwork on them. Above that, their logo reads in big letters, “A place for imagination and creativity.” The room started a little late, 7:08pm. Patrick brought up the first talent, a musician. In fact, except for me, everyone was a musician/singer that night. We had 13 in the room when we began. I performed third. Before I started my set, I said in such a small room, I get if you’re self-conscious about laughing out loud, but a smile or head nod goes a long way. As it turned out, they had no problem laughing at my material. I did about six minutes, then got myself off. At 7:45pm, they had an intermission, which lasted about 20 minutes. We began again at 8:05pm, still with 13 people in the room, including one child not performing. One after another went up and did two songs. Once everyone had performed, including Patrick, he offered me a second chance to go up and perform, figuring talent playing two songs got more stage time than I did. I was enjoying the music so much, I declined to go up again, instead encouraging the musicians to perform as a group, which they did. At 8:22pm, attendance decreased to 10 and stayed that way till the room ended. Guys, I very much enjoyed doing this room. I was not playing to a roomful of comics waiting their turn. I like that. You can better gauge new material with a “general audience” than a bunch of comedians who may or may not be paying attention. That I was offered a second time to perform only gives me more reason to encourage comics to do this room, as you may end up doing eight or so minutes on stage, which is considerably more than what other rooms offer at three to five minutes. The host and Molly – shoot, everyone! – were supportive, being quiet and giving their undivided attention to the talent on stage. Part of the reason the room decreased in size was because a parent and their child left, so you can do R-rated material simply by requesting you go up later when the children have gone home.
Monday, 12-04-2023 Just played the open mic at the "Craft Factory", loved it! Great host( Johnny), excellent performers, intimate setting, and, yes, free tea! Thanks for the tip, Slava! Sincerely, Aaron Curley
All genres of talent are welcome at the open mic at Craft Factory. The room seats 24 in a quite intimate setting. Parking is on the street. It’s first come first choice, and the signup sheet comes out at 6pm, the room beginning at 7pm. There is no light. Musicians play two songs, and other talent do five or six minutes and are expected to get themselves off. The room has been going on a couple of years, I am told. There are no language restrictions, but sometimes a child can be in the room during the mic, so use discretion when necessary.
ReplyDeleteThe room is normally run by a gentleman named Johnny Franco, but when I was at the mic, they had a guest host, Patrick, who had only hosted once before when Johnny could not be there.
The business does not offer food, but they do offer tea for everyone in attendance. You may bring outside food or drink, even alcohol, and they have a refrigerator, if you want to keep your goodies cool. A tip jar stands right next to the signup sheet, if you want to support the room that way. I dropped a five in the jar as a thank you that the mic exists for comedians to tryout new material. I also bought two beers across the street at a market, and that lasted me the night, till the room ended at 8:51pm.
A woman named Molly oversaw the business. She brought out the signup sheet promptly at 6pm, and I took the fifth spot. I ended up going up third, as spots one and two did not get filled. Overall, we had 8 signups when the room began. Patrick arrived with the sound system, and set up the mic, stand and speaker on a rug, which represented the stage. Everyone in the room can see talent easily. The backdrop of the performance area are cabinets and shelves with artwork on them. Above that, their logo reads in big letters, “A place for imagination and creativity.”
The room started a little late, 7:08pm. Patrick brought up the first talent, a musician. In fact, except for me, everyone was a musician/singer that night. We had 13 in the room when we began. I performed third. Before I started my set, I said in such a small room, I get if you’re self-conscious about laughing out loud, but a smile or head nod goes a long way. As it turned out, they had no problem laughing at my material. I did about six minutes, then got myself off. At 7:45pm, they had an intermission, which lasted about 20 minutes. We began again at 8:05pm, still with 13 people in the room, including one child not performing. One after another went up and did two songs.
Once everyone had performed, including Patrick, he offered me a second chance to go up and perform, figuring talent playing two songs got more stage time than I did. I was enjoying the music so much, I declined to go up again, instead encouraging the musicians to perform as a group, which they did. At 8:22pm, attendance decreased to 10 and stayed that way till the room ended.
Guys, I very much enjoyed doing this room. I was not playing to a roomful of comics waiting their turn. I like that. You can better gauge new material with a “general audience” than a bunch of comedians who may or may not be paying attention. That I was offered a second time to perform only gives me more reason to encourage comics to do this room, as you may end up doing eight or so minutes on stage, which is considerably more than what other rooms offer at three to five minutes. The host and Molly – shoot, everyone! – were supportive, being quiet and giving their undivided attention to the talent on stage. Part of the reason the room decreased in size was because a parent and their child left, so you can do R-rated material simply by requesting you go up later when the children have gone home.
Monday, 12-04-2023
ReplyDeleteJust played the open mic at the "Craft Factory", loved it! Great host( Johnny), excellent performers, intimate setting, and, yes, free tea!
Thanks for the tip, Slava!
Sincerely,
Aaron Curley