Open mic at SOMA is a very new room. When my friend and I performed, it was only their third show. Signup is first come first choice. All genres of talent are welcome, but they principally attract musicians. Performers get three songs or 15 minutes. The room is run by a gentleman named Cody, and he offers to tape your set and will email it to you. There are no language restrictions unless children are present. Parking is on the street. The business sells kombucha, which is fermented tea. A pint of kombucha runs $5. While they do not sell food, I did see you can buy pieces of chocolate. The room seats 17. There is no stage. To the right of the entrance, two mics are set up on stands. Everyone in the room can see a performer just fine. The backdrop of the mic is windows where you can see street traffic. To one side, a sliding glass door is left open, and while you can hear cars passing, it's not a distraction. If anything, I welcomed the breeze from outside. The signup sheet came out at 5:26pm. Cody saw we were the first to arrive and handed up the sheet to put our names on. Because we had to bounce to a second mic, only my friend signed up to perform, taking the first spot. (We could have stayed longer, as we learned the second mic we went to, the signup sheet came out later than we thought.) A tip jar rests next to the signup sheet. The room goes till 9pm. I counted 15 people in the room, including the host and one staff member and three children. At 5:53pm, Cody played a song to test the sound system. It sounded fine, and after finishing the song, he brought up the first talent, my friend, who went up promptly at 6pm. One more person had entered when my friend started her set. Only five minutes later, two more people came in to watch the mic. My friend did a whooping 13 minutes, and because the room is not used to standup, she did quite well. People there were thankful to have comedy as well as music. I saw the signup sheet had seven names on the list by 6:15pm. As late as the mic goes, you can arrive some time after the sheet comes out and still play to a full room. We left not too long after her set, as we wanted to double dip mics. The second mic is only point six miles away from SOMA, and it is on the same street. Since that room doesn’t start till 8pm, you can support this mic for the first hour or so before doing the second room. Guys, this mic deserves some recognition. It’s new to Portland, and, although it allows all genres of talent, I hope more comedians discover this room and choose to perform here once in a while. Yes, there are other rooms happening on Tuesday, rooms that are only for standup, but performing for a general audience and not only fellow comedians should be a welcomed change to the local talent. Cody is a friendly host, and having up to 15 minutes of stage time, as well as a copy of your set, should compel some comedians to do this room. True, you may have to curb some of your more R-rated material if children are present, but you can say that about any place you perform with kids in the room. A common rule among comedians is “Know your audience.” When you see kids, just skip the foul language and use euphemisms, or don’t tell the joke at all. In effect, keep it PG-13.
Open mic at SOMA is a very new room. When my friend and I performed, it was only their third show. Signup is first come first choice. All genres of talent are welcome, but they principally attract musicians. Performers get three songs or 15 minutes. The room is run by a gentleman named Cody, and he offers to tape your set and will email it to you. There are no language restrictions unless children are present. Parking is on the street.
ReplyDeleteThe business sells kombucha, which is fermented tea. A pint of kombucha runs $5. While they do not sell food, I did see you can buy pieces of chocolate. The room seats 17. There is no stage. To the right of the entrance, two mics are set up on stands. Everyone in the room can see a performer just fine. The backdrop of the mic is windows where you can see street traffic. To one side, a sliding glass door is left open, and while you can hear cars passing, it's not a distraction. If anything, I welcomed the breeze from outside.
The signup sheet came out at 5:26pm. Cody saw we were the first to arrive and handed up the sheet to put our names on. Because we had to bounce to a second mic, only my friend signed up to perform, taking the first spot. (We could have stayed longer, as we learned the second mic we went to, the signup sheet came out later than we thought.) A tip jar rests next to the signup sheet. The room goes till 9pm.
I counted 15 people in the room, including the host and one staff member and three children. At 5:53pm, Cody played a song to test the sound system. It sounded fine, and after finishing the song, he brought up the first talent, my friend, who went up promptly at 6pm. One more person had entered when my friend started her set. Only five minutes later, two more people came in to watch the mic. My friend did a whooping 13 minutes, and because the room is not used to standup, she did quite well. People there were thankful to have comedy as well as music. I saw the signup sheet had seven names on the list by 6:15pm. As late as the mic goes, you can arrive some time after the sheet comes out and still play to a full room. We left not too long after her set, as we wanted to double dip mics. The second mic is only point six miles away from SOMA, and it is on the same street. Since that room doesn’t start till 8pm, you can support this mic for the first hour or so before doing the second room.
Guys, this mic deserves some recognition. It’s new to Portland, and, although it allows all genres of talent, I hope more comedians discover this room and choose to perform here once in a while. Yes, there are other rooms happening on Tuesday, rooms that are only for standup, but performing for a general audience and not only fellow comedians should be a welcomed change to the local talent. Cody is a friendly host, and having up to 15 minutes of stage time, as well as a copy of your set, should compel some comedians to do this room. True, you may have to curb some of your more R-rated material if children are present, but you can say that about any place you perform with kids in the room. A common rule among comedians is “Know your audience.” When you see kids, just skip the foul language and use euphemisms, or don’t tell the joke at all. In effect, keep it PG-13.