Wed, 2011-07-20 10:56
ColdTowne has approached me about starting an open mic on Mondays. It would start in August and happen every Monday at 10PM. BYOB.
Does this conflict with anything right now? The only better day I could think of would be Saturday, but that's not going to happen.
This is a completely separate show from Live at ColdTowne and I'm thinking of doing it old school. No online sign-up, just show up.
I'd also like to make it a show where newer folk can get some experience hosting. Any suggestions on how to make this a good open-mic that sticks around, leave em here.
PS. I think it's awesome that I can edit other people's posts. xoxo Norman
I think this is a great idea. Or maybe I don't. It really doesn't matter what I type here, as replies don't appear to be showing up at all.
No idea what you're talking about.
PSSSSSSST! thanks for pointing out glitch. trying to add rich-text editor was breaking stuff.
Michael Priest for permanent host!
I'll do it. What kind of coin are we talking about?
Starting pay is $0.00. No cover + BYOB = no pay for comics.
If we do a cover charge we can start paying or maybe work something out once ColdTowne gets their liquor license.
I'm interested in possibly being one of those newbish hosts.
yes, please do this. I would like to attend it regularly.
I new to comedy, when can I get laid for being funny? Will going to this open mic help? What's Sarah Wellington up to? I'll do this open mic in other words.
I like that it's show up, sign up, but I'd like to see the sign up not dictate the order of performance. My favorite way of doing open mics is for performers to put their name in a bucket, then right before the show starts the host draws the names randomly out to decide the order. It's a super fair way of doing it, and helps keep comics in the audience.
How late do you get that room? I imagine this will be a popular mic (especially at first), so it would be great if everyone who shows up is guaranteed to perform. Maybe decide how long sets are by dividing the time you have the room by how many performers show up. It might mean shorter sets than usual, but I think that's better than not getting to perform (and it would sort of make it the opposite of 'Live at Coldtowne' exclusivity-wise).
Random is fair, for sure. But I think letting people choose their spot on a first come basis is also fair. On the other hand, random has the advantage that one doesn't have to worry about showing up early to get a good spot.
I too like the idea of dividing the time, if it entails that people get more (not less) than some base time of say, five or six minutes.
I think the selection of host(s) is crucial. Some people are excellent standups but not very good hosts, and some people might not be as strong a standup but still a good host. I think that hosting takes a special skill and "vibe" that sometimes even really good standups don't have.
In any case, I wish Ramin best of luck with this. I admire Live At Coldtowne and I think it's a sure bet Ramin will do a great job with this one too.
I've thought this over and I'm pretty sure Priest and I should co-host this. Kind of like a good cop / cop you're afraid to leave alone with your children kind of thing.
The only other show on Mondays regularly right now is Mr. Tramps but it starts early. And once a month there's Pluckers.
Thinking of maybe doing tag-team too. So, no emcee each comic brings up the next comic. They do this at SXSW cause the show goes on for like 4 hours, but if we get the room for 2+ hours this might be a good idea.
I am excited about this! I think an old school open mic would be interesting to do in that room and probably work well. It'd be free for the audience, right? I really like the idea of allowing newer people to try their hand at hosting, as well.
yup, free for everyone. this could be a cool monday night playground of craziness. Bonus to Sandstoners once ColdTowne moves to its new location on Manor this fall.
I don't know that letting people host who haven't had much stage experience is a good idea. Someone doing a bad job of hosting can really hurt a night. I think a person should have specific hosting skills already in place or, at least, shown him or herself already to be suitable for hosting - ranging from mic technique to not a being a boor on stage to understanding the basics of what to say when bringing up the next comic.
The good news is that a Monday mic with an open sign-up at a dedicated comedy theater is going to be a huge hit with everybody. Even if it's a 3 hour show, I could see this becoming a really big thing that people come to and hang out at every Monday.
I'm also a big fan of randomizing the lineup, as Cameron suggested (it's much better than 1st come, 1st up). I'm not 100% on dividing time equally no matter what if you only have the room for a limited time, simply because I imagine that this mic could easily draw 30 people a week or more. Less time means less opportunity to work on new stuff, which is sort of antithetical to making this a really "open" mic (as opposed to Live at Coldtowne, where we're bringing tighter material).
If you have the space for 3 hours or you decide on not having it hosted to save time, that would mean everybody gets a comfortable 4 or 5 minutes and you'd still keep a decent crowd of comics around with the random order. That's more important than even the tantalizing prospect of newer people (such as myself) getting to host.
I would much rather have length of show divided between whoever shows up, maybe capping the list around 30 3 minute spots or something. That room is small enough and hard enough to escape from unnoticed that any audience is going to feel they're being held hostage if the show is 3 hours long.
Fair point. I'm definitely not advocating for a 40-person marathon every week, but I'm sort of assuming a Monday night show audience will be 99% comics waiting to go up anyway. Not sure that the mic would draw that many every week with the promise of just 3 minutes, but that's a problem that solves itself then, isn't it (more time when less people show)?
Instead of random, why not let people choose their own spot, with choice on a first come basis?
Maybe, an hour before the show, tape the blank list to the wall, and let people fill in their spot.
The only disadvantage is that people have to show up early if they want better control of when they're on. But is that so bad?
If there's not going to be a proper host, I'd prefer to have someone off stage with a mic bringing off/on the comics instead of everyone tag teaming it.
That's a good idea, the idea of off-stage intros. Probably the fastest way to do it.
One disadvantage though is that after a while it could start feeling "mechanical", too much of a revolving door. If the list of comics is already too long, then it aleady starts to become a blur of one after another after another. Not having an MC on stage to be a "separator" makes that worse.
"Once ColdTowne gets their liquor license." Good one.
It does also overlap with Dig Pub, which is usually a good open mic, though a lot of people can't or won't go that far north.
I like the idea of second mic intros, to keep things rolling. There's often a lot of dead time in getting the host on and off stage. Tag team intros also work but not as well, because a lot of the comics forget who comes next. (We do Kill Shot with tag team intros, and that happens frequently.)
Randomizing the order sounds worth trying also. Dividing the time is OK to a point. I'd prefer to give people at least four minutes.
I think the key to a good open mic is having a substantial audience of non-comics, which means promotion is key. This may seem obvious, but I'm surprised how often I've heard people who run open mics or other regular shows worry about getting comics. Worry about getting an audience, then the comics will come.