Open mic experiences

[Gene George]

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...deoid=47394861

That was brilliant.

[MattRuby]

After years of hitting up open mics in NYC, I wrote up <a href="http://www.sandpapersuit.com/2008/07/16-thingspeople-ive-seen-at-open-mics.html">16 things/people I've seen at open mics that were unintentionally funny</a>...maybe interesting to ya.

<blockquote>Open mics are a weird path to success. It's like if you decided that you wanted to win a gold medal in the Olympics. And they're like, "Sure, but first you've got to train with all the people at the Special Olympics." And you're like, "Ok, but these people don't even know which direction to run in...and I think they might be racists too."

15. One mic tried to have a different theme every week for the comics to riff off of. The theme one week: "Broken dreams." Isn't an open mic with the theme of "broken dreams" a bit redundant? What's next week's theme: delusional people who want to perform but can't attract real audience members!? "Broken dreams" is the theme of every open mic.</blockquote>

<a href="http://www.sandpapersuit.com/2008/07/16-thingspeople-ive-seen-at-open-mics.html">Read the whole thing.</a>

[the groinery]

Just got back from my second standup experience.

It was a tough room as the pros were even shunned at times. The pros really seem to have a rhythm and are impervious to the crowd not laughing. Us amateurs seem to have no rhythm and communicate that to crowds. I suppose that stuff comes with time.

[NFox]

Are most open mics receptive to double acts? A buddy and I are roughing a double act out, and seeing as though I've only ever seen a single microphone set up at any open mic (And have never seen anything other than solo performers), I'm just concerned that half of our material won't be heard. So has anyone ever seen an open mic double act, and if so, how'd it go/did the club do anything differently for them/anything else you can think of?

Thanks.

-Nick

[drieux]

As with all open mics, if you're funny you can get away with it.

Just go to smaller rooms to start, don't bother with the mic and project your voices, you'll be fine.

[Gene George]

Are most open mics receptive to double acts? A buddy and I are roughing a double act out, and seeing as though I've only ever seen a single microphone set up at any open mic (And have never seen anything other than solo performers), I'm just concerned that half of our material won't be heard. So has anyone ever seen an open mic double act, and if so, how'd it go/did the club do anything differently for them/anything else you can think of?

Thanks.

-Nick

You can do what you want, that's what open mics are for. I'd take Drieux's suggestion or just leave the mic in the stand and stand on opposite sides-ish and just step in to talk. It'll make your set more static, but it'll also give it kind of an old timey radio feel. The Walsh Brothers do it all the time. You won't be able to talk over each other without looking like you're about to start making out, but that just might add that frisson of homosexual panic that open mic crowds love so much.

[Joe McAdam]

I used to do a two person set all the time when I started. Luckily the open mic we usually went to was a music venue and they had all the equipment we needed. But I would imagine most places have a second mic, just ask in advance if they can set you up. Also you could probably just bring your own, you can get a mic for cheap and it's good to have around anyway.

[drieux]

re: Bringing your own mic. I knew a guy who was such a germ freak AND audio geek that he would bring his own microphone to every single open mic, saying that he didn't want to get sick from sharing a microphone and that his voice was going to be more clear and audible.

Of course, that meant that the first 20 seconds of his set was him taking the stage, unhooking the mic from the cable, setting it down and then attaching his own microphone, and then going into his particularly charming brand of mysoginistic, rapetacular jokes, making him even more enduring to the audience.

Last I knew he was washing his hands until he hit bone.

[Phil]

I did it!!! First time evah!! Thanks for answering all my stupid questions over the past few months! Would love to hear your thoughts on my set...<object height="385" width="480"></object>


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[Gene George]

Good work Phil! The room wasn't an open mic room, right? There was a booked show after? Either that or Finnish open mic audiences are AWESOME!

[Phil]

Good work Phil! The room wasn't an open mic room, right? There was a booked show after? Either that or Finnish open mic audiences are AWESOME!

Thanks Gene!!

I was listed as an "open mic" for the night, but it wasn't really an open mic in the traditional sense, I had contacted the girl who runs the club a week ago and asked if I could do 5 minutes, I promised to bring a bunch of people along.

There was about 120 in the audience, about 30 of them were friends of mine, hence the awesome audience. The other comics that night were all professionals. This monthly English club is mainly for Finnish comics who want to practice in English so they can perform outside of Finland, the audience has quite a few foreigners like myself.

There's me listed as open mic on the club's poster...

[Gene George]

That's cool. Seriously the 90 other "not your friends you brought" were laughing too.

[bk1242]

Damn thats pretty cool they gave you a lot of time. I only had about 3 min to work with. You did well though man, congrats

[bk1242]

this one was my first time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTvPiiYxwu8

ok i dont know how to embed videos apparently

[Phil]

Damn thats pretty cool they gave you a lot of time. I only had about 3 min to work with. You did well though man, congrats

Thanks man!

Yeah, Finland is currently going through a (it's first?) stand-up comedy boom, new club nights are popping up all over the place. This is the first English-only club, and it really helps that I'm a native speaker...so those two things = I easily get stage time = awesome.

Your 3 minutes was great! Really funny shit in there. It seems that you were rushing through it and talking over people's laughs, but that's not your fault, you had only 3 minutes, I've had urinations that've lasted longer than that. But your flow was really smooth and natural, excellent stuff!

[forgetiheardthat]

Damn, what a room to do your first set in. Great work Phil.

[Phil]

Damn, what a room to do your first set in. Great work Phil.

Thank you!!

Yeah, there's a lot of us foreigners in Finland who don't speak fluent Finnish, the stand-up comedy scene here has kinda forgotten about us until this club came along. No surprise that it's been a huge success.

So they're in need of good English speaking comics...I just happened to be in the right place at the right time me thinks. Got lucky.

[ASR]

Hey, everybody.

For way too long, I really wanted to try stand-up. I knew that it's the sort of thing I'd love to do for a living. When 2009 rolled around, I joined the stand-up comedy club at my university. The second week, I went with the club to a coffee shop that agreed to have a Comedy Night for us every Wednesday.

Since I was serious about doing stand-up, I've filmed all of my performances so far. I uploaded my fourth performance to Youtube.

The first night, the audience was terrible. It was my first time, and I actually did pretty well.

The second time, the crowd was still bad, not paying attention, incredibly noisy. I went up again. Did a little better.

The third time, the crowd was a little better. They actually paid attention, and there were a lot more people there.

The fourth time, the crowd was about the same, but a lot quieter. This is the only performance that I thought was good enough to upload to Youtube, not only based on my performance, but also that the audience was quiet enough so that you can really hear me and hear where the laughs are.

Here's the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch<WBR></WBR>?v=Ult6QhDsF5w

I'd really like some feedback. I'm still starting out and this is something I'm taking extremely seriously.

Next Thursday, our stand-up comedy club is putting on a show at a frat. There will be over a hundred guests. It's a big deal. I'm really excited to get out there and perform to a crowd that big. All college students (an easier demographic, in my opinion), and they'll be a lot more attentive than the crowd at the coffee shop.

I haven't bombed yet, but we'll see.

Feel free to rip into me with critique. I need it.

[P-Dub]

Feel free to rip into me with critique. I need it.

Always clear the mic stand. In other words, if you're gonna hold the mic, put the stand behind or beside you, but never in front.

I knew a guy who teaches a comedy class and said that this is the only thing that can really be taught.

So, yeah, that'll be $250, whenever you get the chance.

Seriously, good for a fourth time. You wrote material and you seem to give a shit. When you go home to West Bloomfield, be sure to hit up all the open mics (Joey's Livonia, Ridley's in Royal Oak, Club Bart in Ferndale, etc.) in the area. Good luck and always have fun.

[Alex Mac]

All college students (an easier demographic, in my opinion), and they'll be a lot more attentive than the crowd at the coffee shop.

This actually reminds me of something I didn't say back when I had the chance to speak with you elsewhere. Know your audience. Makes sense, right? But it is a simple thing to overlook when you are starting, excited, and only have so much material. Look at the audience beforehand and note how they react to the comics before you. Make adjustments to your set accordingly.