Chicago Open Mics

[nixonjames]

Heyos folks I'm gonna be coming to visit a buddy of mine and looking to get some time, independent show or open mike? But I'm only gonna be in town Fri-Sun so anyone has any leads I would be very grateful.

I'll be happy to follow up with anyone ya might think would wanna hear from me.

Looks like The StandDown on Sunday may be a good option? Three dead moose? I'd probably rather do an open on Sunday and/or find a show on Fri/Sat as Boston has burned into me that Fri/Sat are not for open mikes >.>

[JKwac]

Three Dead Moose at Will's Northwood Inn is probably your best bet. That's on Sunday, sign-up starts around 7 pm. Fridays and Saturdays don't have much to offer in terms of open mics.

[beccaBeccaBECCA]

Okay, I had my first bad set at Comedysportz on Monday - but I did two other sets at Shit Show and SMUSH that went well, so there's that.

THEN, tonight at Cole's they started this contest and I won $50 - and I have to come back and try to win more money on May 16th, so I don't give a shit about medium bombing a couple days ago.

ALSO - I have a lot of showcases coming up and I'm sort of WORRIED that I don't have enough material yet to sustain these shows. It'll be two months on April 1st and I have MAYBE 20 solid minutes, but each showcase is 10 minutes and I'm like... what am I supposed to do?

Seriously... WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO? I have like 6 showcases coming up in the next couple weeks and a few that don't have dates set in stone yet and ... can I just do the same stuff at them? I'm seriously asking what to do.

EDIT: I guess I should clarify. I mean should I do the same material at all of the showcases. Like... is that alright? I GET that I should do the stuff I've been working on at mics at the shows - but like... would it be weird to do the same set at all the shows? I don't know.... It feels like maybe that would be weird to do - but I've never even done 10 minutes straight and I don't really have enough material yet to mix it up for several 10 minute sets.

[Dr. Feelgood]

Yes. You should do the material you've done at open mics. It's okay. Showcases have like, real non-comedian audience members.

[dan telfer]

You have to get used to doing the same material at showcases. One of the biggest humps new comics have to get over is the idea that anyone feels weird about it besides you. It's good that you do, because it means you're critical and have standards, but the odds that anyone in the audience will laugh less because they have "already heard it" are extremely low. The odds that there will be more than one person in the room who was at your other showcase are also low. Unless you bring people, and they're supposed to like you no matter what, so if they judge you they can go to hell.

[funkyrhino]

ALSO - I have a lot of showcases coming up and I'm sort of WORRIED that I don't have enough material yet to sustain these shows. It'll be two months on April 1st and I have MAYBE 20 solid minutes, but each showcase is 10 minutes and I'm like... what am I supposed to do?

Seriously... WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?

Becca don't take this the wrong way but I seriously doubt you have 20 solid minutes after doing comedy for 2 months. It took me 6 months myself to be able to do close to 10 minutes. I don't think you will find any comedian that had a solid 20 minute set after only 2 months of stagetime.

[beccaBeccaBECCA]

You're probably right, but I do have 20+ minutes I like. Whether or not they're SOLID is another issue entirely.

Anyway - here's video of the contest if anyone wants to see it: http://youtu.be/IHrvxyOfxqM

It's a 2 minute intro from Cameron Esposito, my set, Nicholas Rouley's set, then the results.

[JKwac]

Doing showcases is where you'll figure out how much time you REALLY have. Pick the ten minutes you like the best for your first showcase. Then, reflect on your set afterwards, make the appropriate changes (tighten up material, replace stuff that doesn't work) and do that set 2.0 version for the next showcase. Rinse and repeat.

That would be my suggestion, but you know what's great about comedy? You can do whatever the fuck you want.

[davidd]

I guess me and my girlfriend are gonna be doing a sketch at that Smush mike tonight- She scheduled it and I didn't realize it was mainly a stand-up show. Not super excited about doing a sketch in front of a captive stand-up crowd....

[beccaBeccaBECCA]

Doing showcases is where you'll figure out how much time you REALLY have. Pick the ten minutes you like the best for your first showcase. Then, reflect on your set afterwards, make the appropriate changes (tighten up material, replace stuff that doesn't work) and do that set 2.0 version for the next showcase. Rinse and repeat.

That would be my suggestion, but you know what's great about comedy? You can do whatever the fuck you want.

Yeah... my first two showcases were VERY FINE. Actually, the first one was kind of a nightmare; I did well, but I didn't have a good time - the second was good.

I think I just prefer doing mics for now to be honest. LESS PRESSURE. MORE FUN. Doing 10 minutes didn't seem like that big of a deal - the IDEA of doing it still freaks me out, but it was over before I knew it.

Anyway, I'm going to be at SMUSH tonight too - plus Shit Show, Comedysportz, and MAYBE Merkles (but that's a really weird room, so idk). Tomorrow I'm looking forward to doing Will Miles and Clark Jones' mic again because it was really fun the first time I did it last month. And OF COURSE Lottie's on Tuesday and Cole's Wednesdays as always...

LAST THING- I had my mics all planned out for last Wednesday, but Cole's is enforcing their NO LEAVING rule all of a sudden, so I have to either late list there or just not do Flock Yourself at all - both of which are bullshit because I CANNOT late list and hope to get home unmurdered. At the same time, it's horrific to come ALL THE WAY to the northside to do only 4 minutes of comedy a night and be stuck in a bar for 6 hours when I don't even drink.

Oh, comedy!

[Daniel]

I guess me and my girlfriend are gonna be doing a sketch at that Smush mike tonight- She scheduled it and I didn't realize it was mainly a stand-up show. Not super excited about doing a sketch in front of a captive stand-up crowd....

I'll be at SMUSH tonight, too worried about my own stuff to judge anyone else. Good luck!

[davidd]

ha, thanks man- Say hi if you see a guy/girl sketch team

[Travesty.]

LAST THING- I had my mics all planned out for last Wednesday, but Cole's is enforcing their NO LEAVING rule all of a sudden, so I have to either late list there or just not do Flock Yourself at all - both of which are bullshit because I CANNOT late list and hope to get home unmurdered. At the same time, it's horrific to come ALL THE WAY to the northside to do only 4 minutes of comedy a night and be stuck in a bar for 6 hours when I don't even drink.

When did they make this rule? Are they doing it for direct competition with Flock Yourself? That's kinda strange that if you can't sign up at around 5, that they'll make you stay till past midnight to do 4 min. I can kinda see why they would do that, just to be able to keep an audience(even though after about 11, the entire bar gets loud as shit, and is scatterbrained), but at the same time, that's kinda counter productive for people, like you, who are trying to do as many mics as possible in a night. Hmmmm.....

[CJ Toledano]

I doubt there's any sort of competition going on between my show and theirs. If there is, I'm completely unaware. Just did a show with Cameron last night and we are old buddies who would never compete over open mic attendance. That would be silly. If people want to do Flock Yourself and want to leave in time for Cole's, just let me know. I'm more than willing to accommodate.

When I started out, all I wanted to do was hit as many mics as possible so it's really no big deal. Comics doing more sets means a higher quality comedy scene. Beneficial for all.

[Travesty.]

When I started out, all I wanted to do was hit as many mics as possible so it's really no big deal. Comics doing more sets means a higher quality comedy scene. Beneficial for all.

That's the way I see it, too.

[Daniel]

ha, thanks man- Say hi if you see a guy/girl sketch team

I was sitting right behind you! (didn't know it was you until after your sketch) I think you guys left before I went up. I liked when you asked to put your hand in her hair, as if that's a thing you're just allowed to ask women at bus stops. Fun stuff!

[beccaBeccaBECCA]

When I started out, all I wanted to do was hit as many mics as possible so it's really no big deal. Comics doing more sets means a higher quality comedy scene. Beneficial for all.

I definitely didn't see it as a COMPETITION thing, more as an inconvenience-to-my-mic-schedule thing. And yeah, all I want to do is HIT ALL THE MICS, so anything that's preventing that seems like bullshit. And I probably could have gotten around it last week if I hadn't made myself conspicuous by telling Kenny and Coleman JUST HOW MUCH I thought it was bullshit. Had I just shut my mouth and slipped out, it probably would have worked out fine. Eh.

Anyway - NICE TO FINALLY TALK TO YOU, Daniel. I feel like I've seen you at like a bunch of places and now we've finally spoken. SO THERE'S THAT. Shambles, SMUSH, and Comedysportz were great yesterday. Don't know that I'll be able to do Lottie's AND 2 Black Dudes and an open mic tonight without a ride, but WE SHALL SEE!

[davidd]

Hey thanks man- yeah, I felt bad we had to leave so early, but we'll probably try again at that mic, since we had a good time. Also, not too many open mics let sketch groups go up.

Sorry I didn't see you go up, but I'm sure I'll be back.

Also, hey Becca, I think my girlfriend was sending you annoying messages on facebook about switching our slots. Sorry I didn't see you go up last night either.

[HeyBigGuy]

Hey guys, this is Kenny. I would just like to chime in to relate that Cole's has NOT changed it's sign in policy, but rather we are enforcing it again because too many people have been taking kind of a lax attitude towards it. I'll break it down right now, though:

You can sign up on the regular list anytime you want; in fact, we often have people waiting outside the door at 5:30 when the bar opens. The only hitch is that if you sign up you've got to stay until your spot (though you can feel free to go get a cup of coffee, get take out, have a smoke, go to your car or whatever, just don't leave for two or three hours before coming back); this is the only way we have to combat the fact that people get there so damn early. There are a lot of folks who don't even get out of work until after 7 and they shouldn't be penalized for such.

If you don't want to wait around for three plus hours, that's fine. Just sign up on our Late Arrivals list, which you can do so by signing up yourself, having a friend sign you up, or simply calling the bar (773.276.5802). By doing so you can show up ANY TIME YOU WANT. The hitch is that the Late Arrivals are added to the end of the main list at 8:30, which means the first Late Arrival might not go on until number 35 or later.

Not only are we NOT trying to compete with Go Flock Yourself, having their mic and others (American Dream, Jokes and Notes, etc) actually make it easier for us, since more people will sign up as a late arrival. The first week Go Flock Yourself went on, the "Main List" and the Late Arrivals list were virtually equal, meaning you could potentially get a spot sometime around 11...a little over an hour from when we actually get started. We want people to be able to do as many rooms as possible and we encourage use of the Late Arrivals list as much as possible.

Sorry for the confusion, but this is how Cole's has been run for a while now. I should have been a better enforcer in any case, so it's pretty much just my fault. Please note that we love the fact that other rooms are planting and growing on Wednesdays (and every other day), since more rooms means stronger, funnier comics, which means a funnier Chicago.

Thanks guys.

[HeyBigGuy]

One more thing. The contest to which Rebecca was refering is something we're doing for the next 5 weeks. "New comics" (those who have been doing standup for less than a year) and "experienced comics" (1+ years) will get a chance to compete for $50 bucks going head to head each week. There are two spots on the regular list for each (which you'll have to stay for and not come in as a Late Arrival), and each week we choose a winner from the two. Eventually all the winners will compete for $100 in May.

So, that's something.