How-to setup and run an open mic night?

[Phil]

So we found a Irish pub that is willing to give us their stage for an open mic night. They seem willing to do whatever it is we need. Would love to hear your thoughts and comments on my points below...

- The open mic concept is very new here in Finland. There are no true open mic nights, although there are clubs who'll kinda allow just about anyone up on stage if they ask - So we're gonna start with a monthly night, I don't think we'd get enough talent if we did it weekly.

- What nights of the week are best? We're thinking Thursday because there isn't much other comedy in Helsinki on Thursdays. I'm afraid Monday or Tuesday nights wouldn't get enough people out there. Wednesdays has a weekly club around the corner. My concerns with Thursdays is there could be too many people out drinking and not interested in our show.

- How long is a descent show to start off with? We're thinking one hour to start at least.

- What's a good time to kick things off? The pub has live music each night that starts around 10pm or so, so we need to finish before that.

- The show will be free. We couldn't charge even if we wanted to, it's one thing the pub won't allow as all their events are free.

- The venue has only done comedy once (a couple weeks ago, a show I put together). The stage is in the corner of a rather large bar, plenty of chairs and tables around, and plenty of other rooms for people to go if they rather chat than listen.

- My friend who's running this with me will host each month, he's been doing comedy in Finland for three years, he'll be great.

...I'm sure there's a million other things I'm missing. What else should I look out for? Should I do/not do? Both my friend and I are marketing professionals, so we're not too worried about properly marketing the event.

Being as inexperienced as I am in comedy doing just three shows so far, I'm the last person who should be doing this, but fuck it.

Thanks gals & guys!

[Brian J.]

How did you get the bar to agree to the open mic? Do they know you or did you just go in and ask?

I've tried two bars already and both said they already had comedy nights and they don't want to do it again.

As far as what night, chances are the bar will make you take a night with little business in the hopes that you can bring in an audience. Let me know how you go about marketing it, I have trouble getting people to show up to open mics.

"Hey man do you want to go to an open mic?"
"How much are they charging for a beer?"
"$5."
"Screw that."

[Phil]

How did you get the bar to agree to the open mic? Do they know you or did you just go in and ask?

They approached me after seeing my set and asked if I would perform. The show went well and I spoke to them about doing more shows, they've been thinking about doing comedy shows for a while.

Stand-up is currently going through a surge in Finland right now, and it's a relatively new concept here, unlike the states who's had multiple surges. It will be interesting to see when Finland goes through it's first stand-up rut. (I wonder how a poor economy effects live comedy?)

I have trouble getting people to show up to open mics.

I'm more worried about finding people to get on stage as this will be an English show in a nation that speaks Finnish. But Finns speak excellent English, especially in Helsinki and especially young people.

Professional Finnish comics want to work outside Finland, but of course they'd need to perform in English, but there's no place for them to practice in English...this could be the place. So we'd get famous Finnish comics working out club for free...that's the plan at least. :-)

[punchdrunkblake]

If you check out Matt Ruby's site (www.sandpapersuit.com) and browse the archives he has a great list of things that make an open mic night work. After my hellish experience with this last night the thing freshest in my mind is to really make it work the stage needs to be away from the bar in a quiet spot of the club. It's hard to build tension and keep people focused when there's people screaming nearby because they're about to do shots or a soccer team on TV scored a goal or what have you.

[Gene George]

Here's my list:

You're on the right track with marketing it. Promote it hard, far and wide as an amateur comedy night. Get civilian "asses on seats" let people know it's open signups but first and formost promote it as a comedy show. Doing a mic in front of 0 non-comics can be a joy killer. This will also bring people into the venue to buy beer and more importantly SEE COMEDY.

Pick a set time and stick with it. 5 minute sets are the rule, some do 3 minutes, I wouldn't. Base your run time on that so 20 comics @ 5 mins each plus some overhead is a 2 hour show. I personally think an hour or an hour and a half is a good amount in a non comedy club venue.

Have a structured sign up process. Either "book" your mike ahead of time via email or at the venue but make sure it isn't loose. I don't know if the amount of folks interested in stand-up in Helsinki can compare to a market like LA or NYC but I tell you here it's a must - if you have a large crowd and limited slots I have found the "fairest" way is a lottery with comedians who are chosen drawn randomly to pick their slots on the list.

Other than that as mentioned Matt Ruby hits the technical highs and lows. If you are in a seperate space that can be lit and PA'd well you're 90% there.

[Phil]

Thanks Gene!!

[Phil]

Hey here's a question for you guys -

Have you ever seen any interesting formats for an open mic? Like for instance, an amateur night near here has a Tuesday night Gong Show. I haven't been yet, but there's some judges, and the audience can participate too. Once you get three gongs you're done (although i think everyone gets a minimum 5 mins)

And at another night during intermission, they had a joke contest - Two random people each named a random thing. Everyone in the audience then had to write a joke how the two are related to one another. Then the best were read outloud, the jokes with the most laughter got prizes. it went over well.

I'd like to hear some more fun ideas that could make the night interesting...

[pg13]

Don't do Gong Shows. Don't train an audience to disrespect those on stage.

The best variant of an "open mic" style show that I've ever seen is simply to book a solid comic to do a significant amount of time (15-20 minutes) at the end of the show...and to have that CLEAR in the audiences mind, that their reward for sitting through the open mic part of the night is that someone good is going to wrap things up.

pg--seattle

[Gene George]

Don't do Gong Shows. Don't train an audience to disrespect those on stage.

The best variant of an "open mic" style show that I've ever seen is simply to book a solid comic to do a significant amount of time (15-20 minutes) at the end of the show...and to have that CLEAR in the audiences mind, that their reward for sitting through the open mic part of the night is that someone good is going to wrap things up.

pg--seattle

100% agree with PG here gonging a comedian on a variety show might be OK, but on a comedy show it'd be the kiss of death.

If you need to get tricksy I'd say you're better off with a comedy contest vibe where people vote for their favorite comic of the night -after all the comics have performed. Make it for a gag-prize or for a 10 minute set next week or something. Worst thing you risk with a contest is turning it into a bringer show of sorts.

Considering how many times I've been to Triclops open mic which used to open for their booked show a "headliner" on the bill is a great idea that I can't believe I didn't think of.

[punkdc]

Don't do Gong Shows. Don't train an audience to disrespect those on stage.

My school just had a contest with this rule and it was a NIGHTMARE. People were told to boo as loud as they could, so the minute any comic stepped on stage booing starts ASAP. What a disgrace.

[Brandon Scott Wolf]

My school just had a contest with this rule and it was a NIGHTMARE. People were told to boo as loud as they could, so the minute any comic stepped on stage booing starts ASAP. What a disgrace.

I would say stick with a normal open mic set up where people get 5 minutes each. If someone's not that entertaining give them the light at about 3/4 minutes and then move on to the next person. If someone is very funny, maybe let them go on for a few minutes more. Just don't tell the audience to boo from the start or have any control in terms of how long the comic is on stage. It's just an open mic after all. Hope you enjoy it though!

[KevinLee]

I'm trying to set up an anything-goes-open-mic at the Double Door in chicago. Its a rock club so the only way they would be interested in an open mic is if I let musicians perform. I like the idea but am unsure how to run it. Any suggestions?

[Gene George]

I'm trying to set up an anything-goes-open-mic at the Double Door in chicago. Its a rock club so the only way they would be interested in an open mic is if I let musicians perform. I like the idea but am unsure how to run it. Any suggestions?

Mixed mics are tricky, the best ones I have seen have solid rules for all types of performers. You don't want the music peeps able to do 1 song and make it a 25 minute rock opera, while the comics get 5 minutes, or whatever. Be very clear and set the expectations early.

[Osquip]

I'm trying to set up an anything-goes-open-mic at the Double Door in chicago. Its a rock club so the only way they would be interested in an open mic is if I let musicians perform. I like the idea but am unsure how to run it. Any suggestions?

I would suggest 5 minutes for comics and 2 songs/10 minutes for music. Give both comics and musicians the light about a minute before their time is up. Don't be afraid to kick someone off stage. You're not the dick for kicking them off, they're the dick for going over their time. You should maybe have separate sign-up lists for bands and comics so you can go back and forth.

[KevinLee]

Good call on two lists Osquip. Thanks! You too, Gene!

[Phil]

Here's a question for you guys - How do setup the open mic's lineup?

Like, let's say you have...
- 2 seasoned comics
- 1 first-timer
- 2 who will surely suck
- 3 newbies who are getting better
- Plus 1 intermission

...how would you prepare the lineup?

[Osquip]

How are you doing the sign-up? If there's only 8 people, I can't imagine why you'd need an intermission. How much time are you giving people?

I personally prefer there to just be a list numbered 1-whatever. Let people sign-up for whatever slot they want as they get there. Some places do a random drawing for slots as well which is o.k. but can be annoying. If it's truly an open mic and not a somewhat booked show then messing with the line-up based on perceived ability could cause some to have negative feelings towards you.

[pg13]

One thing to consider is the STYLE of their performance as well as their levels of experience and/or their likelihood of success.

You need to consider how low-energy and high-energy performers will work before/after each other.

Other than that, just like you'd protect new jokes in your set by putting them after jokes that you know work and followed by jokes you know work...you try to give everyone the best chance for success.

Looking at your imagined list, Phil...I'd have one of the seasoned comics be the MC (with instructions to get the laughs going again if someone truly tanks it) and the other seasoned comic be the show closer.

So, not knowing their individual styles, my best guest would be something like this:

seasoned comic as MC
second most promising newbie
first timer
third most promising newbie
worst sucker
most promising newbie
better sucker
seasoned comic

(I might also risk putting both of the suckers together so there's momentum for the show closer, but doing it the way I outlined above assumes that the show closing seasoned comic can recover from almost anything.)

One other important and practical thing to consider is "who brought the most friends to watch them perform"--and you always want to put those people up towards the end of the show.

pg--ever so helpful--madison, wisconsin

[Phil]

How are you doing the sign-up? If there's only 8 people, I can't imagine why you'd need an intermission. How much time are you giving people?

We're wedged in between two other shows, so we only have 90 minutes total.

[Phil]

seasoned comic as MC
second most promising newbie
first timer
third most promising newbie
worst sucker
most promising newbie
better sucker
seasoned comic

Yours truly is the MC. :-)

Thanks for the recommendation! If you had to have an intermission, where in there would you throw it?

I've found that going on after the break can be challenging at times, hopefully I'll be able to tell a few jokes after the break to get the show back in gear.