Starting your own open mic...

[nixonjames]

So I've been at this about a year. Initially I was shy of starting a night b/c of the consistent commitment and uncertain turnout.

But I'm coming around to the idea of having a weekly opportunity to do 20-30minutes. As I work full time getting out every night is impossible so I typically do 2 om's week and avg probably 10-15min on the mic/wk. This is why I'm considering the open mic route.

I'm in Boston so navigating this is a little dicey.
At a glance ...
Sunday - 2 open mics 6pm & 9pm. 1 club bringer.
Monday - 5 open mics from 6pm - 10pm start times.
Tuesday - 1 weekly, 2 biweekly. Also traditionally the night of Boston Comedy softball league games for a big chunk of the year.
Wednesday - 3 show 'n go. 1 booked. 1 club booked as well.
Thursday - 1 but bad for sox games in the way.
Fri/Sat. Not considering so not looking.

Anyways I'm thinking of leaning on Wednesday. One of the Tuesday shows is in a area with a nearby bar I think would work and was thinking of doing one Wednesday if they were open to it.

Also been considering packing it with the bar on a trivia night for a preset audience.

Ultimately I'm curious regarding negotiating the details of something like this. What should I expect to get re residuals from the start and would you recommend this be something negotiated after starting the mic or before?

Also I'm not a huge fan of the pure show 'n go mentality and was thinking of doing a blend with X# of show 'n go spots and a handful of longer booked sets. So I could advertise a bit easier.

[pg13]

Boston is already incredibly saturated with comedy, Tex. As you've detailed, there's plenty of stage time available for comics...and plenty of opportunities already for people who want to see comedy to see comedy...

Making decisions based on what YOU want (more stage time that fits into your schedule) is rarely a good business plan. Good business plans are MARKET driven.

If your only option for stage time in an area is a bringer, it's not a bad idea to avoid that and create something yourself...but that's certainly not true in Boston. You happen to be in a town that has LOTS of comedy opportunities, which has drawn lots of comedians to join you in filling those opportunities...making things challenging and, I wouldn't doubt, frustrating...

...and the reason that you may find "bringer" shows in Boston is because there is a market (a lot of comedians that want more stage time) for a business plan to be "successfully" built around extract money from them (by making them "pay" for the stage time they want). That's a quite different beast from there being a market for non-performers wanting to pay to SEE comedy (much less "open mic" caliber comedy...)

Sometimes, when you've got it good...the best thing is to not be greedy. You're doing two open mics a week and getting 10-15 minutes of stage time every week--plenty of people in plenty of the scenes around the world are dying with envy over what you have available to you already.

pg--Bringer shows are exploiting comics' frustration, desperation and impatience...selling them the illusion of opportunity, achievement and progress. It is only an illusion, as what you're really doing is turning yourself into fuel for an evil, destructive machine.--the blessed and mostly bringer-free pacific northwest

[nixonjames]

Ya but even with that many open mics you still have nights where there are 30 even 40 people on a list and it goes for 4 hours. When you have a limited schedule of opportunity I think we could handle one on a night that's not too full that's got public transportation options.

Many of the mics are in places it's very inconvenient to attend without a vehicle so that other part of my thought process.

I'm not 'planning' necessarily but I feel like if the right opportunity presented itself I could run a mic better than many I see and learn from those I like to make it better.

That being said I get your point re not scoffing at opportunity others would love to have... Maybe I'll see if a couple of 'em die and try it then.... Tho there is one place I have in mind that if they wanted to do one I'd love to do there. We'll see.

As far as logistics tho... re residual. Should this be determined in the planning stages with the bar or after you've established the night as a draw?

[mikemayberry]

Start your own night, do it better than the competition, and negotiate the money in advance. I also don't think you should do an open mic. It is less work, but unless the venue is really excited to have a bunch of poor white guys sitting around drinking water and saying cunt a lot, it probably won't last very long. Do a show where you book a couple of comics that are middle/openers to do 20 minutes each, have a couple open mic'ers do 10 minutes and do your time up front. Do it on a Tuesday and you should be able to fill the spots with comics that can at least keep the audience engaged. I have been doing comedy for about a year, and I am thinking of doing something similar too. But, I don't think doing that much time (20-30 minutes) every night is a good idea. Ideally people will start attending on a regular basis (and paying) and it will get old fast listening to you work through your half hour over and over. I would say do 10 minutes or so usually, then periodically close out the show with your half hour.

The more important part of all of this is getting people to your event, preferably people that are drinking (and eating if your venue sells food) and specifically coming out to see your show. Start contacting community groups and businesses in the area and offering them b1g1 free tickets, free appetizers, hand jobs by the open mic'ers, whatever you can do to get people to come out. They won't all love it, but some of them will, and maybe they'll come back and actually pay.

In the midwest, you can get decent comics for shows like this for $30-50 that will be able to hold their own for 20 minutes. I wouldn't pay the open mic'ers anything, maybe buy them a beer or something.

The bad part about running your own night is that you have to be the asshole and keep the crowd in line. Shut down hecklers right away and kick them out immediately. Work this out with the venue ahead of time as the hecklers might be regulars that might turn the owner against you. You really have to own the room while the show is on, and whoever runs the venue has to understand that explicitly in advance.

These are the things that I have been thinking about on my end, maybe some of it will help you too.

[MattLewis]

as far as negotiating with a bar, my opinion is if they are making a shitload of money soley based on your comedy, you should be well compensated.

If the bar already had a crowd, they didn't need you, and you should be happy with the stage time and a few free drinks.

If they were dead, and you brought them business, yeah ask for a dollar or two per head, or 5% of the sales something like that.

If the list is 40 people, and you don't like it; don't let it get that long. I have always felt that no one is owed stage time. just take care of the people that were there earliest.

[mikemayberry]

Matt mentioned a couple of things I wanted to expand on, and I noticed something else in the first post I wanted to respond to.

First, in the original post you mentioned something about having trivia before comedy. I don't know how other people feel about this, but I don't like it. Not just anyone is going to want to watch mediocre comedy - and lets face it, at a bar show like the one you will be arranging it is mediocre comedy. Your job is to get people to come watch comedy, you don't want random people in the venue that are not there for your show.

Now, Matt mentioned how to handle the venue owner if the venue was packed/dead. I think this is important. You want to find a dead bar. If you can bring 20-30 people that are drinking/eating you are turning a losing night at least into a break even night and the bar owner will love you.

Matt also suggested asking for $1-2 per person if you are bringing a crowd. I don't like this technique because I think it takes control away from you - if you are doing a booked show anyway. I think that you should charge at the door and keep 100% of the proceeds - the venue can make their money selling drinks/food. Charge $8/person and if you can get 25 people to pay that, you have enough to pay your comics, money left to buy people a few drinks that helped you and a little to market your show.

That was the other thought I had. You should probably ask the open mic'ers to take tickets and work the door for you so that you don't have to be anchored to the door before the show starts. I think most people would be glad to help you.

And also ask people for their emails. Even if you are only getting 1 in 10 people to give it, you can generate a pretty decent sized list in a pretty short period of time. Just shoot them emails once a month or so and let them know what is coming up to keep them coming back. And facebook/twitter wouldn't be a bad idea either.

Oh shit, this is starting to resemble work right? Well, on the nights that you get 100 people to pay, that work doesn't really feel like work at all. And even if that doesn't or rarely happens, you are getting stage time on your own terms, which is pretty awesome.

[Americas Team]

Find a good venue. The comedy should be in a room that people can choose to be in or not. Don't do the comedy in a place where they turn the game off and put you on the stage.

Make sure there is a physical stage, reasonable lighting and you can get good sound.

Talk to the owner, or manager, and let them know you want to build something special. If they are on board that is a plus.

Make the show cool. Make it flow fast. You will build something that will last.

Don't try to do 30 minutes a night. That is the worst reason to run any kind of show. If you get up and do that much time between comics people will really start to hate you. Especially since you are learning to do comedy.

Have fun. It will be a lot of work but it can be worth it.

[nixonjames]

awesome this is what i was hoping for. some clarity.

so.

IF i decide to do this.
I'm thinking.
I know the bar and location and if they're down with it then I'll consider it otherwise not gonna bother.
Will guarantee food/drink specials for comics/attendees but save making anyone pay for now.
Open with 7-10.
Then if it lags just do a joke if necessary to bring the room back up.
Will still be good exp hosting and getting the room started and keeping it going.

Format: Wednesday night: 6-9/10. I want to give some folks the opportunity to come early and do my show then still get in another set around the city after so I'm not directly competing with a friend of mine that runs the other weds show.

I like the hybrid idea a lot so I'm leaning on 4 10minute booked sets
6:45/7:30/8:15/9:00 and then have a natural cap to the evening. 4minute sets (expecting 5 for turnover/intro) for show 'n go slots between the booked sets.

Looks like I can put up over 30 folks this way. Let some busy more pro guys plan their booked times so they don't have to be there the whole time and the show still benefits from their being there.

Lots of stuff in the air but I might put this in my back pocket til I hear about some rooms closing.

[pg13]

Good Flying Spaghetti Monster, no.

90 minutes.

That's how long your show should be. (It'll end up being 2 hours, but plan for 90 minutes.)

That's as long as the human brain can possibly be asked to pay attention, especially while drinking.

Leave people wanting more, if possible. You're under NO obligation to provide stage time to anyone and everyone who wants it. You ARE, however, under an obligation to provide an entertainment experience worthy of being repeated--not only for YOUR show but for "comedy" in general.

A 3-4 hour comedy show, filled with open mic'rs, might just be some people's LAST comedy experience.

pg--And "how much should the host do up front" should be based on how good the host is, how long it takes to get the audience paying attention to the show and ready to laugh. If you can get the show rolling after a couple of jokes...awesome...cut your set short and get on with it. I worry about your goal for this show being just to give yourself more stage time...as that's no one's goal but your own...yet you're involving a LOT of other people, who you will have some responsibility to...--pacific northwest

[nixonjames]

LOL pg. I like the seattle scene way better already.
In boston you're lucky if a mic takes less than 3 hours. I was shading on the short side but I get your point.

Since I don't like talking THAT much about my own motivations I see that I've mischaracterized them. Getting more time consistently is really just one of my many motivations for this.

Others include:
Networking - b/c I can't get out every night there are many folks that put on shows on nights that I can't get to and thus would not be able to see them about time on shows they produce other than the open. i don't own a car so meeting folks at my open mic could help me meet up with folks that drive up to NH to some great mics there i've missed out on for lack of wheels
Practice - initially i wasn't a huge fan of the idea of hosting but after seeing how the ladder is in place so to speak it's a skill i want to perfect.
Practice - i want a regular, scheduled, day/time that i know i'll do at least a set. and maybe be able to sneak in a couple of oneliners here 'n there.

so ... as you should be able to see. this isn't so much about getting that 'extra' time as it is about providing a regular opportunity on multiple levels for me as a comic. i'm also not running head first into this. I have an idea of the type of mic although it's still in the planning stages (why i'm here gathering ideas/advice)

i'm realizing that boston is a different beast. i'm debating a biweekly instead of weekly mic. i'm not looking to start this until january at the earliest so it's really no rush

i get the 'leave them wanting more' idea but i dunno that this type of room will give me that possibility. every popular open mic in boston regularly draws 30-40 comics. if i cut it down to 90 minutes with 4 10min booked spots i'm looking at maybe 20 4min sets. i'd be happy with that but i don't want people not to come b/c it's not a guarantee of time if there are always other mics to attend... anyways there is still much left to drawing board.

[Bucky_Sinister]

Good Flying Spaghetti Monster, no.

90 minutes.

That's how long your show should be. (It'll end up being 2 hours, but plan for 90 minutes.)

agreed.

[Bucky_Sinister]

So I've been at this about a year.

A year in and you're trying to run an event? You're a very motivated and determined man.

Look, don't think about it too much. Just do it. There will be nine crappy things about it but one awesome thing. Best case, you start a really cool night for comics. Worst case, it fails miserably, but you gain respect for other people who run events, and the next time you try it, it will be easier.

Have you thought about jumping in with someone else? Volunteering to help another night run more smoothly? You could focus on one aspect of the show that way. You would learn a lot.

[Just Brett]

I think he was talking about doing stand up for a year, and just recently wanting to start an open mic.

[nixonjames]

eh i have an economics degree and a law degree so details of negotiating stuff for business is sometimes easier for me to head plan than comedy ha.

sharing a night is something i've thought about but i might be too much of a control freak, and i have the worry that if i hop in with someone else there's an expectation to meet that i may not be comfy with. iono

i'm consistently feeling like most of us are nuts in boston... one of my friends just did his 300th show/mic and is 3 weeks post his 1 year anniversary... this is also when i found out that people apparently keep track of that... i have no idea

[pg13]

Tex,

Have you been to Great Scott?

pg--curious--pacific northwest

[nixonjames]

Oh yes quite a few times. Tho only for bands/drinking/dancing so far. But they have a weekly comedy show on Fridays, I'm booked for December there so kinda needa see the show a few times beforehand... stupid job.