by Anna | Aug 2, 2020 | All Posts, tips for open mic performers, virtual open mics
Here in the US, we’re at month four of not being able to gather in large groups. For people like me, that takes some of the sparkle out of my calendar—no shows to stalk and anticipate. (As a close friend of mine—who keeps a reminder of upcoming events where she can...
by Anna | Jul 25, 2020 | All Posts, tips for open mic hosts, tips for open mic performers, virtual open mics
One of the things I say a lot when I try—and I try often—to convey just how great an open mic is (or was) is that you just had to be there. In the room. In the space. With all the other people. Breathing in the poems and the music… …and the air. Which in most states...
by Anna | May 29, 2019 | All Posts, tips for open mic performers
A while back, I wrote about how to introduce yourself and your work at an open mic. This post is that post’s bookend. Open mic poets (and musicians and storytellers and comics) are an earnest lot. We’re amateurs and we know it—amateurs who aim to get better,...
by Anna | Sep 27, 2016 | All Posts, tips for open mic performers
In the last 6 years, I’ve probably gone to more than 50 open mic nights. Each night featured anywhere from 2 to 20 performers. And depending on format, those performers may’ve stepped to the mic as many as 3 times. Throwing out extremes and giving it my English...
by Anna | Jan 19, 2015 | All Posts, tips for open mic performers
Open mics are like hair styles and lovers and garden art and…well, anything we choose based on what we like or what fits. While I certainly haven’t seen it all, I’ve seen a lot. So here, with the usual caveats: a reductive but well-meant description of some of the...
by Anna | Jan 11, 2015 | All Posts, tips for open mic performers
The last two open mics I tried to attend found ways of not happening. One was on hiatus for December because its regular night fell too close to the holidays. The other seems to have lost its venue. So it goes sometimes with labor-of-love events. No one’s...
