by Anna Weaver | 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 Weaver | 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 Weaver | Sep 4, 2015 | All Posts, tips for open mic performers, US open mics
Hoo boy, if ever a blog needed a subtitle, it’s this one. I’ve been to maybe 20 open mics total, a dozen of those outside North Carolina, and at least a few of the ones I attended have moved or ceased operation. Nonetheless, and with awareness that my sample size is...
by Anna Weaver | 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. But what if we don’t know what we like? If you’re new to poetry performance, here’s a reductive but well-meant list of common...
by Anna Weaver | Jan 11, 2015 | All Posts, tips for open mic performers
It hasn’t happened often, but more than once an open mic I showed up for failed to show up for itself. Once, I drove 900 miles from North Carolina to Maine to tick off what would’ve been my northeastern-most open mic ever. The night before, they posted...
by Anna Weaver | Dec 7, 2014 | All Posts, tips for open mic performers
So you’re going to, have been invited to, or are being dragged by your new lover to an open mic—and you want to know what you’re getting yourself into. Well, I haven’t seen it all, but I’ve seen a lot. Based on more than 4 years of going to...