Open Mic Recap @ Doc Watson’s

Last night I hung out with Jay Early and John Whitlock from my old band, Stickfigure, for the first time in years. Jay tends bar up at Doc Watsons on Tuesday nights when they have their open mic. The number of comedians surprised me. Local comedians interest me because they are the only performers who get constant feedback from the audience. Musicians and poets have to rely on a single audience reaction after completing the song or poem, which is usually altered by the number of friends in the audience or the talent level of everyone before them. Comedians have to make people laugh all the way through their routine and that’s a freaking hard thing to do. Local comedians rarely have their timing down and you end up hearing ghosts of good jokes.

I liked most of the poets who read and some of the performers. I enjoyed Fishstick a lot. The guy before me, Alton, played a sweet Guild that I would have loved to have tried.

Doc Watsons used to have a pretty good website, but now it’s terrible. What the hell happened?

On the way home I met a guy on the speed line who went to my high school, but he started there after I graduated.