Fourteen-year-old Erin Yaseen’s experience in front of an audience was limited to a couple of high school plays until recently, when she walked into Cafe Luna on open mike night.
Standing alone on stage in the small coffeehouse in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood, Yaseen tentatively launched into a tune from “Guys and Dolls,” a nervous quiver in her voice as she appeared before the audience of about 25.
But her voice grew stronger, her butterflies seemed to float away and the Chicago teen finished with a flourish–jumping from the stage to the floor with a jubilant smile.
“It was fun,” she exclaimed to her friends afterward. “You feel good about yourself. Everybody’s paying attention to you.”
Yaseen’s urge to perform is not unusual, according to the operators of cafes, bars, comedy clubs, bookstores and libraries in the southwest suburbs, many of which are offering their businesses to customers as venues for self-expression.
“People approached us about doing it,” said Linda Cooper, a Beverly area resident and co-owner of Cafe Luna. “We didn’t have to promote it at all. (Performers) came to us.”
Cafe Luna has had an open mike night on Fridays for several years, and MoJoe’s, a coffeehouse that opened in Orland Park several months ago, holds one on Wednesday nights.
“My whole business started with the premise of giving local people the chance to display their talent,” said Paula Djikas, owner of MoJoe’s, where the works of local artists decorate the walls.
Of course, the coffee business perks up when performers and their friends come on open mike night. Djikas estimated that about 30 acts can appear a night, with up to 100 people in the audience on a single evening.
For business owners, open mike nights are a way to provide entertainment, build a loyal clientele and become more recognizable.
“(Open mike) is a human connection,” Cooper explained. “With the advent of shopping malls that are so sterile, this is a community-maker.”
To understand why performers seek to have their voices heard above the din of customers’ chatter or over the buzz of cash registers, one must understand that art is best when shared, said Mary Tully of Frankfort. Tully and other members of a local writer’s group, “The Muse,” have read their poetry, prose and short stories at monthly open mike sessions at Borders Books, Music & Cafe in Orland Park.
“It builds your confidence in your work,” Tully said. “Just because you haven’t been published doesn’t mean your work isn’t good. Some of the best work out there might be sitting in someone’s desk drawer and no one is ever going to read it.”
The Bolingbrook and Oak Lawn libraries also sponsor open mike nights. Tasha Welch, a librarian in Bolingbrook, said the concept appeals to all generations, and artists as young as 6th graders have read their works at the library.
“There are a lot of kids out there who are writing,” Welch said, “but they don’t have a forum (for sharing) their work unless it is required for them to do in class.”
For creative types of all sorts and of every age, open mike nights are a way to connect with others who have similar interests. The level of performances may be uneven, but each person’s contribution is valuable, Tully said.
“You can learn from everyone you hear (reading poetry or prose),” she explained. “You get ideas, you see different styles and different subject matters.”
Hooking up with other musicians is one of the reasons that Gary Scott of Chicago often goes on Wednesdays to open mike night at Champ’s, a bar in Burbank.
Tapping his foot as a band played Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back in Town” to a crowd of about 35, Scott said open mike nights are his best chance to meet and talk with other musicians.
“It’s kind of a social event because a lot of musicians are busy (with paying gigs) on weekend nights,” he said.
Scott is a drummer with a five-person alternative rock band called Camoflage Guru. He said open mike nights give new performers precious experience on stage as well as encouragement from their peers.
“It’s a good way to nurture people who are younger than you,” Scott said. “(More experienced musicians) try to encourage growth. We don’t ridicule each other. It’s basically just fun.”
Gary Sykes, a bar manager at Joe Bailly’s Restaurant and Saloon in Chicago, which has open mike night on Tuesdays, agreed.
“People seem to enjoy (open mikes) regardless of the acts,” he said. “If an act isn’t quite up to snuff, you don’t get people storming out. Customers are really sympathetic.”
Sarah Waltman and Lenore Lopez, both of Blue Island, were in the audience at Cafe Luna on the night when Yaseen made her a capella debut.
Although they have no desire to perform, the two said they enjoy going to open mike nights for the unexpected gem of a performance or the occasional dud that makes an evening memorable.
“One night there was a comedian in here who was really bad,” Lopez said. “It was painful to watch. But, on the same night there was a jazz band that was great. They were really top-quality musicians.”
Even when an act is less than perfect, Lopez said, she admires the guts it takes to get up in front of an audience and perform.
“I think it’s interesting to see people who have the nerve to get up there and try something,” she said.
One of the perks of Sykes’ job at Joe Bailly’s is discovering a high-caliber musician. He started the open mike night as a way to foster a local music scene.
“We’ve got so much local talent,” he said. “Sometimes you’ll get a stupendous musician who just loves music and shows up to play.”
Laughter is music of another sort and it is what Bill Brady, owner of Senese’s Barrel of Laughs, hopes to hear at his Oak Lawn comedy club.
Here, open mike nights are called guest sets and provide a venue for aspiring comics to learn their craft.
“The only way you can learn the trade is by being on stage,” Brady explained. “You can try (your act) in front of a mirror, but it doesn’t work. You need an audience.”
Even longtime performers rely on open mike nights to eliminate jokes that fizzle and to hone those that draw guffaws, he said. Failing to wring even a chuckle from an audience is not necessarily a failure on open mike night, Brady explained.
“You have to bomb in order to ever be any good,” he said.
Fortunately, Ronnie Gold, 39, whose full-time job is stock broker, did not bomb when he appeared at a recent Thursday night guest set at Senese’s.
His 10-minute act, which touched on health clubs, the singles scene and corporate life, drew hearty laughs from the audience of about 30 people. Afterward, Gold, who lives in Lake Bluff, said the guest set was a good experience.
“You’re trying out things and seeing what works and what doesn’t,” he said. “It feels good (when the crowd responds), you know that you created something that is successful.”
That is how Sherry Stolfe-Gorski of Chicago feels when her act goes over well. Wearing a black cowboy hat, T-shirt and jeans, she is half of a guitar-playing duo called “Two Basic Broads” and who made a recent appearance at Cafe Luna. Her partner is Sharon Quigley, also of Chicago.
The two became musically intertwined about six years ago, and although they perform for pay, they continue to take part in open mike nights. Stolfe-Gorski said the unpaid stage time has improved their act.
“We’ve developed and gotten so much better over the last few years,” Stolfe-Gorski said. “(Playing open mikes) gives us confidence and courage.”
Strumming their guitars to a song they wrote called “Junk Food Blues,” the two weren’t fazed when a guitar string snapped on Quigley’s instrument, and neither was the crowd, whose members laughed and clapped along.
Stolfe-Gorski said the duo has developed a loyal following through the years and even sends out fliers to a mailing list of 200 when they do open mikes.
The two would not mind lining up more paying musical jobs, but performing is its own reward, she said.
“It’s such an awesome feeling,” Stolfe-Gorski said. “You feel good inside because you’re connecting (with the audience). You know you’re giving your all, and that’s what it is all about.”
