On Open Mics
It’s not difficult to find a picture of me standing awkwardly in front of a crowd. Whether it be at an Open Mic, at a reading, or at one of my other events, I find myself often speaking to crowds, despite not particularly enjoying public speaking.
I love speaking to people, especially in person, but I don’t love when all eyes are on me in the room.
It’s kind of silly that I started an events collective.
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BRCOpenMics started after my previous collective (cohosted) shut down in a mutual agreement with that cohost. I had a very short window to decide what to do next and decided I loved the camaraderie of an open mic far too much to give up hosting them. I picked a name (by far my least favorite part of my community, I wish it was not named after me, but I also had to respect that the previous community had a name that was far too easy to duplicate), and I got to what I do best: building.
Building is my superpower. Not in the like construction sense (lol), but in the starting with a small idea and turning it into something much larger. When I started BRCOpenMics, I did have some turnover from the previous collective, but not much. Maybe 150-200 people. Now we are at over 2,300 followers. Vanity numbers are fine, but building word of mouth is key. I spent the first month or two cold emailing venues with a pitch on an Open Mic series that had had zero events. I pitched performers throughout New York on coming to events that had never happened, with people they’d never met.
Still, it worked. ALPHAVILLE in Brooklyn agreed to be our venue, even agreeing to my very strict ALL BRCOPENMICS EVENTS ARE FREE clause. People came out and performed and/or watched performances. Then again. Then again and again and again and one day I moved to Philadelphia, yet the Open Mics didn’t stop. Now we have monthly guest hosts and continued attendance. It’s wild to me.
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When I moved to Philadelphia, I faced the same task: building a community from scratch. I found a venue, I found artists, and recently I hosted my first successful Philadelphia Open Mic, with over 40 attendees and 18 performers. The venue (Triple Bottom Brewery) agreed to keep events free and have been working in synergy with me the whole way. I see such a bright future for events in Philadelphia.
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A few months into hosting Open Mics, I had a silly idea: why not get some local artists to play acoustic sets on my roof for like $15 an attendee and give all the money to charity? That idea quickly fizzled because of logistics, but I loved the concept, so I ran with it.
I did my usual and cold emailed people. First, I found a venue. Then, I found artists, Suddenly, Local Fest was born. The first Local Fest was home to over 115 attendees. Collectively, I’ve hosted four Local Fests, raising over $6,500 for charity. I’ve had the honor of working with artists such as Mer Marcum, My Mom Is Here, and Women’s National Hockey League.
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About a year into hosting Open Mics, a gym reached out to me expressing that they wanted to provide a third space for writers. Thus, a Reading Series was born. This month is the year-anniversary of the Reading Series, which has brought in countless writers and countless guests to hear their work. Even living in Philadelphia I make sure to get back to New York to host these.
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If you’re somehow still reading, you might be wondering the age old question that everyone asks me: if you’re spending so much time on these projects, you must be making decent money from all of this, right?
I have never made a dime.
I am not some rich guy either, finances are tough. But I believe in free third spaces, I believe in the venues giving me a chance, and I think if anyone deserves money for this stuff, it should be charities. I’m not doing anything I don’t want to do. The same way this isn’t a cash grab for the venues, it’s not a cash grab for me. The only difference between myself & the attendees is that I run an Instagram and I go on the stage 20 times instead of one. What I do can be replicated and has been replicated, many times more successfully!
But it will never be about profit or anything like that.
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The reason I cannot stop with these events is because of the joys of community. I hope everyone at some point in their lives get to feel the joy I feel when someone gets on the stage for the first time. The nervousness turning into confidence is so perfect every time. The slight pause at the end of the performance, followed by the roar from the crowd? Incredible.
I make a point of it to find people who don’t necessarily see themselves as finished products. Of course I work with refined musicians and poets who have done their fair share of live performances and Open Mics. I love to do that too. But where the sauce is is in people who are finding their voices. There’s a vulnerability in not knowing how good you are. I love that.
When someone comes up to me at the end of an Open Mic and excitedly tells me that that was their first time performing to a crowd, my heart melts. When someone can’t help but crack a smile when the crowd cheers them on, I feel so good. There are so many talented people in the world who aren’t being encouraged enough about how good they truly are.
None of that is to mention the performers who have their own little cheer sections of friends who have come to support them. That’s community! Or the people who have no one cheering them on, finding new friends and talking about their work with people they otherwise wouldn’t have met. That’s communuty!
As you can tell, I have a lot of feelings about this. BRCOpenMics is how (at least) two long-term romantic partnerships have formed. BRCOpenMics is how (at least) three best friend pairings have met. This isn’t something I take lightly. It means a lot to me.
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The last thing I will say is that if you are nervous about coming to an event, I highly encourage you to come and just sit and observe. I pride myself on a very chill, nobody’s an expert here kind of vibe. We’re all here to have fun and support each other. No one is going to come up to you at the end of your performance and say it was trash. No one is going to heckle. We’re just people expressing our work among people who enjoy that.
I want this to be a safe space for a very long time.
And if you do come, say hi to me at the end!
I want to thank you for trusting this space.
BRCOpenMics can be found on Instagram here.