Open Mic Night at Politics & Prose Bookstore

Open Mic Night at Politics & Prose Bookstore

October 23, 2015

Performers shared their work with the audience and other artists

On Friday October 23rd, I attended an open mic night at Politics & Prose Bookstore in Washington D.C. It is a weekly event and was attended by roughly 25-30 people. The open mic night is held in the coffee shop portion of the bookstore, and there were performers of poetry, spoken word, and songs. The event started at 8pm, which is presumably a time when not as many people would usually buy coffee, so the event brings in customers to the shop. It is a relatively straightforward event to run. There was one man there taking the names of people who wanted to perform and calling them up when it was their turn. It was unclear whether he was a store employee or a regular volunteer. Other than that, the event attendees brought the entertainment. Everyone was able to do one song or poem, and then we went back to the start of the list for people who wanted to perform again. This ensured that everyone who wanted to was able to perform, and the well oiled system ran very smoothly. There was also a featured performer who performed three songs in a row in the middle of the event. 

Nothing says autumn in D.C. like listening to an open mic night
in an independent bookstore while drinking apple cider

The atmosphere was very relaxed and informal. All of the stakeholders, including performers, attendees, Politics & Prose, and the employees of the coffee shop, appeared to enjoy the event. I did not perform but enjoyed watching the performers perform something they were passionate about.