Thursday Night Open Mic

Stand-up comedy open mic nights can be held at established comedy clubs but are more commonly held at other venues with or without a stage, often the upstairs or back room of a pub or bar, or at a bookstore, college campus, rock club, or coffeehouse. Less commonly, they are also held at venues such as strip clubs and comic book shops. Comedy clubs may be the only open mic establishments that have a green room, a backstage area for performers waiting to go on stage where no audience members are present.

Open mic nights give emerging comedians the opportunity to practice their stand-up routine, which they cannot do without a live audience. The audience for a typical comedy open mic is other comedians. Those underage must have their parents attend clubs with them. More experienced comedians may use open mics as an unpaid opportunity to work out newer material or a new character. Open mic comedy nights are most widespread in larger English-speaking cities with a well-established stand-up scene; the major examples include Boston, Chicago, London, and New York City. Stand-ups also use open mics for networking to find both paid and unpaid work opportunities, for making friends, or as a form of therapy.