I went to a new open mic today.
There was an interesting feature of this open mic,
in which the regulars seemed to sit in the seats
closest to the performer
and chat away,
even through the acts they seemed to know
– the acts they were just chatting with
during the last performance
a minute ago.

I was surprised when the audience behavior diminished a little
when I went up.
They were still inattentive and rude
but they seemed less so with me.
I used some of my tricks:
moving around with the mic
changing volume levels
approaching the noise makers,
getting in their space so that they are being observed in their actions.
It mitigated the noise a tad.

The open mic was not a successful experience
but not as bad as it could have been.
I’m a little surprised by the regulars’ behavior.
Why would they do that to each other?
Couldn’t they serve each other better than this?
I could totally understand treating strangers like trash,
but why be assholes to your friends?

They had my favorite shot available, though,
so all’s well in the world.
I shall return.