Reservations

NO RESERVATIONS.  First Come First Serve.  Get there early seats fill up fast.

Parking

Metro Accesible or Free and Meter Parking on Streets (watch for permitted parking ares) and in Garages.

$5 open-air parking lot on North Fillmore Street.  From Wilson Boulevard take a right on N Fillmore (just before Ri Ra).  Parking lot on left.

Parking Garage at 1303 N. Fillmore St. $6 after 6pm.  From Wilson BLVD: Left on N. Fillmore St.  Left into garage between WOW and ORVIS.

MORE Parking Options Here :  http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/EnvironmentalServices/dot/traffic/parking/RB/images/file78041.pdf

http://www.clarendon.org/getting-here/parking/

Food and Drinks

Full Bar and Menu

RI RA MENU LINK:             http://www.rira.com/arlington/food/food-menus/

Audience Etiquette

1. CELL PHONES OFF PLEASE

2. NO CAMERAS, AUDIO OR VIDEO RECORDING OR TAPING ALLOWED

3.  DON’T BE A TALKY TALKERSON®.  If need to chat during show go to the bar downstairs. Carrying on a conversation during the show is disrespectful to the comics onstage and rude to the people sitting near you and our guests.  They came to hear the comics talk, not you.  Please whisper when ordering food and drinks.

4. Double-doors at bottom of stairs: Please close the doors behind you so no noise filters in from main bar.

5. Ladies: Please don’t hang purses on backs of chairs, they block our skinny aisleways and make life difficult for servers. Please stow purses under your chair or table.

6.THOU SHALT NOT MAKE COMMENTS OUTLOUD TO THE COMIC ONSTAGE.  What an audience member considers “playfully joining in” is in fact a jarring interruption to a comic’s carefully scripted routine.  Golden Rule:  don’t join in unless comic invites you into the converstaion.  If you feel like wearing your partici-pants®, save it for our “Everybody’s A Comedian”® joke contest segment.  Just 1 short setup/punchline joke please.  NO STORIES. STORIES ARE NOT FUNNY.

7. If you must throw something, throw money.

Who’s on

See the areas best seasoned professionals and amateurs hone old material and try new, as well as meet the Bright New Faces™ of comedy as they take the stage for the first time. 12-15 comics per show each doing 3 to 10 minute sets. Enjoy a night of diverse comedy.

Each show is a mix of 80% pros who do long sets(7-10-15mins,etc) and 20% newbies who do short sets (3mins).  Most other free open mic comedy shows are a random mix of pros & newbies, resulting in a hit-or-miss show. Our shows are structured so you will always see a good show as the bulk of the time goes to the pros, with just a sprinkling of 3min nervous newbies thrown in.

COMICS: Want to perform at any of our shows? Please no walk-ons, or phone calls all shows are pre-booked by email only. Trying Stand-up for the first time? “Newbies” are Welcome! Please EMAIL ONLY CurtShackelford@verizon.net to sign-up to perform.

Seating Policy

First Come First Serve, No Reservations!  Please No holding/saving of seats for people who haven’t arrived yet.  We must give the seats to people who are IN the showroom to be fair.  Seats fill up fast.  Please Arrive Early!  Seating is open as early as you can get there.  The room seats 45.  Full dinner and drink menu available if you want to eat before the show.

Ladies: Please don’t hang purses on backs of chairs, they block our skinny aisleways and make life difficult for servers. Please stow purses under your chair or table..

Standing Room Only: Please be careful not to block aisles, stairwells, or computer terminals so our comics and customers can get through and our servers can place the orders and serve the trays of food/bevs.  Be careful not to stand where you’re blocking someone else’s view of the stage.  Please do not to lean on light switches we don’t want room lights suddenly turned on during the show, and obviously, ditto for fire alarm boxes.

Arriving late while show in progress: if empty seats are near stage, please wait until the “comic switch” to take those seats so we don’t disrupt the performance. A comic switch comes every few minutes, so you won’t have to stand too long.

Please Note:  During the summer months when the outdoor patio is open to diners, it will be closed to the show.  This is to avoid oustide noise disruption to the show and complaints from residential neighbors about the sound and content.  Please sit inside if you want to see the show.

Joke Contest

“Everybody’s A Comedian®” Joke Contest

At the end of every show we do a joke contest segment we call “Everybody’s A Comedian”® where we invite 3 “non-com”* volunteers from the audience to hop up on stage and tell a joke.

Best joke wins $25 cash and 2 free tickets to our “Laugh Riot at the Hyatt” Saturday night show at the Hyatt Hotel in Bethesda, MD .

Hyatt Saturday show only: winner also receives “CRUSHER” T-shirt.

Rules for the Joke Contest:

There is no advance sign-up for the Joke Contest.  After the final comic is finished, when the MC asks who would like to participate, just walk up to the stage. The spotlight is bright so we can’t see you if you raise your hand, so just walk on up to the stage.

Have your joke prepared and ready to tell, use notes if that helps.

Jokes must not exceed 30-seconds long from when you take the stage to delivery of your punchline. Going over the 30-seconds mark will disqualify you. Practice your joke with a stopwatch to be sure you stay under the 30-seconds limit.

Jokes must be in setup-punchline format, as in “ Two guys walk into a bar….

NO STORIES FROM REAL LIFE. STORIES ARE NOT FUNNY. They are also too long to fit the 30-seconds time limit.

Must stand on the stage to tell your joke.  The audience cannot see you if you are just standing on floor.

As soon as you step on stage, start your joke. Leave the mic in the mic stand-don’t waste your time wrestling it out of the mic stand.  Stand close to the mic-almost touching- so everyone can hear you. You’ve only got 30 seconds, so skip any background info about you or the origin of your joke. Running over 30-seconds time limit disqualifies you, so time  your joke with a stopwatch  before the show to be sure it’s within the limit.

After you tell your joke step off stage and stand on floor next to stage to await voting by applause when everyone is done. Winner is chosen by audience applause.

When MC says your name and your punchline, step forward and raise your hand so audience remembers which joke goes with which face.

If a tie, Producer will pick winner based on joke quality & delivery.

*Comics (performing that night or not) are not eligible to do the Joke Contest.  This is strictly for “non-com” audience members only.