We leave the mic open
the cool Ignatius Farray notes in his book Live like a beggar, dance like a king who “comedy, in universal terms, has always been based on the desire for freedom, to question the rules and to invent reality”.
And it is precisely this very free vocation that collects extraordinary moments in the 'open mics' or 'open mics' shows, the essence of 'stand up comedy'. A kind of gym for comedians: the prelude to their future monologues.
The 'open mic' sessions are pure surprise. A succession of comedians testing the effectiveness of their crude jokes, alone in the face of danger, led by a presenter who announces the participants to the public. A challenge that has been immortalized by series such as Crashing or Dying on your feet.
Tradition rooted in the world of comedy that we can see in Madrid even in these dark times. Do you know La Cueva, the emblematic Picnic, the Bromerie, Comedia para Olvidar or the Guetto Comedy Club? We're going soon.
Picnic Bar: Let's laugh!
BEFORE, A BIT OF COOL HISTORY
All this phenomenon was consecrated in the capital with the Madrid Comedy Club two decades ago. “We did the ‘opens’ as an open forum for comedy and we never advertised the comedians. Really, as a show of monologues, of stand up, it was the first”, recalls its promoter, the comedian George Segura.
The Madrid Comedy Club, which starred in crazy nights in various gambling dens, had replicas in other cities in Spain. "It was total madness where anything could happen," continues Segura. "And I am proud of the success of so many who started in 'opens', such as Susi Caramelo, Luis Álvaro, Lalo Tenorio, Pablo Ibarburu or Valeria Ros".
Another milestone was the Comedy Laboratory, according to the screenwriter and comedian Fernando Moraño, co-founder of the production company Monologamia. “We did it in a clandestine basement in Malasaña. We handed out bananas to people dining in the squares and gave our address. It was a space to test new material every day. That made it very special. Later, we comedians would get together, go on a spree, wake up together and help each other with the jokes”, he comments.
“Yes, it is very interesting that colleagues advise us on the text and the rhythm”, agrees Bianca Kovacs, presenter of Las Noches del Club de la Comedia and habitual of the 'open mics'. “It is where you take the temperature of the public. It's no use rehearsing at home. You have to be with the people, hit and miss.”
If before the talent pool was the former Paramount Comedy, today Comedy Central, now the comedians lavish themselves in the 'open mics'. Like these five essential icons that we propose in Madrid.
Important: not all of them are there, but they are all of them. Excuse us. And due to the pandemic, more changes may come after hours. Without forgetting that the comedy scene is always brilliant like a jazz jam session. We open micro...
THE CAVE COMEDY CLUB
Welcome to the great revelry of Los Golfos Comedians (Eva Soriano, Diego Daño and Fran Pati) at the Teatro de las Aguas in La Latina. A conjunction of good-humoured brains that share with Traveler.is a first: Together with the comedian Nacho García, they are creating the El Golfo Comedy Club in the Barrio de las Letras, perhaps our particular Comedy Cellar.
A new fief devoted one hundred percent to comedy, as Eva Soriano passionately explains: “We wanted to do something like this! We not only look at the business, but that all comedians are at ease. There will be 'open mics' from beginning and professional artists. Courses, podcast recordings, shows... We want to take care of comedy!”.
The well-known comedian recommends us the 'open mics' because “You can see how ideas grow in the mind of a comedian. You see the comedian naked, metaphorically of course!” And she sentences: "Comedy is an organism that reinvents itself daily." And for reinvention: El Golfo Comedy Club. attentive.
THAT TEMPLE CALLED PICNIC
The Picnic bar is to comedy what the Prado Museum is to art. Without exaggerating. Ignatius assures that in his famous basement “Rimbaud's poetry and the joke about the dog Mistetas go hand in hand”.
“At the Picnic we have seen two generations of comedians. I think there is a golden age and it will last. Because laughter always helps”, reflects its owner, Adrián López.
And he tells the legend that everything has happened in this unmistakable brick forum. The least is that Ignatius, emeritus presenter of the 'open mic', sucked nipples in bulk. "Once Ana Morgade made a bestial monologue, unfeasible anywhere else," López recalls.
Unlimited humour. Thus, the Picnic has earned a certain status as a temple and has been The setting for movies like Miamor Perdido, series like El fin de la comedia or programs like Phi Beta Lambda.
Practically all the proper names of the native 'stand up comedy' have had their moment of glory here, from the chanantes Joaquín Reyes or Ernesto Sevilla to Venga Monjas, Pili de Francisco, Virginia Riezu, JJ Vaquero, Ana Polo, Carolina Noriega or Javier Cansado.
"I have always really liked La Cueva and Picnic", confesses the television Santi Alverú. “Comedians are juggling and those who find it more difficult to get on stage find refuge in the ‘opens’”, he underlines.
THE BROMERIE OPEN MIC
Near Callao, in the local Abonavida, we discovered La Bromerie, the brainchild of enthusiasts like Galder Varas, comedian and screenwriter for La Resistencia.
“It's cool to see new people try. There are plenty of people out there who know how to do comedy. And it's cool to see established comedians: the first time they do a text is the best because that energy is unique” says Varas. That said: La Bromerie Open Mic, a campus with many boards so that “the hahahas” (sic) never decline.
COMEDY TO FORGET
"For me, an 'open' is where comedy takes place," stresses Javi Durán , organizer of Comedy to forget in La Estación Malasaña.
“It is our gym to improve. And apart from mine, I go to all the others. It's a great plan: it's cheap and you have a great time. And since there are several comedians, each week is different, ”he argues.
“You see a rock that will climb to the top. It's real like life itself because you take risks every day. And to see someone fail miserably is the most honest thing,” he jokes deadly serious.
Javi Durán celebrates the rise of comedy, “the philosophical escape from our society”. “We are like the prophets of the Middle Ages in the middle of a square. A comedian gives you opinions you don't see on TV."
BEYOND THE CAPITAL: THE GHETTO COMEDY CLUB
Humor – yes, we will say it: like love – is everywhere. Also beyond the capital. In Las Rozas, to the northwest of the Community of Madrid, the Ghetto Comedy Club.
The Guetto nightclub in the Európolis business park hosts this 'open mic' that goes in crescendo: “We have a brutal space and the means of an important theater”, highlights the host, Mario Velasco.
"In addition, many comedians from La Chocita del Loro are coming to test texts and we are programming shows." "In the first 'open', after the summer, we had about 80 people on the terrace," says the comedian, who encourages everyone "to see the live construction of a show in a safe environment." And very funny.
We leave the mic open. Even in these difficult times comedy emerges. Here, upsetting Poncela, there is no brake or reverse gear. Laughter prevails. Laughter makes us free. Laughter, genuine and therapeutic brand of Spain, always helps.
We live in a golden age of humor. Let's enjoy it.