Pass

I went to Scarlet & Grey Cafe tonight to do my second open mic. After hanging around till after midnight only to find out I was still at least another hour away from going on, I left. Had the audience been good, one I could see getting an honest response from, I would have stayed the extra hour and gone one. In a radical departure from last week, I didn't have a single drink this time. The idea was to be sober so I could actually pay attention to what I was doing. 

Unfortunately, most of the people there were not there for the comics and most of the comics who performed said it was a bad night. I wanted to try something I didn't do last week, and while it probably would've been good to get up and get used to being ignored, I didn't feel like hanging around any longer. I'm not really sure there's a point in performing in front of people who don't want to see you.

Sure, there is the side that says to do it no matter what, but if it isn't fun then what's the point? Why are all these people performing at open mics, be it comedy, poetry, or music, if they're not enjoying it. It's not a career path. It would be sad if everyone thought that someday they'd "make it." Now I'm going to argue with myself and ask "Well, Shane. Do you even believe what you just said? Isn't the hope of future success part of what drives people to perform in front of 5 people for free?" 

Most people will not reach their creative goals. Their band won't have the success they want; novel.doc will never see a dust jacket; people will never talk about their work. It must be better to try and fail than not try at all and hopefully enjoy the journey.