So you’ve learned three chords on the guitar and now you call yourself a singer-songwriter? Or you want to take your Twitter witticisms to the next level and do some standup? Your inevitable next step: an open mic. Here are seven spots in the city where your stardom can blossom.
MONDAY
Open Stage, Free Times Café (320 College St., #COL)
Every Monday night for the past 28 years, this open stage has earned a reputation as one of the city’s best and most welcoming venues for amateurs. “Without Free Times Café,” Judy Perly, the café’s founder and owner, says, “the music scene in Toronto wouldn’t be close to what it is today.” The concert flyers of past performers and open-mic graduates that line the walls of the space stand as proof of her claim—alumni include Ron Sexsmith and Sarah Slean.
Fun fact: Standout acts may be invited to perform at a Best of the Open Stage show every second Tuesday of the month.
Set length: Two songs.
Equipment provided: microphone, guitar
Hungry? Latkes and chicken matzo ball soup ($9.50).
Audience hostility: 2 boos out of 5
TUESDAY
Standing on the Danforth, Eton House (710 Danforth Ave., #DAN)
The vast space at the Eton House is oddly arranged and the opposite of intimate, yet Standing on the Danforth is consistently packed. Why? Great comics. The weekly open mic is hugely popular: After you email to request a spot, it’ll be three months before you get on stage. But, given the quality talent the night attracts, it’s well worth the wait. “Because it’s an open mic, people think that it’s just 10 comics who haven’t done this before,” says stand-up Jo-Anna Downey. “But you’ll see big names.”
Fun fact: Robin Williams crashed Downey’s 40th birthday party show at Spirits. How’s that for a big name?
Set length: Seven minutes.
Equipment provided: microphone
Hungry?: Marinated steak on a kaiser with fries ($12).
Audience hostility: 4 boos out of 5
WEDNESDAY
Fat Albert’s, United Steelworkers Hall (25 Cecil St., #CNA)
Walking into the basement of the United Steelworkers Hall on a Wednesday evening feels like travelling back in time. Perhaps it’s the average age of the crowd (in their 60s), or the era of the music played (again, ’60s), or maybe it’s the warm, old-fashioned vibe. Whatever the case, it’s kept Fat Albert’s alive for 45 years, making it the longest-running open mic in the city. “There are still people living in this time capsule of being creative singer-songwriters,” says Tony Hanik, one of the night’s two organizers. “And I can only hear them here.”
Fun fact: Fat’s began in 1967, the year the Leafs last won the Stanley Cup.
Set length: One or two songs.
Equipment provided: microphone
Hungry?: Free coffee, tea, and cookies with the $2 cover.
Audience hostility: 2 boos out of 5
THURSDAY
Comedy Thursday, The Starving Artist (584 Lansdowne Ave., #JNT)
Just over a year ago, stand-up comic Natasha Henderson joined some friends for brunch at The Starving Artist. A round of waffles and a healthy dose of peer pressure later, she’d agreed to pioneer a comedy open mic. Since its debut, the night’s turned into a popular spot for new comics to “pop their comedic cherry,” as Henderson puts it. The only downside—aside from the month-long wait to get a spot—is the layout of the room, which divides the crowd into two sections.
Fun fact: A non-comic who performed a set here as part of a short film six months ago now runs his own comedy night.
Set length: Five minutes.
Equipment provided: microphone
Hungry?: Mini waffles and fruit ($5), or anything with waffles, really.
Audience hostility: 3 boos out of 5
FRIDAY
Open Mic, Starbucks (66 Gerrard St. E., #DTN)
Nearly every customer who walks into a Starbucks and sees a musician strumming away in the corner has the reaction you’re probably having right now: “Wait, Starbucks has an open mic?” Needless to say, this showcase-type open stage—offered on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights—is a bit of an uphill battle. Performers will want to pack their hour-long set with high-energy crowd-pleasers if they’d rather not be ignored and/or drowned out by the drone of coffee-making machines and 16-syllable drink orders.
Fun fact: Starbucks owns a record label called Hear Music (so this might be your best chance to get signed).
Set length: One hour.
Equipment provided: None.
Hungry?: It’s a Starbucks. Figure it out.
Audience hostility: 3 boos out of 5
SATURDAY
Country Jam, Hirut Café (2050 Danforth Ave., #DAN)
On Saturday afternoons, pedestrians on the Danforth peer into the Hirut Café suspiciously while an array of musicians play tunes about love, travel, and drinking—or more frequently, all three. Admittedly, it’s a strange combination: the telltale twang of country reverberating from a wide-open front window under a sign that reads “Fine Ethiopian Cuisine.” The east-end restaurant is the latest in a string of venues that’s hosted the 20-year-old jam, where anyone is welcome to join in on the four-hour session to lead the group or just play along.
Fun fact: Hirut also hosts comedy, poetry, and various other music nights.
Set length: Four hours.
Equipment provided: microphone, piano
Hungry?: Tibs (meat and vegetable combo, $11).
Audience hostility: 1 boo out of 5
SUNDAY
Freefall Sundays, Supermarket (268 Augusta Ave., #KNM)
Around 5 p.m. every Sunday, a few dozen Toronto musicians log onto Facebook and anxiously refresh the page every few seconds as they wait to begin Supermarket’s open mic sign-up process. By 5:02, they’ll be lucky if they have a spot on the better side of 1 a.m. Kensington’s five-and-a-half-year-old, traditional-style open mic is likely the city’s best-attended, and, with the raised stage, fully functional kitchen and bar, and spacious seating, it’s about as close to a legitimate gig as you’ll find on the circuit.
Fun fact: Performers get a free beer.
Set length: Two songs.
Equipment provided: microphone, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, drums, piano
Hungry?: Wok-fried Chinese long beans ($8.95).
Audience hostility: 3 Boos out of 5
