The Audience is ALIVE!!

I find audiences fascinating. It's probably the reason I got into theatre. Every audience is different, every audience creates a different atmosphere. Some laugh hysterically at everything. Some don't laugh at all. Some cry, some complain, some are mischievous.

I once struck up a conversation with a man from Michigan who regaled me with stories of his crazy hunting days as a teenage in Escanaba. The woman behind him listened intently for quite awhile, then she turned and asked his name. Turned out that they had lived only blocks apart and he had gone to high school with her older sibling. Life had taken both of them out of Michigan, landed them in Denver and had driven them to the theatre on that particular night. They also both were apart of two very large and very raucous groups that night, who then formed into one massive raucous group that seems to influence the energy of the rest of that nights audience. Let's just say, it was a night to remember.

Last night's audience was too. Last night was a bit of a different gig for the theatre. It was a comedy show, something I haven't witnessed here since I started. The energy was very different. It was fun!

I'm reminded of why comedy clubs have two drink minimums. They want you to drink, "the more you drink, the more you'll laugh." Although I do wonder about the occasional onset of the "the more you drink, the more you hassle the comedian." We didn't need either of these. This audience wanted to drink, and they wanted to have fun.

It was I that wasn't prepared. Unfortunately, I ran out of cold beer. That is like comedy show high treason!! And boy did I know it! Some creative thinking got us back up and on the go, but it was a stressful 20 or so minutes. I kept them drinking, and kept them happy! If I learned anything last night, it's to not stand in the way of a comedy crowd when they want some beer.

I didn't catch the comedians, but I know for sure that the crowd was a laugh a minute. In one circumstance as they took my darling patron, a darling stuffed fox and propped it up in provocative positions. Of course, no harm, no foul. And it was sort of funny. And I sure it would have been hilarious if I had been drunk.

Another laugh for me came when someone tried to steal my bar sign. I don't know why he couldn't just read it in place, but he reached out and started to grab it and pull it away from the bar, starting a domino effect and causing chaos on my bar. It was then that he asked if he could take the sign.

They were truly a fun audience, and brought an incredibly interesting atmosphere. And the loved the show. They all came out raving about it, and stuck around for quite awhile afterward. Always a good sign. I wished I had caught the show myself. Sadly though, I spent my night keeping beer cold and thinking of ways to improve my beloved lobby. But ideas abound and said improvements are on the horizon!