The aroma of coffee filtered into The Thought Lot on Thursday evening as a spread of soups and pies lay begging to be consumed, and eager performers waited with their items for their show-and-tell acts.
The Thought Lot’s Open Mic Night started seven minutes late — a sign of the performers’ nonchalant attitudes. After some time, the host, Evan Crider, finally took the stage to play a few covers.
The Thought Lot recently brought open mic nights back in October, and have been holding them once a month. Around December they decided to add a potluck element to the event in the hopes of attracting more people to attend with free food.
The first main act was Bob Haffly with his banjo. Haffly played an old West Virginia tune titled “Falls of Richmond.”
“Thanks, I’ll just do 14 more tunes and then I’m done. Oh, wait there’s others!” Haffly said.
Haffly’s comment broke the trance of his hillbilly performance as audience members remembered there was still a long list of performers. In total, there were more than 10 performances that filled the evening.
One noteworthy act in the mix was David Mark Hornberger, “The Magnificent Magician.” Hornberger opened by coughing up a toy frog and said he had a frog in his throat. He then followed with a giraffe figurine.
“Phew I feel a giraffe up here,” Hornberger joked. “I stuck my neck out for that.”
Later, Hornberger welcomed a member of the audience on stage with him. Crider joined in with a quirky cup routine while the audience member accompanied with a guitar tune. The two men did everything from bouncing up and down to spitting into their cups. Hornberger even fooled Crider into thinking he was going to pour water on his head.
Some artists like Robby Dicarlo played covers of their favorite songs, while others like Chris Chance played their own songs. Chance covered a unique angle with his song “Blood” by discussing what it is like to have children and do the right things for them.
Alongside the multiple music performances were poetry readings from A.J. Webber and Bobby Brenize. Brenize added dirty jokes that incorporated everything from Monty Python to Dr. Seuss.
Toward the end of the night, the band Acoustic Juice performed some classic rock songs like Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” and Neil Young’s “Helpless.” The band even revealed an original song it had been working on titled, “The Wreckers.”
“OK, now we’re going to crash and burn,” Acoustic Juice singer Tammy Karstetter said.
Overall, all of the acts were enjoyable to watch and added a unique flavor to The Thought Lot stew.
The Slate welcomes thoughtful discussion on all of our stories, but please keep comments civil and on-topic. Read our full guidelines here.