Have Coffeehouse Fun at Home
Enjoy Open Mic Nights Without Leaving the House
It's easy to prepare food, beverages, and entertainment for a coffeehouse atmosphere right at home.
Not everyone lives near a thriving metropolis filled with exciting coffeehouses offering a variety of free performances at open mic (microphone) nights. Even if they do, other reasons might prevent them from venturing out: the need to save money or stay home with small children, the observance of dietary restrictions, stage fright, or the desire to avoid crowds, cigarette smoke, traffic, or some other unpleasant side-effect of going out.
With a little planning and anywhere from 6-to-12 cooperative friends, it's easy to bring a coffeehouse night into your own home.
Coffeehouse Food and Drinks
Nothing too fancy is required for the food. One large submarine sandwich or some small finger sandwiches will suffice. Another option would be pound cakes and sweet breads like those traditionally found in coffeehouses. The easiest food selection is, of course, nuts, pretzels, chips, and other snacks served in small bowls spread around the room.
Making the beverages can be easy or complicated. The more options made available to guests, the more complicated the preparations become. By asking guests in advance what they like, a handful of specific coffee drink selections can be made available to them.
The easiest way to provide these drinks is to purchase a variety of bottled iced coffee drinks in advance and then make one pot of coffee and one pot of tea on party night. It’s best to know ahead of time if the majority of guests prefer regular or decaffeinated, hot or cold, flavored or unflavored, and coffee or tea. Serving one favorite hot coffee drink or “house specialty” instead of a large selection is the host’s privilege. Limit offerings to whatever seems manageable.
Coffeehouse Entertainment
Like real coffeehouse open mic entertainment, some performances will look nearly professional, others less so. Among friends, these discrepancies help make it fun. The first step in coordinating the entertainment is deciding on a program or theme. Programs might include poetry readings (original or borrowed), storytelling, musical performances (solo or duet), home video, or for the truly brave, stand-up comedy. The night can be devoted to one particular program (e.g., all poetry readings) or can mix and match programs that relate to one theme.
Open mic themes might revolve around an upcoming holiday (for example, love songs for St. Valentine’s Day), change of the seasons (stories about summer vacations), national news (poems about war) or something closer to home (short, funny films of local sporting events).
Typically coffeehouses devote one particular night of the week for open mic poetry, another for music, and perhaps a third to independent film shorts. For a coffeehouse night at home, none of the usual rules apply. Following certain guidelines, however, can make the night more enjoyable and run more smoothly.
- Serve food and drinks before the official entertainment starts.
- Keep it friendly with no booing, groaning, or throwing of vegetables allowed.
- Use a real microphone if possible, but it certainly isn't necessary.
- Assign someone (the host perhaps) to be the master of ceremonies for the evening and introduce each performer.
- Set a time limit for each performance (5-10 minutes).
- If guests are agreeable, film the live performances for entertainment at a later coffeehouse party at home.
For more information about coffee, read 12 Surprising Facts About Coffee.
