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Under St Marks Theatre

Upcoming Dates ?
Sun, Jul 20
Sun, Jul 27
Sun, Aug 03
Sun, Aug 10
Sun, Aug 17

Sabelli's Underground open mic (music, comedy, poetry)
Every Sunday at 9pm

Hosted by Steph Sabelli

94 St Marks Place
New York, NY

Do you guys welcome hip hop music?

ILLAMAN (7/2008)

Great mic last night. I finally remembered where I used to see you - Downeast Art Center. Thanks… Mick

Mick (7/2008)

HERE IS THE RUNDOWN: My open mic is open to all forms of artistic expression. Poets, comedians, dancers, singers, musicians, burlesque artists, filmmakers, everything. We have a plug-in for guitar if you are a musician. There is a projector and screen if you want to show a film. The environment I strive for is supportive, creative, and fun. The only rules that apply are for the audience to have respect for every performer, every performer to respect the audience, and for everyone to respect the theatre space. The show is free, and starts at 9pm every Sunday. Sign-up is by lottery. There are about thirty slots, after which there is a reserve list. Anyone on the reserve list may or may not get to perform, depending on how much time is left (the theatre has given me a curfew of 12:30). Sign-up generally happens at about 9:15. Each performer has six minutes to do whatever they want on stage. I ask that everyone respects the six minute timer so that I can get as many people up as possible. The space is a black-box basement theatre located at 94 St. Marks Place between 1st Ave and Ave. A.

steph sabelli (7/2008)

yes, this is always a fun time! Great people- performers and stage.

Bivouac (5/2008)

I am now going to write a few run-on sentences about how much I love you all and how grateful I am to all of you for supporting the open mic, and to get mushy.

Every Sunday at 9pm, artists gather in a basement hole-in-the wall blackbox theatre down on St. Marks to experience a free artspace, open to artists of all kinds: musicians, storytellers, dancers, sinngers, poets, performance artists, comediennes and comedians, anyone and everyone.

I began running this open mic in November of 2007, right after Mo Pitkin's closing, to continue in the tradition of Faceboy's World Famous Open Mic and Rev Jen's Anti-Slam, to breathe new life into the east village performance art scene, to allow for the artists who spent so many years with Surf Reality to continue performing weekly in a safe, creative space and to welcome new artists into this community so rich with talent and support for others. The mic is open to all forms of expression, nurturing the newcomers and watching them grow, and learning from those who were around years before me. I am where I am today because of the open mic scene, my art has grown in so many ways and I have been given so many wonderful opportunities by this community and this i my way of giving back, and saying thank you. Faceboy has been a fantastic teacher and guide and over the year I spent helping him with his open mic at Mo's, I learned a lot about hosting a goddamn good show, and having fun while doing it. I want to thank Face here for his kind spirit, his life lessons, his love and support for all of us. I am so happy to have finally found my niche after six years in this city, I am so happy to be a part of this community, I know I've only been around a couple years, but you all are like family to me. I was so lost, drowning in this sea of subways ay nd suits and ties, not knowing where I belonged until I found this place where I could express what I was going through, I learned that there were no boundaries, that I could write and perform and create and that people appreciated it, that I was safe to say and do whatever I felt, that I could be blunt and honest and that I would not be judged. .I have been accepted here, with all my flaws, and have an audience who was always so supportive, an audience of friends who have seen me through my pretty dramatic-yet somehow funny darkest days. This is the environment I strive for at Sabelli's Underground Open Mic---a place where all are welcome and there are no boundaries, no holds barred, this is a place where one can bare their soul, a place free of judgement, an accepting space, where everyone supports one another. Although it is sometimes hard to accomplish, and to be quite honest, there's no way to keep out a few assholes, I ask for you to come and take part in what is happening here… all i ask is that you please follow the rules of respect: respect each other, respect the space, and damn it, respect me because it ain't always easy running the show, though i love every goddamn minute of it. I want to continue running this open mic for free so anyone can perform, even if they're piss poor. Because I know what that's like. I think we all do. You all inspire me, a big thank you to all of you for believing in me and this open mic!

Six minutes of stagetime to do whatever the fuck you want!

Cheap-ass beer, awesome art, and Lucky Dave on lights and sound making it all the more awesome! (thanks, Lucky Dave!)

This is the arthole that is changing it all…

steph sabelli (5/2008)

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