Open mic fright Get up, stand-up...tell jokes, sit down By Chris Crawford, Jayplay writer Photos by Andrew Vaupel A gaggle of comedians mill around the Stanford & Sons Comedy Club lobby. It's almost 8 p.m. on Tuesday and these guys are waiting for the action to start. The small lobby looks like someone's basement rec room. A young blonde woman calmly waits on a black leather couch by the door. A big screen TV is tuned to Comedy Central. Three comedians in their mid-20s to early-30s stand by a pool table testing out new material and laughing. At one end of the bar in the back of the room, the bartender is offering a guy in a T-shirt and jeans some liquid courage while two younger guys puff on cigarettes at the other end. Across the room, a couple of older comics wearing khakis and dress shirts whisper to each other nervously against the wall. An older woman sits at a square table in the corner, furiously scribbling notes on her set list. This is the scene every Tuesday night before Stanford & Sons hosts its Open Mic Night. I set out to discover what kind of deranged people would submit themselves to the torture of performing stand-up comedy in the Kansas City comedy scene. I figure what better place to start my journey than where comedians start theirs as well — the Open Mic Night. In the process, I decided that to fully appreciate the horrifying experience of writing and performing jokes in front of a live audience, I should participate myself. That's just what I did. But let's figure out the scene first. The setup Stan Glazer opened the first Stanford's in Westport, Mo., as an upscale restaurant in 1975, says director of operations Craig Glazer. Five years into the operation, comedian David Naster approached Glazer and pitched having an Open Mic Night on Mondays. The pair agreed, and as the comedy business picked up, Stanford and Sons Comedy Club was born. The family opened the Overland Park location at 10635 Floyd in 1999, which is currently owned by Rita Trantham (Stan Glazer's ex-wife and Craig Glazer's mother), Glazer says. But after closing the Westport location July 29, 2004, due toleaserrenegotiation issues, the family only operates the club in Overland Park now The Firm Comedy Café, 9211 Hillcrest in Kansas City, Mo., but it is not operating yet. So for now, Stanford's in Overland Park is the only place that offers comedy daily. the only place that exists You can find open mic nights at bars and restaurants as well as comedy clubs. Open micers should try to perform at as many places as they can, says feature comic Ross McGinnis, who has run the Open Mic Night Other comedy open mic nights in Kansas City, Mo. Gia's Italian Cucina, 2905 Southwest Blvd. (816) 531-7770 The Hurricane, 4048 Broadway St. (816) 753-0884 Jilly's, 1744 Broadway St. (816) 221-4977 The Point, 917 W. 44th St. (816) 561-7660 at Stanford's the last six months. McGinnis, a heavyset, 40-year-old comic from Weston, Mo., says in his experience, the number of comics at an Open Mic night can range Overland Park now. A new comedy club is opening called from 10 to 25(the first night attended there 10 Jayplay 11.4.04 10.1.4 5.6[1] 1 2 3 4 5 6