Whether it be stand-up comedy or heart-felt poetry, the Pierce College Open-Mic Night hosted a number captivating performances for the student body, faculty and the community as well.
Taking place on the night of March 25, this event featured cozy red couches scattered throughout The Great Hall. At first it may have seemed unnecessary, but they came in handy when the string of performances lasted for three hours straight with no intermission.
English Professor Marra Kraemer, attendee and coordinator of the event, was nothing less than shocked when the crowd turnout was larger than first expected.
“I’m so excited,” Kraemer said. “Look at this turnout, we were expecting only 25. When we showed up we realized we didn’t have enough chairs.”
The only rule to follow was a time limit of five minutes per performance. Other than that, performers had complete freedom as to what they could share with the audience.
Unlike Kraemer, Master of Ceremonies John Accardo anticipated the diverse group of performers that participated in the event. “I was expecting what we got,” Accardo said. “We got a lot of different performances from students showcasing their talents.”
Students and instructors alike displayed talents that varied from the classic stand-up comedy routine, solo-guitar serenades. There was even a rendition of Alfred Tennyson among the bunch.
English Professor Emily Anderson shared her satisfaction with the skills that shared that night.
“I think it was a big success actually we were really happy with the turnout, really amazing talent I thought. Really great poetry, spoken word, really wonderful musicians,” Anderson said.
There was a common theme around the room as performers and supporters asked why open mic night does not happen more often. “Let’s have more of these let’s give a space to students who want that,” Anderson said.
There is something to be said about a person who can get on stage, and share their hard work with the world.
David Durrani is one such student. With his guitar in hand, he entertained the crowd with an original song entitled “Lost.”
“I wrote that song about a year ago… I was in a weird situation with my teacher and this girl I was seeing and myself,” Durrani said, “It felt great man, after doing it multiple times, you get used to it, you just feed off the crowd.”
Durrani, who has performed at Pierce Thursday Concerts a number of times as well, enjoyed the event and hoped to see more open-mic gatherings like this in the future.
“These things are great, there’s so many people you just don’t even realize do this type of stuff,” Durrani said. “There’s people I saw in my geology class, and I was like holy crud, the quiet person in the back just whipped that out.”
The night of exhibition gave the Pierce College community a platform, a place that could reveal a hidden skill which might not been cultivated anywhere else.
