Porchlight Open Door

Everybody’s got a story. Not everybody wants to stand in front of a roomful of people and tell their story but that’s what those audience chairs are for.
When people ask me if Porchlight is good I give my standard line: There’s nothing better than a good story well told.
At Porchlight, SF’s original story-​telling venue (12 years running), center stage is reserved for 10-​minute, pre-​vetted stories told without notes. Pre-​vetted doesn’t mean that the stories can’t jump the rails 8 minutes in but even when they do, it’s worth watching and listening to. I’ve yet to have a bad time at this monthly Verdi Club event.
The same goes for Porchlight Open Door, a more recent entry into the Porchlight oeuvre. Hosted by the same hilarious originators as Porchlight the Mothership, Open Door is a smaller event that lets audience members tell 5-​minute stories on a pre-​selected theme. Even if the story is a bomb (rare) it’s 5-​minutes max; You can hack it.
If you decide to tell a story centered around the monthly theme arrive well before the 7 p.m. start time, find the hostess (Arline), and add your name to the list. Some months story-​teller slots fill up early; some months the hosts are begging for more. And even if your story barely fits the theme nobody’s going to shut you down. Open Door stories aren’t pre-​vetted. Anything can happen.
A winner, selected by whimsy, is entitled to $ 50 plus a bag of hot nuts, and every storyteller gets a chit for a free drink. Alcohol makes all stories better, no? Yes.
Open Door shows are held in a small back-​room at the Hemlock Tavern on the last Monday of the month at 7 p.m. Admission is $ 5. and it’s pretty much the best entertainment out there at that price point. It’s an even better value if you get yourself up on stage to work out your issues: Cheaper than a shrink and far more entertaining.