Jazzhaus Karaoke Night

Over the last couple of months, I've visited the Jazzhaus on Monday nights a few times, getting a feel for the Karaoke Night they throw there each week. I like to go with a few friends, have a few drinks, and enjoy the atmosphere. And if we have enough drinks, we might just sing a few songs of our own.
It might seem like Karaoke is a kind of S&M torture, where the singer humiliates themselves, even as they torment the audience with their never-perfect, often drunken rendition of whatever song they recognized in the song book. But if you have a few friends to enjoy the good, bad and ugly singing with, it's really pretty fun!
Karaoke in the U.S. is different from its birthplace in Japan. And by different I mean more embarrassing. I'm no singer, and I've always had stage-fright of the shivering, stammering, blushing, sweating variety. In Japan, you and your friends get your own private room, where you choose from huge - I mean HUGE - lists of songs, and sing them in front of or with your friends, while ordering drinks to be brought to your room by a waiter. Some places have food too. At the Jazzhaus, like every U.S. karaoke bar, has you step up on the stage that's used for the bands to perform, and you stand up before the crowd, spotlights glaring down on you, a computer screen showing you the words your supposed to sing, the crowd a black mass beyond the spotlights. The heat, the blinding light, the elevation, the pressure. But I digress. I STILL have fun at Karaoke Night, because it's okay not to sing, and after a few drinks, all that crap I just wrote above fades away and with a few friends by my side, singing becomes something doable.
The Jazzhaus is one of my favorite venues in Lawrence, because of the cool staff, neat decorations and set-up of the patio, bar and venue. That definitely helps make Karaoke Night more fun for me. The Jazzhaus is kept relatively dim-lit with music, and singing loud enough to hear, but also easy to talk over with the people around you. Lounging in the booths along the walls, at the tables in the middle, or on the soft seats at the bar, my friends and I chat over a few good drinks - typical bar prices for most drinks - including some great special shots or drinks that are usually a delicious bargain.
The choice of songs on Karaoke Night is limited, but sure to have at least a couple of favorites, or familiars for anyone. The crowd on Karaoke Night is below 20 before 11:00 most nights, but that makes it easier to get a drink, and sing a song if you're really self-conscious about who's listening. But after about 11, things get going, a stream of people runs up the stairs into the front door, with a few coming from the back door too. What may very well have started as a sausage-fest always gets more mixed up and exciting as groups of people occupy tables, and thirsty folks crowd around the bar.
Luckily I'm familiar with most of the bartenders and door-guys at the Jazzhaus, which helps when it comes to getting a drink, and getting around.
I used to go to the Jazzhaus for shows, or on Dollar-Fifty Night, but those are for other Posts, yet I think a few drinks with some friends on a Monday Night, and the tragic-comedy of Karaoke, is a good way to spend a night sometimes.