Parlor Comedy

Hello there! Welcome to the October edition of the Karaoke & Entertainment Guide.  We are dedicated to bringing you the news from around the Sound, and all over Washington State!

This past month, there were plenty of competitions, fairs, karaoke shows, new events, and more to report on. You’ll find we’ve done a pretty good job of covering and highlighting some of these for you.

Just a reminder, check out the Karaoke & Entertainment Guide’s Facebook and Webpage for tons more photos than we can fit in the paper here.

It’s hard to believe this year is already coming close. It feels like January was just here and yet, it’s October again. This month we want to feature a special location for you and encourage you to take the time to get there and check this place out. The Parlor, located in downtown Bellevue, across the street from the Bellevue Square Mall in the Lincoln Square, is unlike anyplace you’ve ever been!

As you ride the escalators to the third floor, notice the stunning artwork dangling over your head; colorful chandeliers light the way to this posh downtown nightclub. The Parlor is well-staffed, friendly, and warmly inviting. Show your I.D. at the door, then proceed to your destination.

On Thursday nights at 7:30pm, come out to the Parlor Live, a high-falutin’ comedy club located inside the Parlor. Take in a professional, live comedy show that will have you rolling in the aisles with laughter. After the comedy show, the party continues in the Ultralounge, where you can sing your heart out with Positive Promotions Karaoke, featuring Sandra Dee as your hostess. We gathered a group of friends, made a reservation, and piled in for the comedy show. Three full tables of us ordered up a slew of delicious appetizers and entrees, not to mention a bunch of cocktails! I had the chicken enchiladas, my friend Taz ordered a huge appetizer feast that feeds eight people! And, yes, she shared. It included beef satays, shrimp satays, buffalo wings, crispy fried artichoke hearts, crab stuffed mushrooms and pan seared pork ribs, all served over a huge mound of parmesan waffle fries. Absolutely decadent! Others ordered meals from lobster ravioli, salads and burgers, to grilled prime rib.

They had Asian-inspired appetizers, American favorites, and elaborate offerings as well. Try the shrimp, crab and fresh chile quesadilla! I was so full I didn’t get to indulge in the baby elephant ears, or the cheesecake brulee! Guess I’ll just have to go back for the experience of dessert alone!

If you end up staying late, you can order breakfast (served after 11pm), and they have a full menu available all night long – a real bonus for all you party hearty types.

Thank goodness they had Monster energy drinks, Rockstars and the like. We partied like rockstars and ended up hanging out all night long singing karaoke after an excellent comedy show.

The comedy shows feature well-known comedians. In October, Kevin Nealon from the hit Showtime series “Weeds” will be performing live. Could be a good time to delve into that dessert menu. Check out the Parlor Live’s comedy lineup at www.parlorlive.com and get your tickets in advance to see your favorite comedians.

As for the karaoke, Sandra Dee runs a top notch, first class show. I must say, there was some serious talent at the Ultralounge on the night we visited. With no cover charge, the karaoke show fills up quickly, and the rotations are lengthy, but well worth the wait. I even felt comfortable enough to get up there and sing, and for those of you who know me, I will NOT sing, unless I feel completely confident in the host, the sound system and of course in myself!

Sandra Dee throws in some dance songs throughout the night to get everybody out on the dance floor and loosen up a bit. A bunch of us did the Electric Slide, and later we danced along to some of the singers.

Karaoke starts at 9:30pm, directly after the comedy show. We were lucky enough to have gotten the V.I.P. treatment, sitting close to the stage at a booth large enough to accommodate our entire group. The lounge is designed so that people gather around the edge of their huge, expansive, seemingly never-ending dance floor and booth seating.

The Ultralounge is really very elaborate. Upon entering the Parlor, on the right is the first of two full-service bars. This 42-foot bar features a full length ice rail to keep your drinks cold! The second bar is located in the back and serves the same incredible drink menu. They also feature private rooms, and lots of billiards! With $5 million invested, Parlor Billiards accommodates up to 800 guests, features 17 pool tables, and two private billiard rooms containing three tables each. These rooms are available for private events and can be rented for private parties. Serious pool players and novices alike will appreciate the full-service pro shop, the validated parking, and the free WiFi as well. For your convenience, they have pagers to summon your server to your pool table.

For more information on upcoming events, visit their Web site and browse around for the group rates. You’ll find the pricing is very reasonable for what you receive, and the facilities are well worth the price.

With over 20,000 square feet of space, The Parlor has done a fantastic job of utilizing every inch. For an out of this world karaoke experience, come out on any given Thursday beginning at 9:30pm. We highly recommend that you step out of your usual locations from time to time and enjoy something new and different.

They have a dress code, but it’s not suits and ties, or dresses and heels, just respectable clothing; no flip flops, hats, or saggy, baggy clothes.

Well, that’s it for this month’s Karaoke Corner. Grab your chance to try something new this month, and put The Parlor on your “To Do” list.

We’re always looking for fun, different, and unique venues to write about, so if you have a favorite place you’d like to see featured here, send us a note, email or feel free to call (425) 359-9450, rocknkris@yahoo.com or Facebook us at Rocky and/or Kristine Fields.

We love bringing you karaoke news, live entertainment venues and contest information. Send us your thoughts, questions, comments or just say hello! See you next time, and until then, remember to keep on singing!

Upbeat Musings

One of my friends thinks I may push too hard to get newbies up to the microphone. I confess, I am guilty. But on the flipside, I also have people come up to me months later and say that because I encouraged them, they are now singing. That is really a feel-good moment for me because they are becoming a better, healthier, more confident person just because they sing. I truly believe it.

For some wannabes, it’s quite hard to take that first step. If you have some success your first time up and the crowd claps for you when you are done, you’ll probably continue down that path and become quite proficient at a number of songs.

Making a list of songs that you can sing, and keeping another list of songs you want to learn really helps, since every show has a different book with different offerings. Anyone with the Internet can find versions of the songs to listen to and practice them. YouTube has many renditions of people trying to sing the songs and with the variety of talent levels out there, you’ll see that if they can do it, you can too. We all have experienced the growth of singers as they continue down the road. The more you sing, the better you get.

Eventually, you may be comfortable enough to take on a hosts’ blind suicide, where they pick a song for you and you don’t know what it is until you’re at the mic and it starts to play. Or maybe you’ll be brave enough for a kamikaze suicide, where the host opens a book and points to a spot on the page without looking and sing that song.

You, as the crowd, play an important role in all of this. When a singer is done with their rendition of a song, whether done with true talent or at a level where you were praying it would end soon, let them know you heard their performance. Clapping works, a hoot or a howl is nice, getting a few or a crowd up to dance is especially wonderful. It’s very disheartening to sing your song and sit down and not have one person clap for you or noticed you finished your song. It’s such a small thing and makes a huge difference between a good show and a mediocre show. “They like me, they really like me” feels so good.

I know, I get on my soapbox a lot, but karaoke is one of my very favorite pastimes and if you haven’t tried it yet, you don’t know what you are missing. As a loyal reader of this magazine, I’m probably preaching to the CHOIR, literally. But please, please, please, encourage your friends, families, co-workers, etc., to let it out and vent all their frustrations, feelings and get to that “feel good”, happy place.

With the economic challenges we have been facing, unemployment rampant, where else can you have live entertainment for the price of a drink or two, close to home, surrounded by friends, all sharing a memorable time together? You can go mellow with a soulful country tune, sing the blues if you need to, pick a silly song that has no meaning, dedicate a sappy love song to your honey, share the most profound song you have ever heard, dig way back into songs from the past and trigger memories from long ago – it’s your choice.

Join the CHOIR!! Sing!… Rock-Out!… Dance or Wiggle to the music… Rap (or try singing your normal song in a rap version of your own!)… Let your hair down… Have some fun. “And the world will be a better place…”

Upbeat Musings

One of my friends thinks I may push too hard to get newbies up to the microphone. I confess, I am guilty. But on the flipside, I also have people come up to me months later and say that because I encouraged them, they are now singing. That is really a feel-good moment for me because they are becoming a better, healthier, more confident person just because they sing. I truly believe it.

For some wannabes, it’s quite hard to take that first step. If you have some success your first time up and the crowd claps for you when you are done, you’ll probably continue down that path and become quite proficient at a number of songs.

Making a list of songs that you can sing, and keeping another list of songs you want to learn really helps, since every show has a different book with different offerings. Anyone with the Internet can find versions of the songs to listen to and practice them. YouTube has many renditions of people trying to sing the songs and with the variety of talent levels out there, you’ll see that if they can do it, you can too. We all have experienced the growth of singers as they continue down the road. The more you sing, the better you get.

Eventually, you may be comfortable enough to take on a hosts’ blind suicide, where they pick a song for you and you don’t know what it is until you’re at the mic and it starts to play. Or maybe you’ll be brave enough for a kamikaze suicide, where the host opens a book and points to a spot on the page without looking and sing that song.

You, as the crowd, play an important role in all of this. When a singer is done with their rendition of a song, whether done with true talent or at a level where you were praying it would end soon, let them know you heard their performance. Clapping works, a hoot or a howl is nice, getting a few or a crowd up to dance is especially wonderful. It’s very disheartening to sing your song and sit down and not have one person clap for you or noticed you finished your song. It’s such a small thing and makes a huge difference between a good show and a mediocre show. “They like me, they really like me” feels so good.

I know, I get on my soapbox a lot, but karaoke is one of my very favorite pastimes and if you haven’t tried it yet, you don’t know what you are missing. As a loyal reader of this magazine, I’m probably preaching to the CHOIR, literally. But please, please, please, encourage your friends, families, co-workers, etc., to let it out and vent all their frustrations, feelings and get to that “feel good”, happy place.

With the economic challenges we have been facing, unemployment rampant, where else can you have live entertainment for the price of a drink or two, close to home, surrounded by friends, all sharing a memorable time together? You can go mellow with a soulful country tune, sing the blues if you need to, pick a silly song that has no meaning, dedicate a sappy love song to your honey, share the most profound song you have ever heard, dig way back into songs from the past and trigger memories from long ago – it’s your choice.

Join the CHOIR!! Sing!… Rock-Out!… Dance or Wiggle to the music… Rap (or try singing your normal song in a rap version of your own!)… Let your hair down… Have some fun. “And the world will be a better place…”

The winter doldrums are upon us. Some nights, coming home from work, it feels so good to put on your sweats and just relax. Forget going out, doing anything.

But, if you are true karaoke diehard, these are the nights where you might stick closer to home instead of driving to the further-out shows. With the economy being the way it is, I like to support the local karaoke shows, right in my town. And because we go out so much, I know that I have 19 places to choose from during the week (Aha! A hint to my location). Some nights there might only be a choice of one or two shows, but still, they are close to home and that counts for something.

New Year’s Eve, we hopped around, but ended up back near home just to be with our singing friends.
Over the years, we might become more than superficial friends, but for now, I’m fine with visiting their garage sales, carpooling to different karaoke venues as we hop from place to place, or supporting hosts as they start a new show at a new venue. I play with the idea of having a karaoke party at my house and inviting a bunch of friends, but alas, if they are all singers, we’ll get no sing time. What a dilemma!

One thing any longtime Karaoke & Entertainment Guide reader already knows is the listing of venues in the Guide only lists those venues that believe promoting their show is worth three dollars per month. You should always make a phone call if you are checking out a new place further from home, because shows come and go according to whether they are getting enough people in or not. New shows are smart to get listed in the Guide because it helps get the word out to their target audience. The older venues that stopped listing in the Guide are missing the boat because lots of people in the region just don’t know about them.

My honey and I do what we can to support ALL the shows. Unfortunately, the alarm clock rings way too early on the weekdays to stay out late every night, but we really do try.