For bars, cafes, and comedy rooms
How to create a open mic waitlist
Performers show up an hour early to get a good spot, the sheet fills in four minutes, and the ones at the back leave without going up. Every week you field the same message: is there still room tonight? A Facebook event does not know it has 15 spots.
The clipboard goes out at 7:00 and the lineup is whoever ran fastest. 6 steps, about five minutes, or one click with the recipe below.
Step by step
Set up the Tuesday open mic yourself
These are the exact values the recipe applies. Change any of them to match your line.
Create the waitlist
Sign in, click New waitlist, and name it "Tuesday open mic". It starts as a draft, so nothing is public until you publish.
Set capacity to 15 per week
In Settings, set the capacity to 15 per week and the reset to Tue at 11:00 PM. The count starts over at every reset; nothing is deleted.
Leave the hours open
Under Hours, leave the schedule off so people can join at any time. You can pause the list by hand whenever you need to.
Add the form fields
Email is built in. On the Form tab, add Stage name (required), Act (required), Phone (required). Labels and help text render as plain text.
Show the counter
In Settings, turn on the counter so the form shows how many spots are left. People join faster when they can see the number.
Publish and share
Click Publish. The Share tab has the hosted link, a QR code, and the script tag or iframe for your site. The submit button reads "Take a spot".
Or do it in one click
Use the recipe
The "Tuesday open mic" recipe creates the waitlist with every step above already done. Sign in, click once, and it is live as a draft you can publish.
Recipe
Tuesday open mic
- 15 per week
- Open any time
- 4 fields
- 15 performers per week. The count resets Tuesday at 11:00 PM, after the show.
- No opening hours. Signups for next week open the moment the list resets.
- Asks for stage name, act type, and phone.
- Performers see their spot number for the week on the success screen.
- When the week fills, the form shows when next week's list opens.
After you publish
How the list runs
Cap the week
Fifteen spots per week, reset Tuesday at 11:00 PM. Wednesday morning the next list is open.
The running order
Positions are the order they signed up. "You're #8" is the lineup, printed from the CSV.
Act type
A multiple-choice field. Break up three comics in a row before the show.
No clipboard race
The link is in the Instagram bio and on the poster. Sign up from the bus.
No-shows
Delete the entry and send "your turn" to the first person on next week's list if you want a fill-in.
The same link forever
One waitlist, every Tuesday. The count and the numbers roll over on their own.
FAQ
Questions people here ask
Can I hold walk-up spots for the night?
Set the cap to 12 online and keep three on paper at the door. Or raise it to 15 and mark the last three as walk-ups in the dashboard.
Can regulars sign up for several weeks ahead?
No. Each week's list opens after the previous show, so everyone signs up for one Tuesday at a time.
Can I run a Thursday mic too?
Create a second waitlist with the reset on Thursday. Unlimited waitlists on every plan.
Does it text performers their spot?
No SMS. They get an email with their number and a status link, and you can send "your turn" by email from the Entries tab.
Related
Keep reading
- FeatureCapacity per day, week, or monthWaitlist capacity per day, week, or month
- For your businessThe waitlist app for gyms, studios, and class schedulesTwenty spots in the 6:00 AM class, forty across the week, registration that opens the evening before.
- AlternativeWeb3Forms alternativeA form-to-email backend: point any HTML form at their endpoint and submissions land in your inbox.
Five minutes by hand, or one click.
Free for 100 signups a month. Unlimited waitlists. Every setting above stays editable.
Create this waitlist