Karaoke Forums

can you remember your 1st year as a KJ?

any highlights? regrets?

gosh, i can barely remember my 1st night/nights as a KJ

i do remember early in my kjaying 'career', , one of my gigs was very short-lived--at a spot that was in the middle of nowhere--with nothing around it for at least a mile or two. the only thing near was a police station directly across the street.

so, as you guessed it, my karaoke gig spot stayed empty once it got dark. folks admitted the police station being literally across the street was very intimidating. especially with nothing around for a mile in each direction.

so i learned quickly that first year: location, location, location

I can remember the first night I kj'd. I was just a roadie, very shy, nursed a beer or two through the show and broke the show down and went home. One night my boss said she had laryngitis & couldn't talk and needed me to do the show. So I did, turned my shy hat around, tried to remember how she handled people & did the show. Everyone including her said I did a very good job. The owner of the club called her the next day & said we lost the gig - no explanation why.
A few weeks later, she had me do another show at another place. I did the same thing, played with people, sang duets when requested even brought a birthday girl up & sang Happy Happy Birthday Baby. Again everyone seemed impressed including my boss said that was the kind of show she wants to see more of. The owner of the club called the next day & said we lost the gig - again no explanation why.
A few weeks later she had me do another show, so thinking maybe I was over the top, tried to tone my actions down, did the show. We got a call the next day which they said they didn't mind me working but unless I stepped up my game we'd be out - so I did. This was in 92. I've been working there ever since.
I started my own company in 94 & worked several clubs successfully on multiple nights - even got a 2nd rig & had twice the shows with other hosts - in which I eventually sold and contracted my hosts to them.
I took over the club i'm working now in 94 under my own name due to a problem with the club owner & my boss. I even waited a month before I took over in which they hired another company to fill in.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

I got a call from a friend who managed a bar asking if I could cover karaoke at their bar for a host that bailed on them. It was supposed to be 1 night a week for 6-8 weeks. Turned into 1.5 years. I was doing $75/night at the start and $125/night at the end.

They invited us back under the new ownership a little over a year ago. We run $175/night now using their gear and lights.

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-Chris

I remember it vividly:

I was a bartender. In order to jump-start a more lucrative late-night sales rush, the bar decides to bring in karaoke. Now, I've been a karaoke aficionado since getting snuck into bars in Boston at 18, so I'm excited. I invite all my bar regulars to join us for night one, invite some of my karaoke buddies, pack the place to the rafters -- and the night goes wonderfully. I'm singing, I'm tending bar, I'm making so much money I'm buying patrons drinks just to be magnanimous -- it's a great night.

Our little Thursday night karaoke continues to pack 'em in. I continue to sing in every rotation, join people on duets, and generally rock the joint. Turns out our karaoke guy is the owner of a moderately successful karaoke company, and one night, as he's breaking down his equipment and I'm closing down the bar, we get to talking. "You could host," he tells me. "You ever think about working karaoke the nights that you're off?" I take him up on his offer, join him on a Wednesday at a pub down the street, he shows me the ropes. Eventually, he gives me that show. That was in March -- the show was shut down by June. Fights broke out that I was no help in containing. Equipment malfunctioned and I didn't know how to correct it. It was a horrifying experience, but it helped me hone my skills better for the next time I got a shot. That was the following October, filling in for a fellow host while she was on vacation. I never left that show -- I've had it for six years now.

The host I "stole" the show from and I remain friends -- she always talks about how it all worked out perfectly, that sending me in when she did was a calculated attempt to get out of the show without having to actually quit.

My first year was a huge question mark to me. That's how I remember it. I was learning so much and doing so many things wrong. Thing is, I didn't know I was doing so much wrong, but experience and dealing with people taught me what was right and wrong.

Also reading a lot of information on this board was very helpful to me over the years.

I remember my very first night of hosting karaoke. I almost quit. That's how overwhelmed I was. The place was packed! I wasn't ready for that. I thought I was, but I really wasn't. The multi-tasking aspect of it alone was overwhelming! I felt like I had jumped into a frying pan. Lol! After that night, I really questioned myself. I wondered if this was something I really wanted to do.

The next week it wasn't packed at all. Lol! I did so terribly the first night that I guess I chased everybody away. So for the next 9 months, I stayed at that place trying to build it up and trying to really learn the business of karaoke. I learned so much during that time. I finally quit that venue when I realized it was a dead end, but I had also started at another spot that was growing and doing very well, so I just focused my attention there.

Incredible stories

Hats off lonman. I couldn't imagine continuing as a KJ with those early setbacks

Oh snap I remember in my first year, I'd be so shy to START a show. You know? It's 9pm time to start, I was so shy to be like "hello it's time for karaoke!" To the crowd. Sometimes 15 min would pass until I mustered the courage to be like "hello! Karaoke time"

Yall should see me now.

man, my first year, we were still using karaoke CDs so i'm grateful that i experienced that first...lugging those suitcases of karaoke cds to every gig. realizing i went for DK and SC cds naturally without anyone telling me because i personally liked the sound...

remember how everyone looked at me those first times i walked into those gigs back then and giggled like look what the cat dragged in

i would like to go back into time and ask myself then, can you see yourself doing this a decade later to see what my answer would be