The Reptilian Lounge, a late night variety show produced by the Tricklock Theater Company, offers members of the creative community a way to get their foot in the door and a great atmosphere to strut their stuff.
"We want to make sure that there is a place where artists who don't feel like they have a home can be able to come and perform - a lot of times this ends up being that place," said Kerry Morrigan, one of the lounge's two hosts.
The Reptilian Lounge is home to poets and playwrights, singers and madmen, right and left-wing activists, comedians, executives with all the answers, writers who only ask questions and the occasional chicken impersonator.
Part of what makes the Reptilian Lounge such a great starting point is the incredibly supportive and high-energy atmosphere the audience produces.
When anyone in the theater yells "sociable" the entire theater will raise their glasses, bottles, mugs, whatever, take a big gulp and turn to their left and right growling like pirates. Then, someone will inevitably squawk like a chicken and it's on with the show.
The point is, no matter how crappy the band is, how many clichÇs a person stuffs into their poetry or how badly one might play the bagpipes, the audience will always cheer them on. What artist can say no to that?
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So it's only natural that guitar player, singer, actor, songwriter and UNM alumnus Chad Brummett couldn't stay hidden away for long. Brummett and Morrigan form the band It's Only Rain and their grunge roots shine through with Brummett's Kurt Cobain-like vocals and melodic acoustic guitar. They perform an Alice in Chains song during every gig.
Brummett began working with Tricklock during their production "The Glorious and Bloodthirsty Billy the Kid" and has been with the company ever since. He began playing guitar sometime in middle school and said he wanted to be a rock star. He began acting when he was eight in a school play and said he really found a love for his craft in high school.
The Reptilian Lounge is an "art for change" event - change holding both its monetary meaning and the "to transform" connotation. Brummett says there's really no average for what someone makes at a typical Reptilian.
"It just really sort of depends on how enthusiastic and, truth be told, how liquored up the audience is that really makes the difference," he said.
But Brummett said any money is good money in the artist biz.
"The fact is that artists are able to come here and make some amount of money off their craft, even if it's to buy a pack of cigarettes or to pay their gas bill."
To perform at the Reptilian Lounge, call the Tricklock Theater Company in advance at 254-8393. The show runs every Saturday at 10:30 p.m. through Sept. 20 at the Tricklock Performance Space at 118 Washington SE. Admission is $5.77.
