In the winter of 2021-22, Shim’s Surplus tavern owner Zach Cage and manager Nick Bealer were looking for a way to bring in customers on traditionally dead Monday nights. Meanwhile, poets Jesse James Ziegler and Iain Watson had been looking for a place to hold an open-mic night for spoken-word poetry. It all felt like kismet, so they called Cage and Bealer and asked for a meeting.
“I was like, ‘Really? Poetry? Not comedy or music?’” Bealer laughed, recalling the discussion. “But we were like, ‘OK, fair enough, we’ll give it a go. Why not?’ And Jesse jumped in, took it by the reins and is doing a phenomenal job of running it.”
When Ziegler moved to Reno about 10 years ago, he sought out spoken-word poetry events and discovered Spoken Views Collective, a community for spoken-word artists and poets, and its founder, Iain Watson. Though SVC staged monthly open-mic events at Good Luck Macbeth Theatre, Ziegler thought there should be more. This thought returned to him several years later, after applying twice, unsuccessfully, to be the poet laureate for the city of Reno. He saw he’d have to up the ante to get noticed.
“I wanted to do even more and essentially show the city of Reno and the Reno Arts and Culture Commission that nobody was going to work harder than me at uplifting this art form,” Ziegler said.
It was the same assurance he gave Cage and Bealer when he made his pitch. With their blessing, and with himself as the host, the first Monday night Open Mic Poetry event at Shim’s took place on Jan. 3, 2022. Ziegler’s hard work helped him earn the title of poet laureate for 2024-2025. And true to his word, he’s made the open mic a success, earning the first-place spot in the Best Open Mic category of our Best of Northern Nevada readers’ poll.
“When we first started, there were maybe five or 10 people here,” Bealer said. “Now pretty much every seat is full. … It’s not just a bar on Mondays; it’s a way of life. We have some people who turn up every single week.”
Each Monday around 5 p.m., Ziegler places a clipboard containing a signup sheet just below Shim’s small stage. Interested poets sign up—sometimes not until the very last minute—and at 6:30 p.m., the host welcomes guests, usually with a poem, and then begins making their way down the list of poets, invoking the call-and-response: “Where they at? Where they at?”
“We do 10 slots, a brief intermission, then another 10 slots,” Ziegler said. “Most nights fill up before intermission.”
Some people perform one poem; others do several. Some are original; some aren’t. Some are new, to which the audience shouts, “New shit!”; others are not (earning the crowd’s “Old shit!”). Newbies are welcomed with raucous applause. Lines that resonate provoke snaps. Some read off paper or phones; others freestyle. Subject matter ranges from confessional to silly, highly sexual to comedic, or even violent, inspiring trigger warnings. It feels like a sort of group therapy.
The event I attended kicked off with a freestyle poem by host 2Schae, a poet who moved to Reno from Sacramento in 2022. “I was very lonely,” they said. “I Googled poetry in Reno, and bam! Shim’s Open Mic.”
They showed up and immediately found what they’d been looking for—a welcoming community. Having done a few open mics in Sacramento (“Definitely failed, definitely made a fool of myself,” they laughed), they felt there was little to lose by hopping onstage that first night. The openness and honesty seeping through each Monday event encouraged them to keep at it, even seeking out a hosting spot.
“I was eager. I was very much, ‘Hey, Jesse, you need help? I love poetry. I write every day! You see my work; you know I’m there every week. Let me get up there. Give me one week.’”
“The first time I came, it felt like coming home. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to come back here, because I just love the energy.’”
Shim’s Open Mic Poetry regular Camilla Downs
2Schae’s persistence earned them a regular second-Monday-of-the-month hosting spot. (Caleb W. is the fourth-Monday host; Ziegler retains the remaining Mondays.) While 2Schae works at Tesla during the day, they consider themselves a poet first and foremost.
For Camilla Downs, a published author and single mother of two kids with special needs, open-mic Mondays were life-changing. A self-confessed introvert who was driven further inward by COVID-19, Downs said she had essentially walled herself and her family off for years. But in May 2023, finally ready to get out of the house, she discovered the open mic event online and decided to give it her one free hour.
“The first time I came, it felt like coming home,” she said. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to come back here, because I just love the energy.’”
The second time she came, she performed her poetry aloud for the first time in her life. “I’ve been coming every Monday since and getting up and reading every time. I love it,” she said. For Downs, it’s not only a great catharsis, helping her to process parts of her life with a supportive community; it’s also ideal for networking with other like-minded folks.
2Schae said the open mic allows people to vent. “It’s a space to be reckless, to fall down, to wonder why,” they said. “Where everyone gets to say something. Where everyone’s paying attention. … Just sign your name on the list.”
Open Mic Poetry takes place each Monday at Shim’s Surplus, 125 W. Third St., in Reno. Signups begin at 5 p.m., and the event runs from 6 to 8 p.m. Learn more at shimssurplus.com.