Open Mic: Keeping Your Shipoopi Private

We’ve got trouble, right here in Rain City….
It’s starts with “T” which rhymes with “P,” and stands for “Pool.”
Yes, the naked truth has been revealed in the heart of Ballard, where traditions stand longer than landmarks destined for condo-conversion. Here in the midst of what was once Seattle’s most formidable enclave of Scandinavian formality, bare naked men and women display their privates in private.
Yes, the Ballard pool has been reserved on a limited basis for the unreserved, those who believe that underwater gyrations are healthy for adults and other living things. The practice has come under the watchful eyes of City of Seattle Parks and Recreation officials who now declare that the required lifeguards at the public drink must be at least old enough to consume alcohol before engaging in the recovery of an exhibitionist. Most city lifeguards are only old enough to smoke cigarettes, get married, or be called on multiple tours of Iraq, thus making the career expectancy of the average City of Seattle lifeguard slightly longer than that of the average 21^st-Century encyclopedia salesman. Consequently, the number of 21-year-old lifeguards in the city is minimal.
City officials say that a 21-year-old lifeguard, coming home from having a couple of cool ones with his friends after beating his young bride, or facing a terrorist, might be mature enough to deal with the distractions coming from a pool full of octogenarians shriveling in the water. “Shipoopi,” say the organizers of the nude swim in another Music Man reference, “this city is playing hard to get.”
Whether your idea of comedy is a bare naked exposure of one’s inner “Shipoopi,” or a series of surprises cloaked in mystery, chances are you’ll experience both in a collection of comedians gathered for open mic every Tuesday evening at 7 pm at the Mainstage Comedy and Music Club. If you’d prefer to have your own kind of music, perhaps you’ll want to participate in the music open mic that follows at 9 pm. Do remember, however, that at the Mainstage, clothing is NOT optional.