In a small quaint café on Lancaster Avenue in Wayne, Pa., with yellow walls and original artwork hanging everywhere, artists of all forms gather together every Monday night to showcase their latest works.
At the Gryphon Café, one can come for a night of relaxation and entertainment, to hear the original songs of singers or enjoy comedy acts of both new and established comedians.
The Gryphon Café has been holding open mic nights on and off for the past 10 years.
“We recently began to hold open mic nights starting in the fall after a hiatus over the summer,” Chris Wall, marketing and music director of the Gryphon Café, said.
On Monday, Feb. 15, there was a small gathering at the Gryphon Café for open mic night. The few performers who attended believed that the inclement weather was the reason for such a small turnout that evening.
“Usually we have a solid group of regulars,” Wall said. “But we do get a lot of new people from time to time.”
One group that performs almost every Monday night at the Gryphon Café is the Bee Keepers. Along with the Bee Keepers, Tron, a 16-year-old singer/songwriter from Conestoga High School, just recently started to attend the Monday night gatherings. Tron had originally started to sing in school, but has just recently began to perform at various open mic nights in the area.
“I have been coming every Monday for about a month or two,” Tron said. “Besides coming here, I like to go to the open mic nights at Milkboy in Ardmore and Burlap and Bean in Newtown Square.”
Tron is a young artist who has been singing for about two years and he has been playing the guitar since the fourth grade.
In addition to the singers who performed, comedian Sidney Gantt also performed for the audience. In his act, he talked about everything from the 2010 Winter Olympics to the “Maury Show” and alcohol abuse to chronic toe-suckers.
Unlike some of the performers at the Gryphon Café, Gantt’s career is comedy. He travels all over the country performing in many different types of venues.
“This is what I do for a living, this is my job,” Gantt said. “It’s something that I have always wanted to do, but didn’t think that I could because it’s something you only see people on TV doing.”
“I love what I do,” Gantt said. “My ultimate goal is to be able to make people laugh at the fact that we are all imperfect.”
Many people may think that open mic nights at the Gryphon Café are just a hobby; however, there have been many famous people to pass through the doors and perform. Some of those performers include Sharon Little, Gregory Alan Isakov and Amos Lee.
“It’s what I enjoy,” Tron said. “I plan on becoming famous. It’s always been my dream.”
