Karaoke Forums

Well, it happened to me tonight. First time ever. I was asked last week at the end of the night if I would ever consider going overtime and I told them that I would, but I would have to be paid up front and the bartender would have to OK it it first.
So tonight, I was asked near the end of the night how much by the same people, and I told them $80.00 for roughly 45 mins. They raised $75.00. Good enough for me, and I went a full hour over.
I certainly like the extra cash, though I wouldn't want to do it every week. I like my sleep.

I find it odd that many KJ's do not work until the bar closes. The bars here close at 2am. I think most nights if we didn't have to close I could keep people there til 4am or later.

My current shows run from 8 pm to last call, 1:45 am. Bar closes at 2:00, all drinks must be off the tables by 2:15, and all patrons out the door by 2:30.
A KJ does no favors for the bar by keeping singers going past last call. The customers cannot spend any more money; the staff needs to clean up and total out. The KJ needs time to secure and pack equipment.

At previous shows that ended at 1 am, I was frequently paid (by customers or the bar) to extend the show to last call.

I've actually been told by bars, both with Karaoke and with the band, that they want the show done at 1:30 no later so they have time to serve everyone their last drinks and get them out of the bar. They don't want people staying past 2:00 so it is not a good thing to keep the party going till then. People leave the bar a lot easier if they have a little time to "come down" and have one last drink first.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

Smart bartenders understand this concept, of getting people out. My Thur/Fri show bartender will let me know when she wants last call - she knows when people have stopped buying, she has a lot of cleanup to do, and I'm certainly not going to argue with her over that. Hubby stops his Mon night show at 1:30 (bartime, 15 minutes ahead), and last call usually coincides with the last song. Sometimes it takes 30 minutes to get those hangers-on out by 2 a.m. Wouldn't want that job.

In my case, it's not my decision, the bar wants everyone to start packing up by 1:30. I have to be done Sun-Thurs by 1, & 1:30 on Fri-Sat.

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

I find that people will leave after they think they've sung what would be their last song. On Wednesdays I work from 8 til 12. The bar will start clearing out usually about 11 or 11:30 because people will sing their last song and leave. If people stick around the bar pays me an extra hour to stay late. Most people don't want to stick around to see if this will happen or not. I don't know if I'm staying late until literally 5 minutes before close. The funny part is if he had me stay until 1am instead of 12 on a regualr basis people would stay. The bar doesn't close until 2am on week days.

Weekends are slightly different because I work from 9 til 2. The bar closes at 3. More times than not I'll stay late on a Wed instead of a Friday or Saturday. I'd say on an average it happens once every other week.

I get $50 an hour to stay late. Well worth it for me since I'm already there. If the owner isn't there I make the call if I'm staying late or not.

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Hello All,

the bar very rarely will pay me overtime but I have passed the hat to the patrons who want to stay ... if the bar alows it.

Jason

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Jason Christopher
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