The Best Open-Mic Events in Chicago Right Now: Where to Actually Go This Month

Open-mic events in Chicago are having a moment. You can feel it in the way rooms are actually filling up on weeknights, how your group chat suddenly has Opinions about which mic is "worth the trek," and the fact that nearly 60 people are already circling this week’s highlights. If you’ve been threatening to finally try stand-up, read that short story, or just hear something weird and brilliant from a stranger, this is your sign to get off the couch and into a folding chair.

Across the city, the same names keep coming up when people talk about the best open-mic in Chicago this month: The Story Luck Show’s 2nd Sunday of the Month for the heartfelt, slightly chaotic storytellers; Feedback Open Mic if you actually want notes instead of just polite claps; FREE Tuesday Night Stand Up Comedy at Laugh Factory Chicago for those “I can’t believe this is free” lineups; Shorties - A Reading Series - February 2026 for the lit-nerds and prose people; Write on! A Student Salon for newer voices testing their work in a genuinely supportive room; and The Mill | variety show & open mic if your attention span needs stand-up, music, and whatever-the-hell-else all in one night.

The venues hosting these nights are very much part of the experience. Theater Wit in Lakeview still feels like the place where theater kids grow up but never fully calm down, which is exactly the energy you want for storytelling and readings. The space at 1579 N Milwaukee Ave #344 in Wicker Park has that slightly scrappy, DIY charm that makes you feel like you’ve discovered something before it blows up on TikTok. And Laugh Factory Chicago, right on Belmont, is where you go when you want real club energy—proper lights, real drinks, and the very real possibility of bombing in front of strangers, which is half the fun.

If you want big-night-out vibes and you’re into comedy, start with the FREE Tuesday Night Stand Up Comedy at Laugh Factory Chicago—that’s the one you show up early for. Story fans and oversharers should put The Story Luck Show’s 2nd Sunday on the calendar; it’s the kind of night where you end up talking to strangers afterward. Writers who actually want to improve, not just perform, should hit Feedback Open Mic or Shorties this month, where the crowd skews a little more notebook-and-glasses than shots-and-heckling. And if you’re testing the waters or bringing a nervous friend, Write on! A Student Salon and The Mill are low-pressure, high-charm options—perfect for people who want to participate in the scene without immediately committing to a five-minute set.

This is what discovery looks like in Chicago right now: crowded side rooms, half-finished drafts, jokes that don’t quite land yet, and the occasional set or story that makes you go, "Oh. That person’s going somewhere." Pick a room, pick a night, and go see what’s about to happen before it’s famous.