my friend messaged asking me to sub for her as KJ for two nights in late October. it's 9pm-2am, $200 per night plus tips (but tbf it's a $40 Lyft each way to get there <><><>nocar<><><>). she's training me tonight. will update you guys on how it goes.
maybe this is my calling. but probably not because i'm horrible with faces so i won't realize if people are cheating and skipping the line by signing up multiple times without waiting for their next song.
well i think the KARAFUN software will take care of the rotation for me though. i think they'd have to use their friend's phone to sign up the second time to get away with it if we're doing digital signups (which we probably are because my friend who usually runs it is very tech-savvy)
i'll be setting up all the equipment, announcing each singer, telling everyone to applaud for them at the end of their song, and DJing in the transitions between singers. don't know yet if i have to type in written sign-ups or if people will just sign up on their phones. but i'm good at reading shitty handwriting and i type 150wpm so nbd if typing is involved. i assume i will also be sanitizing the microphone between singers.
to tip-max i'll be efficient keeping the list moving and i'll be genuinely excited or congratulatory when people sing songs i like or if they do a good job. also if a song has a hype part in the background and i know it, and the singer isn't doing those parts, i'll do them into my microphone to back them up.
hmm my singing is ok, not great not horrible. i don't think i'd jump in on the microphone to help them find the pitch or beat, but i'd probably do it off-mic... which i do at karaoke anyways as an attendee. my bf and i will loudly sing along correctly in the crowd if the person is clearly struggling. it helps them get on track and it also shows support, like, "hey people are singing along and vibing!"
we'll see! we start in half an hour - my friend will be running most of it but i'll do some as the trainee. setup took about half an hour and she showed me EVERYTHING about the equipment and the software. their mixing board has reverb, which is 1800000. always elevates the karaoke. and i get to use my judgment and adapt the gain and reverb based on how loud they are and how loud the track is and the VIBES. she gave U2 and Madonna as examples of when she turns the reverb way up lol
Date: October 3rd, 2026 9:37 PM Author: alcoholic parlour
The best kjs (1) keep the filler to a minimum (15 seconds between singers MAX); (2) mix the sound well (keep the background high, especially when the singer sucks); (3) mix in new singers without putting them at the end (the software should allow this).
Also if you want tips you need to let people egregiously jump the line. It’s a dirty business but that’s how you get rewarded ime (I’ve been a KJ for 10 years).
thanks! what's your system for taking bribes? i would wanna be consistent about it, like, $5 you skip half the line, $10 you're singing within the next five, $20 you're in the next two... something like that.
i'll definitely ask my friend what she does though because i think it's most important for it to be consistent within a venue
update: my friend charges $30 to skip the line because it's too easy to just throw a $20 bill at someone. she wants to make sure they REALLY want it. i 100% respect that
lol i bet not too many people are willing to put in the $30 and the list stays pretty FIFO, which is a better experience for the attendees imo. we'll see though.
tyty. what are your biggest "oh god not that again" songs as a KJ? here are my T5 as a karaoke attendee - surprisingly didn't hear any of them tonight:
lmao yeah i agree about Goodbye Earl, don't hear the others much.
and def agree about the female ballads. 75% of women in Los Angeles sound like they're either trying to be Amy Winehouse or Adele. the male equivalent is dudes who do the peanut butter voice.
like they have peanut butter on the roof of their mouths. people will often do it when singing Pearl Jam even though Eddie Vedder doesn't even really do it but it's how it sounds in their heads ig. they'll do it for any rock song, it's so annoying when combined with oversinging.
KARAOKE JOCKEY TRAINING was 180. i only ran it for two hours but honestly i was locked in the whole time so it felt like longer. was constantly making micro-adjustments on the mixer to make everything sound as good as possible. no one opted for the $30 skip-the-line bribe in that time period and idk what tips came in because it was my friend's Venmo. i only deleted one song by accident afaik; fortunately it was my friend's who was training me and she noticed quickly. not sure how it happened - i think maybe i accidentally multi-selected when removing a duplicate someone entered. stayed for an extra rotation to bring this NU METAL MOMENT with my bf: https://vocaroo.com/1o96BpE2Nlk6
this was 180, would do again. it ended up only being one night rather than two as they had a different event on the Saturday i was originally approached about working. i made $32 in tips, which is more than zero, and my friend ended up taking me so i didn't have to Lyft there or back. $232 for five hours of work (first hour was setup), not bad at all.
i don't know how much money my parents actually have and that might change with upcoming cancer treatment so ya. i could probably move in w/ them for some time but i don't want to have to do that. i'm very independent and hate accepting any help.
Date: November 6th, 2026 4:43 PM Author: Historical American (SQQQ)
Not flame if you had invested every penny you earned in tech and lived ultra cheap for the last 10 years you could retire like Tommy. In fact you would probably have more money than him. Then you could do whatever. But you wouldn't have the memories ig