Today is my birthday, and while my mom is treating my family to a weekend away, I know exactly how I’d celebrate if we were staying in town.
For the past few birthdays of my co-author Heather and my husband Ryan’s, we have had a good old time in Temescal. What do Axl Rose, Dolly Parton, and Bono have in common? They have all been honored by our amazingly mediocre Karaoke performances at Jaguar Karaoke on Telegraph Avenue.
Before you pshaw Karaoke as something you’d be too embarassed to do, know that this venue is made up of private rooms only. Perfect for five to fifteen people, each room has a television, a difficult-to-operate remote control, a sectional couch, and a coffee table. There are two microphones, so duets are encouraged, and in fact, the singers are so close to their friendly audience, it is pretty much a group sing along.
Your ingredients for an adult birthday evening:
- Book a babysitter for long enough to have a one-hour dinner and an hour or two of karaoke. Timid new parents may want to put their own babies to bed and meet only for the karaoke portion of the evening.
- Make a liquor store run. No alcohol is served at Jaguar. Nor is it permitted. But dry karaoke? Do yourself a favor and smuggle some liquid courage into the place. Junk food is also a welcome addition to your temporary living room’s coffee table. (You don’t have to hide chips and salsa or birthday cupcakes that you bring from outside sources.)
- Eat dinner nearby. Koryo sushi restaurant is the same mini-mall, but it is pretty small and doesn’t take reservations. Kansai is across the street and better for a larger group. And if you can swing an early dinner, you may get seated at Burma Superstar without too long a wait.
- Sing your heart out. Selecting songs from the years that you and most of your guests were in high school or college seem to have the best results for group singing. (Note: Be sure to ask for the remote control with mosty English on the buttons.)
