SloDoCo, a tastefully fun donut shop in San Luis Obispo.
Photo by Sameer Wahba / Cuestonian
By Amanda Vasquez
Distribution Director
San Luis Obispo provides a lot of opportunities to hang out with friends that revolve around more than alcohol consumption. Socialize and actually remember what happened.
Express and Reboot…
On the third Wednesday of every month, there is a storytelling slam going on at Linnaea’s called Slolio. A storytelling slam is where a theme is picked a month in advance and announced, anyone is welcomed to prepare and present an 8 to 10 minute story based on the chosen theme.
Rachel Ross is a regular attendee of Slolio, she put together a group for local writers called Reboot based off of her experiences with Slolio story slams.
“The theme is not meant as a constraint, but as a springboard for your ideas,†said Ross, who describes Slolio as the mother of Reboot.
Reboot is a combination between improv comedy and story slams, where players perform really short bits. The first session was on Oct. 20th and got great reviews from Calpoly’s newspaper. Look for info on December’s gathering online. Reboot is in a standing room only, it is completely free.
Jazz Bands galore…
Linnaea’s Cafe also has a plethora of events that go on continuously all month long, year round.
Two Cuesta students find interest in attending Linnaea’s cafe for jazz night,
“I like Jazz, I would go listen to Jazz,†stated Blake Diaz, first year in theatre arts.
“Dude yeah, that sounds awesome,†agreed Nick Magno, a third year music performance major.
The first and third Tuesday of every month, Cuesta’s Jazz band performs for free at Linnaea’s Cafe, all ages are welcome. On the second and fourth Tuesday of the every month a regular jazz band performs. Every Tuesday, Linnaea’s hosts live jazz music for free.
Not only that, the last Sunday of every month there is a poetry reading, and on Thursday on the third week of every month, Linnaea’s holds a story time event where all are welcomed.
Linnaea’s is located in downtown San Luis Obispo on Garden Street. The events are also free and begin at 7 p.m.
The Fremont Theatre in downtown San Luis Obispo offers a plethora of options for college students that are cheap and fun…
Although there is beer served at concerts, having live performers to focus on is something other than drinking games and beer pong, and of course no one is required to drink. Playing movies during the day and hosting live performances at night, makes the Fremont Theatre one of a kind. One of the first movie theatres ever built in San Luis Obispo was the Fremont Theatre.
Hiking Bishop Peak offers the satisfaction of conquering a personal challenge with friends….
Bishop Peak is located on Foothill blvd. not far from campus housing. There is a small parking lot on Foothill, and a pathway to follow to the top of the mountain. At the top there is a bench to sit on.
SloDoCo…the place to go…
SLO Donut Company is open 24 hours and hosts comedy nights, actors improv nights, and more. According to Jake Schoonmaker, the events manager at SloDoCo, every Thursday through Sunday, they allow musical acts to use the building as a safe space to play music and not get bothered by the police. That offers students opportunities to go watch musical performances, or become involved with some. Music styles range from garage rock to progressive jazz.
Aiden Candelario, a local comedian, puts on comedy nights and hosts events at SloDoCo. The shop has an entire creative team and they host many creative events like movie nights and marathons as long as there are people willing to participate.
SloDoCo will soon be offering open mic nights on Wednesdays twice a month, where people can share stories, poems, or songs.
SloDoCo makes a point of hosting a lot of activities where students and local people can use the space as a safe space to hang out and not drink or do drugs. Schoonmaker is always open to more people coming in with suggestions or ideas for fun stuff to do on a group level.
Kreuzberg, cool, but not too cool for school…
Sign up on Monday for a slot on Kreuzberg’s line up of upcoming artists, poets and musicians. Want to sit back and watch upcoming talent? No problem. Attend Kreuzberg’s open mic night on Wednesday nights from 9-11 p.m. On Thursdays they have musical nights on occasion, friday nights are comedy nights and Saturday is improv comedy night.
