It was a marathon of different kind this weekend as a continuous 24-hour variety show played on at the Metropolitan Room in the Flatiron District. NY1's Tara Lynn Wagner sat in for some the acts and filed this report. 

What good is sitting alone in your room when there's a 24 hour cabaret marathon taking place in the Flatiron District? 

Twenty-four hours is actually a drop in the bucket compared to last year when the Metropolitan Room broke the Guiness World Record for longest variety show ever — 60 continuous hours of entertainment.

"We were looking for something to do in the first week of January because it's dead out there," said Bernie Furshpan, owner of the Metropolitan Room. "There's no shows out there. We've got to do something special to kick off the New Year."

The event was so successful that owner Bernie Furshpan resolved to start each year on a similar, although slightly scaled back, high note. This year's first annual marathon ran from 11:30 Saturday morning to 11:30 Sunday, with over 150 acts stepping up to the mic.  

"We had puppeteers, we had comedians, singers, poets," Furshpan said. "It's a variety show. It's almost like a vaudeville type of a show."

But unlike vaudeville, cabaret is alive and well and some say in the midst of a comeback. 

"I think the 24 hour marathon — the fact that there are people that will come perform at 5 and 6 o'clock in the morning is definitely a testament to the fact that's it's growing big time," said cabaret singer Amy Friedl Stoner.

Throughout the event, audience members came and went, for the most part. Peggy Eason — a performer herself — was one of two patrons who sat for the whole shebang. 

"It has been wonderful for me," Eason said. "I've met a lot if new people and I ate a lot of food and I got a lot of new song ideas."

Performers say they were drawn to cabaret because it's unpredictable, interactive and personal — giving them the opportunity to work on material that moves them.

"Songs that have an emotional message that you can connect to and just songs that you love to sing and you sing in your bathroom and you want to sing them onstage," said performer Robin Rothman.

Interested in stepping into the spotlight?  I asked some of the seasoned performers what it takes to make a life in the cabaret.

"I would say focus on your favorite song something that's incredible personal to you because that's what's the most interesting," said singer Freidl Stoner.

The marathon may be over but the regular shows go on 7 days a week, so come to the cabaret, old chum. Your table's waiting.