Friday, November 13, 2009

Poetry Slam Update: October & November

Well, its been a busy couple of months in South Florida: weather cools down, poetry HEATS UP!

In October, Asia delivered a roaring and hysterically funny feature at Dada, returning to his original 'home-turf' venue with a ton of performing and competition experience under his belt. WE LOVE YOU ASIA! Check out his venue: Mellow Mondays at Cafe Bluster in Hollywood.

Jashua Sa-Ra stopped by before heading out to compete at the Individual World Poetry Slam in Berkeley, CA THE NEXT DAY... and he's glad he did, taking the win and $100 in extra cash to Cali... Joey Leto and Kristi Williams placed second and third respectively.

A few weeks ago, Tod Caviness flew down on vacation from his work with Orlando Sentinel to entrance and amuse us. It felt like a family re-union for a minute: Chunky and I sat down to chat and then Amy Steinberg and her boyfriend Brad joined us for dinner. By the time Tod walked in, we were already swapping stories about olden days (like, four years ago! ok, so, not that old...).

In the slam, I broke the rules and let the audience decide whether or not to enforce a time-penalty...they jeered it down, putting 5 poets in the final round. Chunky came out on top, easily 3 points ahead of the pack. Steve Crist and Cristina rounded out the top three.

Looking ahead...ROB STURMA, aka Rat Pack Slim, stops in Delray on tour Dec 1...
BIO: ROB STURMA has been getting open on mics since 2000, when a sweet California lass brought him to the Los Angeles open mic Da Poetry Lounge, and where he subsequently fell in love with the art of performance poetry
and spoken word. He performed for a number of years unde...r the
monicker Ratpack Slim, and during those years, he was on the Los Feliz
Slam Team two years running (2003-2004), made it to the finals stage
with Team Hollywood in 2005, and as slammaster of Western Regional slam team Gang Green, took three teams to Big Sur, rocking nationally ranked teams outta
their seats. He was the host of the seminal Los Angeles open mic
Green from 2003-2007, featuring everyone from Jack Hirschmann to Andrea
Gibson (Buddy Wakefield and Mike McGee neck in neck for most repeat features). He was the poetry editor for GetUnderground.com and Kotori Magazine, did a series of webstories called "Children of Slam" for kcet.org, was seen in the documentary Sp!t, and on the BET show "The Way We Do It". David Alan Grier gave him a 9.5 in a Comedy Central slam pilot, Snakes On A Plane/ Wolverine producer Jeff Katz called Rob's poetry "outstanding", and Hardcore Legend Mick Foley said Rob's poem about him "gave him goosebumps". His new full-length book of poems Miles of Hallelujah will be available on Write Bloody Press in Fall 2009.
VIDEO LINKS:
"Whatever We Are Not":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xB2V5pPf8k

"Mick Foley" (as seen on TNAWrestling.com):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXrszEbHjHQ


AUDIO LINK:

"Lost Highway Bar and Grill", on Indiefeed:
http://www.indiefeedpp.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=518817

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