Hey Cantabbers! It was a very fun night this past Wednesday, with an open mic highlighted by jellyfish poems, Mortal Kombat poems, Generational Trauma/Karate poems, and two very different poems about Firefly.
We had a lot of Slam Free or Die regulars in the audience (shoutout to Greg Smith and Mica Rich) and a very welcome return by one of our favorite voices from the pre-pandemic, Mckendy Fils-Aimé. There was also plenty of 🧄 shenanigans 🧄, such as The Briana Hosting Experience that involved a $30 salad and a very funny Miley Cyrus serenade, Lynette’s set of neon “panic attack” themed stickers, and the continuing evolution of audience callbacks that have gone from “new shit” to “fresh vegetables” to this week’s “gorgeous garlic”. If you know, you know.
This week’s ✏Lines of the Wednesday✏ both come from a Kat:
“I am in love and it’s an eyesore” – Kat Anderson
“What is it like to see the cusp of a century and have it escape you?” – Kat Gunther
Our feature Zee Stewart gave us one of our most high energy (HI NRG?) sets of the year! There was no way anyone in the audience could not pay rapt attention to Zee’s full-throated lovingly crafted poems, which included an AWESOME extended group piece with Dan Ames. I can tell you it was about a roving fox and a maniacal Dr. Seuss-like character raving and rhyming about cadences and patterns, but that does not do it visceral justice. Did I mention that Zee also baked cookies for everyone in the audience? What a night!
This Wednesday: you definitely want to be here, as open mic standout Ryan Phung will be featuring for us! Check out 2 very different bios for him below.
Offical Bio: ryan phung is a very smelly los angeles native, quite possibly the smelliest i know. he is so smelly that the birds stop chirping when he approaches, and im pretty sure when he showers (if he showers at all) he uses 9 in 1 shampoo. he doesnt know how to do a cartwheel and he keeps pronouncing hyperbole as hipperbowl. despite all this, he is a friend, but the kind of friend u hang out with for like 20 min before saying o no sry man family emergency just came up, trevor taped his penis to the doorknob again, gotta go.
Myles’ edit: Ryan is a poet from California who will be getting his MFA from Notre Dame in Fiction for some reason. He has rapidly become an open mic favorite at the Boston Poetry Slam with moving work about grief, hope, family, immigration, and having a body. This is his send-off show before he moves and begins his studies in Not Poetry.
A 💰 reminder 💰 that we are now taking the $4 cover charge downstairs instead of upstairs. We prefer you to bring cash (to minimize fees) but we also accept Venmo, and contactless payments like chip credit cards and Apple pay. Also, Amy would want me to remind you to sign up for our MONTHLY NEWSLETTER, and to check our Poetry-themed MISSED CONNECTIONS FORM.
That’s all for now!
– MFG 🚪
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All shows take place at the Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge, with one flight of stairs to access the basement room (click for directions and accessibility information). The show is $4 / 21+ (ID/Proof of Vaccination required) and doors for the show open at 7:15. The open mic begins at 8:00 PM and the feature begins at approximately 10:00 PM.
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