Happy Wednesday everyone! Last week was one of the most sold-out shows we have had in a long time, with the basement reaching capacity before 7:45, and an additional 15-to-20 people waiting upstairs! Also, we had Kat, our wonderful social media manger, behind the bar for the first time! A wonderful bartending debut.
The open mic was fabulous, with surprise special guest Tongo Eisen-Martin, the poet laureate of San Francisco, reading a powerful piece early in the night (come see his feature on July 3rd!). Other highlights include Ribs’ trans stand-up comedy/poetry rousing the crowd into a frenzy, Isaiah reading a special birthday poem (happy birthday!), Arielle with another from-the-bar instant classic, and slam team member Brynna making a wonderful hosting debut!
This week’s ✏️Line of the Wednesday✏️ is from Isaiah, with “grief is how any plant knows that sunlight exists when all it can see is the moon “
We then had a fabulous MFG-hosted haiku slam. After some great mashups, the slam ended with a virtual tie between Brynna and TJ Jones. Michael even asked the audience to vote twice, and although it remained incredibly close, TJ had the slightest edge and won the $17!
We then had our feature, Lynne Schmidt. Lynne brought her service dog, Zoe, who very politely sat on stage and watched the whole open mic! Lynne’s work holds your hand as she guides you through some incredibly hard topics, detailing the visceral emotions that one can hold through tough times and how those emotions can change over time or linger. Notably, Lynne also had a very lovely and well-designed merch table. Thank you Lynne.
This week, it’s SLAM TIME! After our open mic, we will have the Fresh Ink Slam. The theme is fresh ink, meaning never-before-heard poems (at least, never heard by us). Can I get a “NEW SHIT!”? (Editor: You can.) Rules: 3 rounds, and you must have 3 ORIGINAL poems under 3 minutes.
See you Wednesday!
– Amy ✈️
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