Cantab Recap for Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Welcome back, Cantabbers! It was super to see lots of new faces alongside a great selection of long-lost returnees last night, all braving the January chill to catch a super easy-going open mic night featuring the very excellent Eve Ewing. Eve made leaving the house on a winter night one zillion percent worth it with her thoughtful, clever, and well-crafted set. Were you bummed that this Breakbeat poet didn’t have a book to sell you last night? No worries, you can still commission a custom poem from her of your very own: all you have to do is present her with proof that you’ve donated $50 (cash or goods via Amazon!) to the Liberation Library, an organization dedicated to providing books for incarcerated youth. That’s right, you can do everybody some good AND get yerself your very own Eve Ewing poem… Get at her via her website or @eveewing on Twitter.

Meanwhile, back in the slam series… It’s time for our annual SPEED SLAM series! That means that the next eight slams will consist of 3-, 2-, and 1-minute rounds, like a speeding train racing a cheetah to the other side of a MarioKart chevron yup yup yup, it’s that fast. The first slam in the series came down to newcomer Ian vs. crusty ol’ regular Ed Wilkinson. Ed dug deep for a last burst of energy to win the final round, but watch out, veterans: fresh legs are coming for your slam wins!

Next week: we’re back with teacher, philosopher, poet and proud UCONN grad Emmanuel Oppong-Yeboah. And, yes (don’t blink): the second speed slam in the 8×8 series.