Kevin Spak on the Emerson College mic in costume (as if we had to tell you). Photo by Artie Moffa.
A funny, energetic and dynamic performer, Kevin has been a long-time open mic and slam standout at the Cantab since 2002, featuring throughout New England and, just for fun, hustling the occasional rookie slammer at the bar. After a brief hiatus in 2005-2006, Spak returned as a perennial slam favorite and in 2009 took top honors (along with duet partner Melissa Newman-Evans) at the Cantab’s first-ever Group Piece Slam.
Spak found his way to the Cantab hosting staff after rocking the stage as a slam host for the 2010 College Union Poetry Slam Invitational at his alma mater, Emerson College. His high-energy approach to audience engagement runs somewhere between plain-spoken auctioneer and charismatic mad scientist, and no lackadaisical judge can escape his devilish one-eyebrow raise (unless it’s hidden behind the eye patch, of course).
Kevin Spak featuring with guest Artie Moffa at the Cantab.
He is the author of two chapbooks, Hundred Dollar Suit and Year of the Spiral Staircase, and co-designer of several board, card and role-playing games, including the upcoming Gladiators (Rio Grande, 2013) and Cosmic Pizza (Cambridge Game Factory, 2012), and the Game Chef-winning independent Shakespearean RPG Forsooth.
In his day job he is an editor and senior staff writer at Newser.com, and his secret identity is co-chief designer at Spoiled Flush Games. He served as one of the Press Leads for the 2011 National Poetry Slam. He may be reached through his Facebook page.