Cantab Recap for Wednesday, July 10

HARLYM125 IN THE HOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

Oh, excuse us. Did you miss the party? A big-talkin’, explosive-performin’, complex-writin’ major player took the stage for us last night: Harlym125. Did he rock the mic? He did. Were there singalongs and special guests and surprises? There were. Did he change your life? I guess we’ll know next week, since some of us might show up with our hair still blown back and smiles still plastered across our faces. Ladies and gentlemen, the champion of your hearts, Mister One Two Five.

We were so pumped up to slam after Harlym’s feature, and it was a wild one: the slam was almost evenly split between Boston and Portland competitors, fighting it out for honor, glory, and a special supplementary $20 prize (thanks to the generosity of our feature!). In just the first round we saw a Champion of Champions and a World Qualifier winner ousted, and the second round featured a wicked tie that catapulted Adam Stone (circa 2004) to the final two! In the final head-to-head, Adam ultimately fell to Rhythmic Cypher SlamMaster TLove, who takes the eighth spot in this season’s Champion of Champions series, scheduled for July 24.

Next Wednesday: the National Poetry Slam is less than five weeks away, and we’ve got some regional preparation to do! Number one on our list: invite all the NorthBEAST teams over to slam at our house! This next iteration of the NorthBEAST summer regionals will feature a 4×4 NPS-style slam with Worcester, Port Veritas, Providence, and the Lizard Lounge.

Can’t wait until next Wednesday for your poetry fix? No problem! You can check out Tom Slavin at Moonlighting over in JP tonight, Thursday, July 11. This monthly GLBTQ reading also will feature a spotlight feature from the inimitable Sophia “Fanny” Walker.

Tips from the Bar: the Harlym125 Prompt

Write an erotic poem featuring entirely unerotic imagery. Feel free to take as your inspiration: the nappy owl or the wet, sweaty Chewbacca (nasty).

Cantab Feature for July 10, 2013: Harlym125

Harlym125 performs at the Cantab Lounge. Photo by Marshall Goff.

Harlym125 performs at the Cantab Lounge. Photo by Marshall Goff.

Jamele “Harlym125” Adams is, hands-down, one of the most powerful performance poets in the country. A onetime NPS finalist with the Boston Poetry Slam team back in 2008, he now is one of the leaders of the Lizard Lounge Poetry Jam, bringing a fiery rivalry and his shouts of “TEN! TEN! TEN!” to many a local bout. A mover for social justice, an enthusiastic educator and communicator, and a commanding writer to boot, he serves as Brandeis University’s Dean of Diversity and has been featured up and down the east coast. He founded the annual NUPIC slam at NPS and his last Cantab feature included a dance break. This show is not to be missed.

This show in our weekly Wednesday series takes place at the Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge. Doors for the show open at 7:15. The open mic begins at 8:00 and the feature performs at approximately 10:00. An open slam in the 8×8 series will follow. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.

Cantab Recap for Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Very occasionally, the stage staff at the Boston Poetry Slam mentions that the feature did not happen to bring any product– CDs, chapbooks, or the like. If that makes you shift in your seat a little, wishing you could have Krysten Hill‘s words all to yourself, we on staff would like to remind you: sometimes the feature’s thirty minutes on stage at the Cantab are all you can get, so be glad you were here… Because they will be AMAZING. Krysten rocked the house with incredibly solid and crafted work. If you were there, consider yourself lucky: you can say you knew her when.

We finished up the night with a pretty hot slam, welcoming a few new faces with very strong voices: the finals came down to an out-of-town match-up! When the dust (and the time penalties) cleared, Portland’s Jenn C. edged out her carpool buddy, TLove, for the $10 and the win.

Next week: you think you’re ready? Trust us: there is no way to be ready for Harlym125‘s feature next week. Gird your poetic bits and strap in for a wild ride with Associate Dean Adams. We’ll close out the night with the last open poetry slam in this 8×8 series.

Tips from the Bar: The Sophia Holtz Prompt

Take a dangerous word and apply it to something beautiful.

Cantab Feature for July 3, 2013: Krysten Hill

Krysten Hill, UMass-Boston MFA candidate.

Krysten Hill, UMass-Boston MFA candidate.

Krysten Hill is a recent graduate from the MFA programat UMass-Boston from Kansas City, Missouri. She has featured at Literary Firsts, U35, Stone Soup, Breakwater Reading Series, Write on the DOT, and the first Somerville Encyclopedia Show. She is published and forthcoming in apt, Write on the DOT, and Amethyst Arsenic. Her greatest desire is to form a collective of women poets who travel around teaching the power of voice to the girls on front porches who wonder what that aching in their chests is all about.

This show in our weekly Wednesday series takes place at the Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge. Doors for the show open at 7:15. The open mic begins at 8:00 and the feature performs at approximately 10:00. An open slam in the 8×8 series will follow. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.

SlamCenter Recap for the 6/26 4×4 Is Here!

SlamCenter is a sports-style show featuring the latest poetry slam news highlights and analysis. Boston Poetry Slam co-host Kevin Spak, Mill City SlamMaster Zeke Russell, and a cast of reporters and analysts bring you the ins outs and overtimes of the National Poetry Slam and select NorthBEAST events. Produced by Andy Locke and Tom Dodson.

SlamCenter is a sports-style show featuring the latest poetry slam news highlights and analysis. Boston Poetry Slam co-host Kevin Spak, Mill City SlamMaster Zeke Russell, and a cast of reporters and analysts bring you the ins, outs, and overtimes of the National Poetry Slam and select NorthBEAST events. Produced by Andy Locke and Tom Dodson.

Hey, did you miss the big slam at the Cantab this past Wednesday? No problem! SlamCenter, the world’s first slam recap podcast, has got a full recap with all the highlights right here.

Don’t want to miss an episode? Want to catch up with previous recaps? Check out SlamCenter’s podcasts at iTunes!

Cantab Recap for Wednesday, June 26

It’s finally summer, Cantabbers! And you know what that means: tons of cool slams scheduled for your edification, entertainment, and, of course, pre-enthusing about the National Poetry Slam that’s just weeks away.

Last night’s 4×4 team slam was just a little taste of what you can expect in coming months: four teams brought rock-solid work to the Cantab stage for a shot at local bragging rights. Included were Manchester, New Hampshire’s Slam Free or Die (who brought a few familiar faces from the Boston Poetry Slam Team Selection series this year), the rookies from Portland, Maine’s Rhythmic Cypher (anyone recognize some of the competitors, including the runner-up, from last week’s open slam?), the plucky upstarts from the Mill City Slam in Lowell (you can call them Cantab North if you want to, but this team is building a voice all their own), and, naturally, your own hometown heroes (check the right sidebar for the team’s fancy new pictures, taken by Marshall Goff). HOT DIGGITY DAWG!

After the dust, group pieces, and oohs and aahs cleared, the top team standing was the one who traveled furthest: congratulations to the Rhythmic Cypher team, who won with a 107.0, and who’ll be a first-time venue competing at NPS 2013! Second place was a crowded podium, shared by both the Slam Free or Die and home team, who both scored a total of 106.6. Mill City’s 103.8 might look like a distant fourth in comparison, but check it: these guys did three brand-new group pieces last night in their four rounds, blowing away every other team in the bout and blowing up the room with the launch of their first piece, a (somewhat familiar?) public service announcement that had the whole audience alternately looking under and falling out of their chairs.

Special thanks also to Nick Fox, our superfine host (who even withstood Dawn Gabriel‘s terrible open mic jokes, yowza), as well as Dawn and April Ranger for bout managing and judge wrangling. Flawless scorekeeping, as usual, was handled by Jamei Bauer.

Next week! We are back with newly minted MFA grad Krysten Hill, who has at least a few surprises up her sleeve for her feature. We’ll also continue with the seventh open slam in the current 8×8 series. See you there!

Tips from the Bar: the Carlos Williams Prompt

In memory of our much-missed bar back, Guest Tippers Emily Carroll and Melissa Newman-Evans offer the following:

Write an exultation or plea to a god that does not exist. For example: the Oh God of Hangovers, or Ernesto, the Saint of False Seriousness.

Cantab for Wednesday, June 26, 2013: NorthBEAST Regional 4×4 Part One, Hosted by Nick Fox!

It’s time for our first NorthBEAST Regional Team Slam of the summer! The 2013 National Poetry Slam is coming to Boston this August, and it’s about time for a little warm-up… On this night, four teams from the NorthBEAST region will face off in a NPS-style four-team bout for bragging rights and Nationals-level performance practice. Come cheer on the Mill City Slam from Lowell, Portland’s brand new Rhythmic Cypher team, Manchester’s one-and-only Slam Free or Die, and your very own home folks from the Boston Poetry Slam.

Nick Fox, special guest-star-MC for the NorthBEAST 4x4 Regional.

Nick Fox, special guest-star-MC for the NorthBEAST 4×4 Regional.

But wait, there’s more: this event will be hosted by a special guest! We’ve tracked down the 2011 National Poetry Slam Finals MC, Nick Fox, to act as the ringmaster of all that is slammerific and awesome, since he is taking a sabbatical from his adopted hometown of New Orleans and currently resides just next door in Providence. That’s right: this novelist, poet, emcee, Flagstaff Poetry Slam founder, MFA Creative Writing grad from Warren Wilson, volcano-sledder, and repository of a near-infinite amount of facts about mules is taking a break from writing his fourth novel just to host for us! We’re SO ready for NPS 2013 here at the Boston Poetry Slam. Are you?

This show in our weekly Wednesday series takes place at the Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge. Doors for the show open at 7:15. A slightly shortened open mic begins at 8:00 and the slam begins at approximately 10:00. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.