What unexpected thing does something in your refrigerator say about you?
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, Feburary 20: Wes Hazard
Wes Hazard, Boston comic and poet.
Double-dipping as a stand-up comic and a poet, Wes Hazard loves language, technology, over-thinking the institutions of pop culture, and entertaining audiences. An open mic favorite at the Cantab, Wes also produced a comedy-poetry show pairing at our summer Radio series, as well as presented at the inaugural Encyclopedia Show: Somerville. Navigating skillfully between the vulgar and the whimsical he takes few things seriously, least of all himself. Visit him on Twitter: @weshazard.
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 speed slam in the 8×8 series will follow. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.
Cantab Recap for Wednesday, February 13
Cantabbers, if you’re reading this, then you survived Valentine’s Day! Congratulations to everyone, especially to those who also survived our Erotic Poetry Night. Turns out that this was no small feat, actually: our feature that night was Kevin Spak‘s brainchild, the Love Vs. Death slam. In this seven-round head-to-head featuring a murderer’s row of high-quality slammers, Love took an early lead and looked as though it would conquer it all! However, Death’s slow-but-steady philosophy actually took the win in the very last round, with a tight score of 4-3. Our thanks to all the talented folks who slammed, as well as the brave folks who elected to judge and choose between Romantic Certainty and Utmost Doom.
Next week: we welcome open mic regular Wes Hazard to the stage! Perhaps best known in Boston as a stand-up-guy stand-up comic, Wes has also found a solid following for his more serious work here at the Cantab’s open mic. Wes’ feature slot will be followed by an open speed slam in the 8×8 series.
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, Feburary 13: Erotic Poetry Night PLUS Love vs. Death Slam
For some reason, the Wednesday closest to Valentine’s Day is likely to see a wave of romantics flooding into the Cantab Lounge, suddenly struck with the notion that an open mic poem to a date is the best way to express love on this annual Hallmark-fest. Not to worry! To stem the tide, we present Awkward Date Night (or, as we call it for the newspapers, Erotic Poetry Night). Whether it be deeply sensual or casually raunchy, our extra-long open mic welcomes all erotica, from the lightly titillating to the downright dirty. Bring your loved one(s) at your peril: if they last the night, maybe it was meant to be.
If you’ve got the stamina to last the open mic, then you’ll want to stick around for the Boston Poetry Slam’s first-ever Love vs. Death Poetry Slam! Produced by host, open mic regular, and game designer Kevin Spak, this head-to-head slam will pit poets slamming on the side of Love against poets supporting the side of Death (that’s right, two classic Valentine’s Day themes):
| TEAM LOVE | VS. | TEAM DEATH |
| Kemi Alabi | vs. | Sam Teitel |
| Michael Quigg | vs. | Michael Monroe |
| April Penn | vs. | Zeke Russell |
| Meaghan Ford | vs. | Marshall Gillson |
| Nathan Comstock | vs. | Patrick S. |
| Chloé Cunha | vs. | Gemma Cooper-Novak |
| Sean Patrick Mulroy | vs. | Sophia Holtz |
Inspired by our monthly Encyclopedia Show, competing poets will be offered subtopics on their respective teams in order to create brand-new work for the slam. In the spirit of this event, we’ve of course threatened the Love team with Death if they lose… And the Death team with the only fate worse: Love. See you there!
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. An erotic-themed open mic begins at 8:00, and the Love and Death slam (advance sign-ups only) will begin around 10:00. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.
Jack McCarthy Memorial: POSTPONED
For those planning to attend the memorial for Jack McCarthy this weekend, please note that it has been postponed to SUNDAY at a slightly later hour.
From Jack’s website: “The Northeast memorial will take place on Sunday, February 10, 2013 at the Follen Unitarian Church in Lexington, Massachusetts at 3PM. The service will be followed by a reception at the church and an open mic at 6:30PM at the Chelmsford Public Library.”
Stay safe in the snow, folks.
Cantab Recap for Wednesday, February 6
Whoa, semi-finals! It was a super-hot room at the Cantab last night, folks, as thirteen of our top slammers faced off to see who would secure the coveted nine spots at the upcoming Team Selection Finals in March. After two rounds of slam, much of it filled with brand-new work from our performers, the field was officially narrowed. Check out the final rankings for surprises of both the heart-wrenching and heart-warming variety:
1. Melissa Newman-Evans 56.0
2. Omoizele Okoawo 55.6
3. Mckendy Fils-Aimé 55.1
4. Danger Ranger 54.6
5. Nora Meiners 54.5
6. Ed Wilkinson 54.1
7. Adam Stone 53.6
8. (tie) Jade Sylvan 53.5
8. (tie) Sean Patrick Mulroy 53.5
10. Meaghan Ford 53.3
11. Kayla Wheeler
12. Sam Teitel
13. Zanne Langlois
DNS: Marshall Gillson. Scorekeeping by Jamei Bauer.
Extra thanks to our judges, who showed endurance and awesomeness throughout the night: Sara(h) Jane, Michael M., Kelly, Josh, and Joey and Tatyana.
Poets in bold all advance to the Team Selection Finals on March 13! …Danger Ranger has opted out of the Finals, so we’ll be welcoming her to a sacrifice spot, as well as a round of hosting. Yowza! What a night!
Next week: after a tense and competitive night, we’ve decided to cut loose with whole bunch of poems about sex. Yes, you read that right: next week is our annual Erotic Poetry Open Mic, and it’ll be punctuated by the first ever Love Vs. Death Poetry Slam, produced by Kevin Spak. Kick back, relax, and watch the first-date Valentines get awkward at this annual show.
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, February 6: Team Selection Semi-Finals
The Cantab’s Team Selection Slams are the venue’s biggest, wildest poetry slams of the year. This February, we continue our selection process with the second night of three, the Team Selection Semi-Finals!
The top twelve poets from the January 9 Preliminaries advance to this February show, with all competitors hoping to place high enough to continue to Finals on March 13. Competing poets will appear in the following order in the first round:
- Omoizele Okoawo
- Jade Sylvan
- Sam Teitel
- Zanne Langlois
- Nora Meiners
- Mckendy Fils-Aimé
- Meaghan Ford
- Kayla Wheeler
- Melissa Newman-Evans
- Danger Ranger
- Sean Patrick Mulroy
- Adam Stone
- Ed Wilkinson
Due to a tie in the preliminary slam, thirteen poets will compete in this show.
Sacrifice poets: 1. Michael Monroe, 2. Brenna Kleiman
With two rounds under their belts and three to go, competing poets are likely to be reaching deep into their pockets on this particular night, or even trying out untested work in hope of saving some major ammunition for the next round… Making Semi-Finals just possibly the most interesting night of the selection series.
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 SHORTENED open mic begins at 8:00 and the slam begins at approximately 9:15. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $5; proceeds will go toward funding the National Poetry Slam this August in Boston.
The Encyclopedia Show: Somerville for Monday, February 4 — S1V5: THE FUTURE
Encyclopedia Show: Somerville — S1V5: THE FUTURE
Monday, February 4
The Davis Square Theatre
255 Elm St. in Somerville
7pm doors, 8pm-10pm show
all ages, $10/$7 sliding scale
click for Facebook event
The Boston Poetry Slam and Simone Beaubien present the next installment in a new monthly series!
The Encyclopedia Show Somerville is an event franchised from the original series founded in Chicago in 2008, wherein invited artists from a variety of performance disciplines present all-new, original works on sub-topics of a single theme. A recurring cast of hosts and characters welcomes the artists with open arms and minds, while the resident Fact Checker is charged with maintaining the integrity of the Encyclopedic Truth of the show.
Our theme for this month’s show will be THE FUTURE! Presenting all-original guest performances from local artists, plus work from our recurring cast members:
- Aimee Rose Ranger and Kevin Spak provide deft and earnest CO-HOSTING
- The Michael J. Epstein Library offers MUSICAL SUPPORT
- Death-defying food writer Chef Bro presents FOOD FROM THE FUTURE
- And Intern Steve Subrizi somehow still has a job.
Live Fact Checking is reluctantly provided by Jack van Sly from the Institute of Human Knowledge and Hygiene.
We encourage you to visit our Facebook event for the most up-to-date information on invited artists.
This show in our monthly Encylopedia Show: Somerville series takes place at the Davis Square Theatre, 255 Elm St. in Somerville. Doors and the theatre bar open for a pre-show welcome party at 7:00. The show begins promptly at 8:00 and finishes at 10:00, including a short intermission. This is an all ages show! Admission is $10, or $7 for students, teachers, or guests in Prohibition-era dress.
Boston Poetry Slam Online