Cantab Recap for Wednesday, April 3

It was a tight night at the Cantab this past Wednesday, folks, as we tried to squeeze in all the poets we had planned! Our thanks go to the Cambridge Arts Council for providing our feature, the finalists for the Poet Populist Program: those were Tom Yuill and Lo Galluccio, who read head-to-head in the final public reading to help decide the post. Cambridge residents can vote here for the poet they’d like to represent the city for the next two years! Our feature slot was closed out by outgoing Poet Populist Toni Bee, who has served two solid years for the city and will be moving on to her next big thing. Then a quick speed slam, hosted by 2013 Boston Poetry Slam Team member Sean Patrick Mulroy, came down to Chloé Cunha and Simone Beaubien in the final round. Simone took the top score with her one-minute poem and went home with the big ten-dollar prize.

Next week: National Poetry Month continues! Artie Moffa will work extra-hard for us on Wednesday with both an early-bird workshop ($5, doors at 5:30 for a 6-7 show) and then a full feature set. We’ll also have the final slam in our 8×8 speed slam series as we gear up to select our 2013 Individual World Poetry Slam representative!

Tips from the Bar: the Christopher Clauss Prompt

Does it seem like there’s a German word for everything? Adam couldn’t find one for “the offensive houseguest,” so he invites you to do so in a poem.

Moonlighting Feature for Thursday, April 4, 2013: Denise Jolly

Denise Jolly, debut feature at Moonlighting: a queer open mic and reading series presented by the Boston Poetry Slam.

Denise Jolly, debut feature at Moonlighting: a queer open mic and reading series presented by the Boston Poetry Slam.

THE DEBUT OF OUR LGBTQ MONTHLY SERIES, MOONLIGHTING! Click here for more information about Moonlighting, or join our Facebook event.

Denise Jolly is a member of Salt Lines Spoken Word Collective, has served as Executive Director of Seattle Youth Speaks, co-host and facilitator of the Seattle Poetry Slam, Poetry Curator for The Round (a live multidisciplinary collaborative arts show), Eleventh Hour Productions Board of Directors and Vice President of Stronghold Productions. She was the 2009 San Francisco Grand Slam Champion and member of the 2009 San Francisco Slam team who ranked third in the nation. She has performed, taught, and/or collaborated in venues as large as Coachella and as small as Cook County Detention Center, Cleveland High School, and Seattle Youth Speaks writing circle. She likes doing great things with amazing people and being moved by art, community and how the two work together.

This show in our monthly Thursday LGBTQ series takes place at Fazenda Coffee Roasters, 3710 Washington St. in the Jamaica Plain area of Boston. An open mic begins at approximately 7:00 p.m. and the headliner follows the open mic. The show is all-ages and a $3 donation is requested.

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, April 3: Cambridge Poet Populist Reading

Seal for the Poet Populist of Cambridge.

Seal for the Poet Populist of Cambridge.

Some cities have an appointed Poet Laureate. But the People’s Republic of Cambridge, naturally, has a Poet Populist: that’s a poet nominated and elected by the people of the city. We are honored to host the final public reading for the Cambridge Arts Council’s Poet Populist nominees!

We’ll hear short sets from the two qualified nominees for the post: Tom Yuill and Lo Gallucio! Our very own nominee (too bad she doesn’t have a year of residency in Cambridge yet), Jade Sylvan, will host the show. Jade will also conduct an early-bird writing workshop before doors open (6pm sharp, $5 cover): You’ll Laugh! You’ll Cry! The Art of Funny-Sad.

To accommodate the program, our schedule tonight will be a little different from usual: the multi-poet feature will start at 9:30 p.m. and, thanks to the Cambridge Arts Council, our usual $3 cover will be just a suggested donation.

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 9:30. An open speed slam in the 8×8 series will follow. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.

Workshop for Wednesday, April 3: “The Art of Funny-Sad” with Jade Sylvan

Jade Sylvan, workshop leader for April 3, 2013.

Jade Sylvan, workshop leader for April 3, 2013.

Join Jade Sylvan, the night’s special guest host, for an early-bird workshop at the Cantab Lounge before the show. Jade will be offering a workshop called “You’ll Laugh! You’ll Cry! The Art of Funny-Sad.” From the workshop leader:

“William Blake wrote, ‘Excessive sorrow laughs. Excessive joy weeps.’ In this workshop, we’ll look at the fine line between funny and sad and explore how and when to cross it, blur it, balance on it, and snap it in two.”

Doors open at 5:30 for workshop participants only: the workshop runs from 6:00 to 7:00. Cover charge is $5, which includes admission to the evening show. The venue is 18+ and a photo ID is required.

Cantab Recap for Wednesday, March 27

Listen: we were not surprised at all at how good Cam Awkward-Rich‘s feature was. Nope, not even a little… But we were straight-up blown away by the quality of his work. He and last week’s feature Sam Sax are headed back to the west coast after this week, but they’ll leave us with lots of great memories… Not to mention dozens of copies of The Gay Pride Poetry Book. The slam last night was a really hot one, with poets bringing a combination of super-polished and totally raw work, all looking to connect with the audience. The final match-up came down to CUPSI-bound Emerson student Alison Truj vs. venue regular and up-and-comer Dave McKenna: Dave’s stretched the one-minute poem to the absolute edges of the time limit and profited ten dollars and the big win. What a stellar night!

But wait, there’s more! We’re back next Wednesday, as usual, with not one, but TWO events. We’ll start the night promptly at 6:00 (doors at 5:30) with an early-bird writing workshop with 2013 Boston Poetry Slam Team member Jade Sylvan: The Art of Funny-Sad. Folks arriving at our usual doortime will get our usual open mic, plus a double-feature from Cambridge Arts Council Poet Populist Candidates Lo Gallucio and Tom Yuill. We’ll close the night with an open speed slam. Happy National Poetry Month, everyone!

Tips from the Bar: the Adam Stone prompt

We didn’t write down Adam’s actual prompt for this week, so here’s one that he reminded us of instead: write a poem about your ex-boyfriend (alternatively, make it about one you never had). If possible, use a quotidian yet highly complex metaphor.

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, March 27: Cam Awkward-Rich

Bay Area performance poet Cameron Awkward-Rich.

Bay Area performance poet Cameron Awkward-Rich.

Cameron Awkward-Rich is a weirdo and a graduate student who sometimes also sends poems off into the abyss for the hell of it, a habit he developed early but honed at Wesleyan University where he co-created a queer art magazine and his senior project –a collection of poetry –won the Dorchester Prize for best thesis submitted to the English Department. In 2012, Cam was a member of both the Bay Area Unified and Stanford University slam teams. He is currently pursuing a PhD from the program in Modern Thought & Literature at Stanford.

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, March 20

It might be blizzarding too hard to get out of Logan this week, but we booked sweet sweet California to come to us. Last Wednesday, Sam Sax heated up the room with some just-right sexy work, showing off his writing chops to a rambunctious crowd that included a great bunch of first-time readers. The speed slam filled up fast and zipped by at a blistering pace, leaving six poets in its wake. The final round came down to newcomer Sam Rush and old-timer Tom Slavin: Tom walked away with the ten-dollar prize, but not before joining in to give Sam the biggest round of applause of the competition. Awesome!

Next week: we’re keeping it West Coast with Cam Awkward-Rich, the second half of the Gay Pride Poetry Tour– he shares a book with Sam, so if you bought it and loved it, you’ll want to come out to see him perform, too. We’ll finish off the night with the sixth slam of this 8×8. Come early if you want a spot!

SlamCenter Episode 2: BPS Finals

Looking for the latest SlamCenter update? You know, the slam recap podcast, the latest one that’s all about the 2013 Boston Poetry Slam Team Finals? It’s all right here, from chants of ED! to exclusive interviews. Check it out!