Postcard from Friday at the 2016 National Poetry Slam

The 2016 Boston Poetry Slam team is inordinately pleased to announce that we are ranked 12th in the nation after two nights of poetry, qualifying us for semi-finals! The BPS took the win last night in a room at Decatur City Hall over BamaSlam from Montevallo and our two NorthBEAST allies from Mill City and Providence. You can follow along with the semi-final scores here.

Bout sheet for bout #30, Thursday, August 4, 2016, at the National Poetry Slam.

Bout sheet for bout #30, Thursday, August 4, 2016, at the National Poetry Slam.

Four teams entered the Commission Meeting room at the City Hall last night, all looking for a win: Mill City and BamaSlam had both ranked 3 on Tuesday and were hoping for a long shot at semi-finals, with Providence and the BPS both sitting on 2s and needing a win to earn the chance to keep playing on Friday. A mad-efficient bout management and hosting team had us starting our bout at 7:01 p.m. and we were off with a totally creepy-funny sacrifice poem (“lumbersexual”) by Stephen Meads.

The first round kicked off with a Providence group piece from Vatic Kuumba and Justice Gaines, making intense wordplay with the term “free” for just a mid-range score from the judges. BamaSlam sent solo poet Michael Harriot up next, whose tightly woven solo poem about his mother’s darkness pulled the scores up an extra point and a half; Mckendy Fils-Aimé followed with a big performance of Vivaldi, which the judges put on precisely equal footing with Providence’s score. Mill City closed out with a strong opening effort from Shampy, putting them less than a point behind the BPS and PVD.

Round two was Boston’s chance to open, and Zeke Russell was the guy to do it: Zeke started Recovery up close to the mic, then was the first poet of the night to forgo amplification entirely in the small, high-ceilinged room, earning a good score bump for his efforts. Providence brought Vatic back to the stage for a solo piece (familiar to those who came to their regional at the Cantab this July), and Mill City sent Nate Leland to the stage, then to stand on a chair, for his famed garage band poem. The round finished with a solo love poem from BamaSlam, with no poet catching up with the judge love that Zeke had already earned, and giving the Cantab a tiny 0.2 lead over Bama and 0.9 over Providence.

Mill City dug deep with a brand new group piece in Ricky Ormg’s spot to open round three, earning a respectably high score. Cantab made the choice to bring up the first poem featuring only women on the stage with Neiel Israel and Simone performing Brotherhood, which bounced the Cantab ahead to the lead. Jerry Hardesty followed with a classic solo piece, then Providence closed the round with a three-poet group piece on the “sick” brain featuring Justice, Chrysanthemum Tran, and Sheena Faisal, finally getting the judges to give up some nine’s and earning the high score of the night so far. The third round finished with Cantab just 0.1 ahead of Providence, and the other two teams about two points back.

For the two 2s in the bout, it all came down to the final round. With BamaSlam opening from the tough B spot and Mill City out of the running but performing strong, it’d be Providence first, Cantab second. Providence chose their “survive” group piece with Justice and Chrysanthemum, which earned the high score of the night and left Cantab needing the capper. Fortunately, Neiel Israel was up to the task: taking the stage, she topped all the scores of the night with a blazing off-mic performance of “Afro,” bringing the win –and the qualification for semis– home for the BPS.

In subsequent news: House finished with a strong 1 over Slam Free or Die in a later bout, then Northampton qualified for Group Piece Finals in a wild bout where they ranked their highest yet at NPS (congrats, Noho!). The BPS team bouts tonight, versus House Slam (you heard that right), Brooklyn, Bull City, and Houston VIP in a barnburner of a semi-final bout. Wish you were here, Cantab!

Cantab Recap for Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Did you catch jeff taylor at the Cantab last night? For your sake, we hope so: this long-time open mic-er put together a full set for an enthusiastic crowd last night, showcasing much of his best-loved work: smart, funny, wry, self-deprecating, and utmostly human, jeff had the crowd laughing and applauding right through the night. The final slam in the 8×8 was won by bartender Adam Stone, who took the ten-dollar victory right out of John Pinkham’s hands; expect to see Adam and seven other all-stars challenge Mckendy Fils-Aimé next week.

That’s right: next week is feature Timothy DuWhite and the Champion of Champions slam! The winners of the last eight open slams are all invited back to slam again for the venue’s top honor. Come see what poets spring and summer have brought to the slam.

Tips from the Bar: Your Move, Pidgie

Persona poem prompt: write your thoughts on Pokémon Go, but in the voice of wild or domesticated animals.

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, August 3, 2016: jeff taylor

Longtime Cantab regular Jeff Taylor.

Longtime Cantab regular Jeff Taylor.

jeff taylor writes poems when he’s not running cables along a wall or telling his kids not to paint on each other. His poems have been found in various print and on-line publications, including Word Riot and The Boston Poetry Slam: Twenty Years at the Cantab Lounge. A resident of nearby Everett, jeff works in sound and is a dozen-plus-year veteran of the Cantab; he can often be found sneaking in just in time for the end of the open mic, feature, and slam.

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 poetry slam in the 8×8 series will follow. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.

Update from the National Poetry Slam!

The 2016 Boston Poetry Slam Team bouted at Nationals last night in the first of two preliminary bouts, taking a rank of 2 behind the Atlanta-based Art Amok team, and defeating two teams from Chicago (Uptown/Green Mill and Mental Graffiti).

Bout sheet for bout #10, Tuesday, August 2, 2016, at the National Poetry Slam.

Bout sheet for bout #10, Tuesday, August 2, 2016, at the National Poetry Slam.

It was, of course, a hot night in Decatur, and perhaps eighty people were packed into a tiny, windowless room at the DeKalb Library under the watchful and experienced eye of host Adriana Ramírez, staring down the barrel of a powerhouse preliminary slam. Maya Hersh (lately of Seattle, but also a one-time NorthBEASTer) kicked off the night with a sacrifice dedicated to taking charge of the day, and the draw for the first round shook out to be Art Amok, Green Mill, Mental Graffiti, then Cantab. With four experienced teams and lots of cross-venue friends in the house, the room was hot in all possible ways.

Art Amok started out the first round with Zach Linley, who bait-and-switched the eager audience with an opener that seemed dedicated to a fun takedown of the Fantastic Four movies, then transitioned to a blistering recital of the names of black women made Invisible Women; scores ranged from 8.3 to 9.8, showing off what would be one of the highest-scoring bouts of the night. Green Mill placed a three-poet group piece in the B slot, a send-up of homophobia that hides behind monotheism, and Mental Graffiti followed with a solo effort from Andy Karol on gender labels and identity. Cantab closed the round with a group piece from Neiel Israel and Mckendy Fils-Aimé that blew the top off the room, netting the judges’ first 10 and giving a Boston more than a one-point lead at the end of the round.

Mental Graffiti fired back immediately in round two, opening with Tim (Toaster) Henderson’s famous “Advice” poem, which would end up garnering the highest score of the night and gaining a quick 0.9 back on Boston. Art Amok followed up with a sound-heavy three-poet group piece incorporating musicality for a similar score. A last-minute swap-out sent Bobby Crawford to the stage with an exceptionally emoted version of his prophylaxis poem, turning the room hard to the left and holding score. Green Mill stayed committed to solo work to close out, but couldn’t hang on as scores started to slide: second round finished with Cantab up a half-point on Mental Graffiti and Art Amok trailing by 0.4.

Boston was right back up again to open the third round, which was Zeke Russell with a story about a shotgun, presented in classic stand-and-deliver Cantab manner; Zeke owned the room and nearly all the solo performances of the night so far, garnering a standing ovation for a beautifully performed piece. A take-no-prisoners Billy Tuggle followed with Concrete Lion for Mental Graffiti and Hillary Kobernick had a few things to say about Miley Cyrus for Green Mill, cementing what appeared to be a very solid Cantab lead. Closing out the third round from the much-maligned A draw, however, were Gabe Moses and Lindsay Stone with a group piece explaining in no uncertain terms what trans people actually do in the bathroom: the home crowd and judges responded with a monster score, just four tenths short of perfect. With one round to go, Cantab and Art Amok were all tied up, with the closest Chicago team trailing by 1.1.

Green Mill finished out their run with Caroline Watson’s solo piece about growing up as a southern woman, capitalizing on the resonance of the room. Boston’s last play was Neiel Israel with a solo poem about The Church, good enough for the second-highest solo score of the night so far, and mathing out both Chicago teams… But it was Art Amok with the strong finish again, coming up with a perfect 30 for Talicha Johnson’s body image poem and knocking Boston back to the 2 spot. Looking less mathematically eliminated and more powerhouse brilliant, Raych Jackson finished the night for Mental Graffiti with good choices about what to say in church.

At the end of the night, the Cantab was proud to take a hard-fought 2 in a bout big enough to feel historic. In other NorthBEAST news, Providence also took a 2 last night and Mill City made a big third-round push to take a 3, with Verbal Slap taking a heartbreaker of a 3 (just 0.1 behind the 2-spot) and Lizard Lounge, down a poet at the last minute, holding onto a 4 after their first bout. We bout again on Thursday at 7pm, this time with Mill City, Providence, and Montevallo, and maaaaaaaaybe the SlamMaster will have the energy to recap that one for you, too.

Tonight, of course, don’t forget: jeff taylor will be on the Cantab stage for a full feature, and it’ll be the last open slam in the current 8×8… Which, if you’re thinking about it, is a qualifier for the 2017 Boston Poetry Slam Team. Go see!

Boston Poetry Slam Team Bouts Tonight at the National Poetry Slam

Greetings from the National Poetry Slam, Cantabbers! Your Boston Poetry Slam team bouts for the first time tonight at 9pm. To follow along with the tournament, you can visit scores.poetryslam.com: you’ll find your home reps in Bout #10 vs. Chicago’s Uptown Poetry Slam, Chicago’s Mental Graffiti, and Atlanta’s Art Amok. Wish us luck!

Cantab Recap for Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Thank you, thank you, thank you to the folks who packed the house last night to make the 2016 Boston Poetry Slam Team’s last night in town the best ever! Last night’s crowd held on through a rollicking one-hour rollercoaster feature from World Qualifier winner Neiel Israel, Champion of Champions Mckendy Fils-Aimé, SlamMaster Simone Beaubien, Rookie of the Year Zeke Russell, and the soon-to-be-departed beloved bartender Bobby Crawford.

If you missed your chance to purchase the team CD, How Did You Even Find This Place, or the chapbook, ask a place to say its name, you’re not yet out of luck: there are a few remaining for $10 each, or $15 for both. Email the SlamMaster to see if one can be held (or shipped) to you.

Next week: the team might be out of town, but the show goes on! The very funny jeff taylor will be our feature, and the final open slam in the 8×8 series will go down. Excellent!

Tips from the Bar: For All Temperatures, Hot and Cold

Explain your gender using only song titles, advertising slogans, and warning labels on household products.

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, July 27: The 2016 Boston Poetry Slam Team

The 2016 Boston Poetry Slam Team is: Zeke Russell, Neiel Israel, Mckendy Fils-Aimé, Bobby Crawford, and Simone Beaubien. Photo courtesy of Marshall Goff.

The 2016 Boston Poetry Slam Team is: Zeke Russell, Neiel Israel, Mckendy Fils-Aimé, Bobby Crawford, and Simone Beaubien. Photo courtesy of Marshall Goff.

This night will mark the Cantab’s last show before the 2016 National Poetry Slam, when we send off the 2016 Boston Poetry Slam team to compete for a week in Decatur, Georgia! Neiel Israel, Zeke Russell, Mckendy Fils-Aimé, Simone Beaubien, and Bobby Crawford will have an extended feature set to bring out their top hits, one-off group pieces, and tender farewells before taking a run at the southern-based championship. It’s five all-star poets in one show, so get your requests in well before you get in line at the door! The team will have plenty of product on hand to help fundraise for their trip to NPS.

Note that we expect this to be Bobby’s last night at the Cantab before his cross-country move. Please prepare yourself accordingly.

To learn more about this year’s Boston Poetry Slam Team, click here. We’ll do our best to keep you updated here with the team’s upcoming bout schedule at the National Poetry Slam, and links to help you follow along: the bout draw will be announced in early July.

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 begins at approximately 10:00. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $5.

Cantab Recap for Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Glorious thanks and high-fives to everyone who came out to see the slam last night! After the dust cleared, a tight slam revealed the following standings:

  1. Providence Poetry Slam 108.9
  2. Lizard Lounge 106.9
  3. Boston Poetry Slam 106.8
  4. Slam Free or Die 104.1

Extra congratulations to Providence, who brought nuanced and important work to the stage to take a definitive win. The home team looks forward to bouting them again on August 4 at the National Poetry Slam.

SPEAKING OF THE NATIONAL POETRY SLAM: Did you know that the team will only be in town for one more week before going to Georgia for Nationals? Next Wednesday, you won’t want to miss your chance to see Neiel Israel, Zeke Russell, Mckendy Fils-Aimé, Simone Beaubien, and Bobby Crawford co-feature in an hour-long slamstravaganza. There will be fundraising chapbooks, CDs, poems on poems on poems, and, of course, your chance to wish the team well at Nats.