Cantab Recap for Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Happy old year, Cantabbers! Last night was an excellent celebration of everything we’ve done for 2015… Some familiar faces came out to visit the open mic, plus a few first-timers hit the stage already itching to make a name for themselves in the venue. What a fun night! Our feature, Sam Rush, brought the house down with a fabulously interesting feature: well-crafted and well-performed, Sam’s work took on topics from the sacred to the mundane, and their easy patter and (surprise!) banjo skills yanked on the heartstrings of everyone in the room. Can you think of a better way to close out the calendar year? Or a better resolution for 2016: keep up with more local artists like Sam Rush on Facebook so you know when art’s coming to your town.

After the open mic and feature, of course, we slam: this final slam of 2015 also marked the Champion of Champions slam for the fall season! Venue veterans Nora Meiners and Bobby Crawford faced off in the final, with Bobby making it his business to bring the funny and ride it all the way to the season championship title. Reigning champ Mckendy Fils-Aimé was unsurprised to see Bobby coming for him in the new poem round, however: the two recent teammates went heads-up with brand-new work in front of a selection of some of the harshest judges we’ve seen in months… And with a final score of 3-2, Mckendy retained his title, took the $100, and walks into January’s Team Selection Slams as the #1 seed.

That’s right, you heard it here: Team Selection slams are coming! With our first rounds taking place on January 13 and January 20, there’s only ONE LAST CHANCE to qualify to try out for the team… And it’s next week, January 6 of the very newest new year. Yes, we’ll have an open mic and and open slam, and in between those two we’ll welcome back 2015 slam team member Sophia Holtz for a full-blown feature.

Tips from the Bar: Worst Allston Xmas Ever

A giant squid goes apartment hunting.

Write a persona poem: consider taking on the voice of the squid, or the realtor, or the downstairs neighbor, or perhaps the prospective apartment itself.

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, December 30, 2015: Sam Rush and the Champion of Champions Slam

New Hampshire poet Sam Rush. Photo by Simon Sarris.

New Hampshire poet Sam Rush. Photo by Simon Sarris.

Sam Rush was raised in South Florida, but now makes poems and songs in and around New Hampshire. Sam got to writing poems after developing progressive hearing loss as a teenager and noticing how many words each word could be. Sam represented the venue Slam Free or Die in the 2014 and 2015 National Poetry Slams and the 2014 and 2015 Women of the World Poetry Slams (WOWPS), performing on Finals stage at WOWPS 2015. They have had work featured in Snacks, Drunk in a Midnight Choir, Alight: The Best Loved Poems of WOWPS 2014, and on Button Poetry, and are the author of chapbooks I meant to say glory and Halleluia or bedbug language for it. Sam currently directs programs at Friends Forever, a non-profit focused on empowering youth from cultures in conflict.

Tonight also marks the final night in our current 8×8 poetry slam series! Eight slam winners will slam off for the season championship and the opportunity to challenge the reigning Champion of Champions, Mckendy Fils-Aimé.

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

Cantab for Wednesday, December 23, 2015: NO SHOW TONIGHT

No poetry show tonight! Enjoy a night off and come see us with your new work at our next show on December 30, 2015.

Please see our upcoming shows page for the schedule:
http://bostonpoetryslam.com/see-a-show/weekly-show/upcoming-features-and-slams

Cantab Recap for Wednesday, December 17, 2015

Last night: Lauren Yates! Heavens to Mergatroyd, poetry fans, some of y’all did not see Lauren Yates coming. Did you know this very smart poet lives only six hours south of us in Philly? Did you know that she is powering through poems there at The Fuze slam and kicking ass/taking names all over the country? Well, heck, if you didn’t know, now you know: Lauren took us through an incredibly well-crafted, thoughtful, well-turned and exquisitely presented feature last night. What a lovely last treat before our brief winter break.

Our slam, by the way, was a barrage of fiery fire flames: with Team Selection Slams coming up in January, there are only a few slim chances to qualify to try out for the team! Last night’s glorious winner was Manvir, who surprised the slam and the room by jumping into the fray. (Manvir defeated Sean Patrick Mulroy for the win, by the way… Which means we can make Sean host for the upcoming championship slam. Everyone wins!)

Remember, folks: there’s NO SHOW NEXT WEEK ON WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2015. But it’s cool, it’s cool: we are back with a doubly-amazing show to finish out the year on December 30. You should join us to see a feature from Manchester’s own Sam Rush and what promises to be a remarkable Champion of Champions slam, where reigning champ Mckendy Fils-Aimé will have to defend his title against the eight scrappiest (we mean feistiest [actually we mean motherloving talented!!]) slammers the season has to offer. Don’t miss it!

Tips from the Bar: Happy New Bonus Shira Erlichman Prompt

Adam Stone offers two prompts for your extra week off between now and then ext show.

#1: Name a New Year’s Resolution you’re glad you didn’t keep.

#2: Describe the Yankee swap gag gift to end all Yankee swap gag gifts. Shira E’s historical example: a single ticket, complete with round-trip airfare, to spend just enough time in Las Vegas to see Celine Dion.

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, December 16, 2015: Lauren Yates

Philadelphia poet Lauren Yates.

Philadelphia poet Lauren Yates.

Lauren Yates is a Philadelphia-based poet whose work is known for its deeply personal subject matter and conversational tone. Lauren stands out as one of the more nuanced writers in the Philadelphia poetry scene. Her poetry demonstrates a quiet confidence that challenges the showmanship typically associated with spoken word.

In Fall 2009, Lauren joined The Excelano Project, the University of Pennsylvania’s premier performance poetry collective. While in the group, she performed in six shows, competed at the 2011 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational, created the group’s tenth anniversary chapbook Van Gogh’s Ear for Music, and coached the 2012 slam team to third place at the Wade-Lewis Poetry Slam Invitational. Since graduating from Penn, Lauren has focused on submitting to journals and competing in local poetry slams. Her work has appeared in APIARY, FRiGG, The Bakery, The Legendary, and more. She is also a poetry editor of Kinfolks magazine and a 2015 National Poetry Slam semi-finalist. You can learn more about her at laurentyates.com.

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.

Cantab Recap for Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Yes, yes, José Olivarez was in the house this week! You might not remember this Harvard grad from before he was a published Breakbeat poet and the program director for Urban Word NYC, but José was sweet enough to call his feature last night at the Cantab a kind of homecoming –and to work the crowd with his pithy craft just as we’d expect from somebody who knows the ins and outs of the venue. He even brought us a personalized chapbook just for this show: if you bought it, remember that you get a discount on Home Court, his full-length work, available on his website.

Okay, but now for some really real talk: have you ever stayed for the open slam at the Cantab? It starts around 11pm and a lot of the audience clears out after chatting with the feature… But it’s one of the most unpredictably exciting parts of the evening, and last night was no exception. As we count down the last few open slams to Team Selection Slams, the competition gets fiercer and fiercer. Telling you that Jess Riz crashed through three rounds this week to defeat opponent Colin Killick in the finals doesn’t do the night justice; next week, you might want to stick around.

Next week, by the way, after our famed open mic and our wild slam, will be Philadelphia feature Lauren Yates, NPS 2015 semi-finalist and all-around badass. See you there!

Tips from the Bar: Rumor Mill

Write about where you will actually be when the rumor surfaces that you’ve disappeared.

Encyclopedia Show: Somerville for Thursday, December 10, 2015 — S3V3: THE CIRCUS

Encyclopedia Show: Somerville — THE CIRCUS on December 10, 2015! Art by Melissa Newman-Evans.

Encyclopedia Show: Somerville — THE CIRCUS on December 10, 2015! Art by Melissa Newman-Evans.

Thursday, December 10, 2015
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 Catherine Martin present the next installment in a slightly educational monthly series!

Our theme for this month’s show will be THE CIRCUS! A wide array of local artists will present new work, having been advised we are neither insured nor have a safety net.

The Encyclopedia Show Somerville is a franchise event, 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. Presenting all-original guest performances from local artists, plus work from our recurring cast members:

  • Rob Crean and Chloé Cunha provide clever banter and funny accents appropriate for CO-HOSTING
  • The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library offers MUSICAL SUPPORT
  • Wes Hazard dispenses QUESTIONABLE EXPERTISE with panache and aplomb
  • and Intern Mathieu Cunha has volunteered to perform a highly dangerous trapeze act.

Live Fact Checking is reluctantly provided by Jack van Sly from the Institute of Human Knowledge and Hygiene. The personal assistant to Mr. van Sly is Jade Sylvan.

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.