The University of Waterloo?s campus newspaper The Imprint printed an article about our slam at the Bombshelter Pub. Read it on their website?HERE or below! It also includes an interview with our feature poet, Johnny MacRae. Just a note that our slam is not ?annual? as the article says, but monthly until April for this season!
POETRY SLAMMING
Feb 3 2012 in Arts by Mika Ilic, Instrumental Incidents
The KW Poetry Slam exceeds all predictions as students show their admiration for poetry
Waterloo is known for many things, but few would expect poetry to be one of them. Any that did not know so or think so would have been blown away by the outpouring of support shown at the Bombshelter on Jan. 27.
The Women?s Centre were the hosts to the third annual Kitchener-Waterloo Poetry Slam (KWPS) and it was a huge success. The night featured many students, some not necessarily from the area, as well as a seasoned slam poet all the way from Vancouver, B.C.
Before any performance even started, it was a struggle to find a seat. All tables, which were decorated with lit candles and plaster molds of breasts, were completely full, with extra chairs being lined up everywhere in the back. It did nothing to ruin the atmosphere as the crowd was clearly hungry and full of anticipation. After a small introduction by two representatives of the Women?s Centre, the MC took to the stage to go over the night?s festivities.
Unassuming but inviting, the MC explained the little nuances many seem to forget onstage (like how close you need to be to the microphone), going over how snapping was your way to express what you liked, and then opened the floor up for open-mic.
As the first willing poet went up, the air silenced, both out of respect and an anxious expectation of something good. The quiet was cut by a spoken word poem done in a cadence of hip-hop. It was a great way to begin the poetry as half way through, the poet stopped and said ?I can?t remember the poem, but luckily my Blackberry does.? A small laugh ran through the crowd and removed some tension and nerves shared amongst upcoming poets and listeners.
More people came up and spoke their piece. There was a varying selection of topic matter, from self-representation to unabashed love to the ever-annoying varicose vein. There was even a song and guitar performance which changed up the pace a little.
Open-mic ended too quickly as more people wished to go up, but this brought on the next portion of the show. Ten poets signed up to have their poems scored communally as certain tables in the audience were given a whiteboard and marker. The MC also advised to mark in the decimals, which seemed absurd at the time but as it would turn out later, there was a tie.
It was at this point that an old pagan ritual arose and it was necessary to have a sacrificial lamb. The MC then explained that she would present a poem and the scores would be shown (after a group yelling of ?raise it? which progressed to ?raisin? towards the end) so that everyone was on the same page.
The MC threw in a few expletives, but the performance called for it. She ended her poem off the stage, informing others that she leaves the stage empty for anyone else who wishes to take it. A bold and humble exclamation and the people who followed did not disappoint.
An entire array of poems and poets took the stage. What was most surprising was the ability each poet had in grabbing every person listening and making them invested, emotionally and physically, to each word uttered. One poet fully involved herself, talking about first love and its exaggerations which left her hair out of place and sweater over her arm. It was apparent that she gave everything she could in her poem and the crowd was pleased. She ended up tying for first.
The other poet who shared first had an inspiring and provoking telling of the limitations placed on her autistic relative. She would end the poem abruptly which left many in the crowd breathless as they all gasped. Although these two ended up winning does not mean any others were lacking. The crowd-pleaser belonged to a poet who acted as Stephen Harper and was selling off Canada and got boisterous laughs.
Finally, the tenth poet presented his piece called ?Personal Ad? and spoke as if it were written as an ad seen in the newspaper. It received hisses and frowns when mentioning the writer of the ad was seeking a woman and if they were a redhead with large breasts, they had a good chance of being hired. The poem did have its humorous aspects, though. It got the lowest scores, but others might have been more inclined to see it be given higher.
If the night finished at that moment, no one would leave discontent. Luckily for all, the barefoot and dreadlocked Johnny MacRae stepped into the building after a short 15 minute intermission and wooed the crowd. MacRae opened with a small preamble about his fondness for the female genitalia and included everyone in his release as a 100 person choir fist pumped and yelled out vagina. This conveniently brought him to his first poem, ?I Love My Vagina.?
MacRae was just as deliciously crude the entire time. Every poem had its own metaphors that depicted images in fine detail. His presentation had plenty of pulse, rising and lowering at the right times, throwing in deliciously lewd euphemisms. One poem, ?A Little Death,? was all about sexual allegories since the subject was how the little death is, in fact, an orgasm.
Impactful, invigorating, and shocking, the KW Poetry Slam had it all and then some. Nobody left displeased and there will assuredly be repeat visitors for the next one.
There are those who look down on poetry, and these people deserve to give it a chance. To those who have ever asked about poetry, whether it be for presenting or sitting and enjoying other work, then there is every reason to go. Most forms of art get the attention they deserve, but few realize the power words have on others, written or spoken. You?re reading this after all.
With such a great outcome, Imprint got to ask guest and veteran slam poet JohnnyMacRae a few questions regarding poetry here in Waterloo and everywhere else. Being that he has made his rounds across the globe, MacRae had some iteresting things to say as well as thought-provoking insights
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What did you think of the KW slammers?
MacRae: In short, I was blown away. Often times when a slam scene is just beginning, unless there is a well-developed poetry community already, the poets in the community need to grow together, experimenting and teaching each other. What amazed me was not only walking into a room with well over 100 audience members (Van Slam is one of the biggest slams in North America and averages about 100 to 150 audience members weekly)but that every poem I saw was of a higher quality. The poets were making creative choices about how to deliver their material, both in the writing and the performance, and handling a wide-range of complex and interesting material.
One of the first things you?ll see in a new slam is a high concentration of what slam critics refer to as ?rant.? I could see that most of the KW poets were well past that. Even more so, the audience was hungry for poetry ? responding very vocally and enthusiastically, and appreciating the wide range of poetry on offer, while supporting each poet taking the stage. As I said on the stage that night, there?s something powerful happening there, and people should support it.
Do you get nervous on stage?
M: I get nervous every time. If I don?t get nervous, I get nervous ? in a bad way ? about that. Once, before a big slam competition, I was so calm that I started pounding beers, because I thought if I get a little drunk ? which is a risk before doing something from memory ? I might freak myself out and get the nervous energy I needed.
How do you come up with your poems?
M: Often times poems come out of thoughts that have been bothering me for some time, years even. For example, I had spent about two years thinking about the way in which many other mammals have adapted to immunodeficiency viruses, and then recently, reading David Suzuki?s The Sacred Balance, my thoughts on the matter began to crystallize. Then, as often happens, a line popped into my head (?the human immunodeficiency virus wants you to know that it?s sorry?) and, once I wrote that down, the rest of the poem began to roll from there. I pay attention, on a technical level, to consistency in both voice and metaphor (when applicable), but otherwise I tend to find poems arise organically and come to me? I see the poem as being both the words and their delivery ? I have taken the view that the poem is never fully created until the moment of performance.
What do you think of the poetry scene at this current time?
M: I feel we are struggling in our society. North America is unique in that poetry has been pushed fully to the fringe. We have a joke in Van Slam, that ?Poetry is the lowest paid artistic profession in Canada. Even mimes make more ? and they have nothing to say.?
Personally I?m fond of the mantra: ?There is no slam poetry, only the poetry slam.? In most parts of the world, poets are highly respected. For example, in traditional Irish Gaelic society, poets are as or more powerful than the kings. In Africa, in South America, in Europe, and in Asia, writers are some of the most dangerous people. In North America, artists have been reduced to ?obscure bullshit? (ie. art) or to ?entertainment.? Our power, then, against the politicians and corporate powers that be, has been reduced. I am a firm believer, however, that poets and storytellers play a necessary role in helping people come to grips with the world they live in, helping guide them through their day-to-day problems and experiences, and helping balance the narratives of the political and corporate elites fed to us through mainstream media. I also feel we live in a society that has a lot of trauma, and this comes out in the work of poets in the slam who are, to a person, not ?experts? to begin with ? simply people who are drawn to write and perform.
Yet, I find, that when people encounter poetry, especially a live experience as with spoken word, they come away deeply moved. As far as I?m concerned, the slam is an excellent vehicle for reclaiming our ?rightful place at the table,? because it creates a high energy night that encourages poets to bring their best work and best performances to the table.
What advice would you give to people aspiring to write or slam?
M: Most people I meet outside of slams say they want to write, or they do write, but they either hate everything they write or they feel it isn?t as good as what they?ve seen. It?s important to realize that once you start doing it, you?ll start learning.
The more you get to know active poets in your community, the more you talk about the craft with them, the more you let yourself think about it and take yourself seriously (but not too seriously that you won?t grow), the better you?ll get. You can?t be Shakespeare, or Shane Koyzcan, right away. And even the best poets are always striving to grow and do more challenging work.
Most of all, I?d say have fun. And be honest with yourself. Self-honesty may be one of the highest and hardest tasks set before us. It?s hard to turn a scrutinizing eye on yourself ? to not let yourself hide from yourself. We know that we have insecurities but the best poets I know, on and off stage, are also some of the most vulnerable people I know. They admit of their faults, they don?t hide them from others (most of the time), and they strive to never hide them from themselves. This is hard. But aside from having fun, and just letting yourself go with your writing and performance (taking the risk despite your ?better judgment?), I say, ?Be vulnerable.?
Be vulnerable with others, it will encourage them to be the same. And be vulnerable to yourself. Out of this will come the strength to grow and become a ?better? person.
Source: http://www.kwpoetryslam.com/uw-imprint-article-poetry-slamming/
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