For the first time ever, the National Poetry Slam was streamed online and I, along with hundreds of others, got to watch the event from the safety of our couches and office chairs. My reaction to the whole thing was a rage cabin built log by log based on the following observations
- Content: 14 out of the 16 poems at finals were incredibly unremarkable. The highlights came from Ken Arkind and Jared Singer, both from the 2010 Nuyo team, where actual writing and performance was displayed. All of the group work demonstrated on the finals stage was a clinic on how not to write and perform group pieces. There should always be a reason why you need more than one voice to perform a poem. That night, those poems would have done just fine with one person and less volume. It is also my understanding that the defending champs used three out of the four poems in their semi-final bout, two of which they used in the bout they won in the 2009 semi-finals against Orlando. The fact that the defending champs were able to go on cruise control and win says that the poems put up against them were not enough to overcome old material, an illustration of the safety that the reinstated repeat rule encourages.
- Performance: poets, please learn how to breathe through your nose when you are performing so we don’t hear the asthmatic otter sounds you make between your words; if only the content was as deep as the inhales heard last night. Also, large quantities volume does not convey heart.
- Originality: 10% at best. I was able to fill out my slam bingo card by the end of the first round.
Had I been at the show, I would have walked out, like I did last year, or drank myself into oblivion and then walked out. I know others who didn’t stick around either and the fact we’ve had two really lackluster finals in the last two years should be an alarming trend to everyone. Essentially, what was crowned was not a champion, but a lesser of four evils. I only hope Boston will reverse this trend and we get a team finals that inspires rather than embitters.
The product info for The Serial Rapist Sitting Behind You Is A Robot is up here. Stalk it because pre-ordering starts soon and only 65 copies will be made available consumption.
The J. Beardly project continues. I will post photos soon.
[...] If Only Your Content Was As Deep As Your Inhale August 2010 [...]
[...] The internet makes it incredibly easy to call things out that we would probably not call out to that person’s literal or actual face. I’m guilty of such behavior from my days in the slam, even recently with this. [...]