August 30th, 2011
The second slam event we visited was the Urbana Poetry Slam at the Bowery Poetry Club.
Info from the website:
NYC-Urbana hosts weekly poetry slams at the Bowery Poetry Club. It's a quirky and eccentric series, and even though it has featured some of the biggest names in poetry--Billy Collins, Patricia Smith, Galway Kinnell, Saul Williams, and almost every national slam champion - it remains a warm and welcoming venue for all kinds of poetic voices: political, confessional, musical, and spiritual.
Founded at age of 19 by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz (the youngest slammaster ever!) in the wake of Mouth Almighty Records, the series has actually won the National Poetry Slam championship a record THREE TIMES (1997, 2000, 2002). Urbana was also the FIRST EVER National Poetry Slam Group Piece Champion!
Here's what a typical night at Urbana is like (sometimes they mix up the format, but this is usually it): poets sign-up for the eight-poet Open Mic or the eight-poet Open Slam between 6:30 PM and 7:00 PM. At 7:00 PM exactly, all slots are filled randomly by computer. Signing up is NOT a guarantee that you will be able to read. They typically have more poets than open slots so sometimes you must be part of the "great audience that great poetry requires."
At 7:01 PM the Open Mic begins which is immediately followed by the feature who performs a 15- to 20-minute set. (Urbana does not book "local" features; features are all from out-of-town, and most have been enlisted from their appearances at the National Poetry Slam). After a break, during which five audience members are chosen randomly to serve as judges, the slam begins.
SLAMS: They're competitive, sure, but URBANA SLAMS are also supportive and inclusive. All kinds of poetry are welcome. Memorization is not required. New work is hugely supported. Open Slam winners move on to Semifinal Slams and Semifinal winners move on to compete in Finals for in an effort to earn a slot on the NYC-Urbana NPS Team.
The prize for winning an Urbana Poetry Slam is a GOLDEN TICKET which provides FREE ADMISSION to Urbana Poetry Slam for the rest of the season!
This time the event was not a typical slam night, it was a Pre-Season Theme Slam, a so-called Slam Baseball, just a fun night of tomfoolery as a welcome-home celebration from last week's National Poetry Slam.
The irregular slam had two teams competing - New Jersey and New York.
The host - Chad Anderson:
Slammers:
Among the jury was Seth Walker who was the feature performer the other day at the louderARTS event:
And the award went to - New Jersey.
VIDEO extract coming soon!
Photos by BlyWorx
The second slam event we visited was the Urbana Poetry Slam at the Bowery Poetry Club.
NYC-Urbana hosts weekly poetry slams at the Bowery Poetry Club. It's a quirky and eccentric series, and even though it has featured some of the biggest names in poetry--Billy Collins, Patricia Smith, Galway Kinnell, Saul Williams, and almost every national slam champion - it remains a warm and welcoming venue for all kinds of poetic voices: political, confessional, musical, and spiritual.
Founded at age of 19 by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz (the youngest slammaster ever!) in the wake of Mouth Almighty Records, the series has actually won the National Poetry Slam championship a record THREE TIMES (1997, 2000, 2002). Urbana was also the FIRST EVER National Poetry Slam Group Piece Champion!
Here's what a typical night at Urbana is like (sometimes they mix up the format, but this is usually it): poets sign-up for the eight-poet Open Mic or the eight-poet Open Slam between 6:30 PM and 7:00 PM. At 7:00 PM exactly, all slots are filled randomly by computer. Signing up is NOT a guarantee that you will be able to read. They typically have more poets than open slots so sometimes you must be part of the "great audience that great poetry requires."
At 7:01 PM the Open Mic begins which is immediately followed by the feature who performs a 15- to 20-minute set. (Urbana does not book "local" features; features are all from out-of-town, and most have been enlisted from their appearances at the National Poetry Slam). After a break, during which five audience members are chosen randomly to serve as judges, the slam begins.
SLAMS: They're competitive, sure, but URBANA SLAMS are also supportive and inclusive. All kinds of poetry are welcome. Memorization is not required. New work is hugely supported. Open Slam winners move on to Semifinal Slams and Semifinal winners move on to compete in Finals for in an effort to earn a slot on the NYC-Urbana NPS Team.
The prize for winning an Urbana Poetry Slam is a GOLDEN TICKET which provides FREE ADMISSION to Urbana Poetry Slam for the rest of the season!
This time the event was not a typical slam night, it was a Pre-Season Theme Slam, a so-called Slam Baseball, just a fun night of tomfoolery as a welcome-home celebration from last week's National Poetry Slam.
The irregular slam had two teams competing - New Jersey and New York.
The host - Chad Anderson:
And the award went to - New Jersey.
VIDEO extract coming soon!
Photos by BlyWorx
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