Insider Tips, Creating Backstage Advice, Performance and Lots of Examples Poetry Events Stage a Slam_Final_INT.indd 1 2/26/09 1:22:44 PM Stage a Slam_Final_INT.indd 2 2/26/09 1:22:46 PM Stage a Slam_Final_INT.indd 3 2/26/09 1:22:47 PM Copyright © 2009 by Marc Kelly Smith and Joe Kraynak Cover and internal design © 2009 by Sourcebooks, Inc. Internal photos © Tim Stafford and Dan Sullivan Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc. The authors have made all efforts to contact the copyright holders for material used in this book, if appropriate. If any omissions have occurred, we will happily correct such errors in future printings or editions of this book. Published by Sourcebooks MediaFusion, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567–4410 (630) 961–3900 Fax: (630) 961–2168 www.sourcebooks.com Cataloging-in-Publication data is on file with the publisher. Printed and bound in the United States of America. VP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Stage a Slam_Final_INT.indd 4 2/26/09 1:22:47 PM Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv Where Is Slam? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvi What the Slam Can Do for You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvi What You Can Do for the Slam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvi A Note from the Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi Chapter 1: Digging the Roots of Spoken Word Poetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Spoken Word Poetry’s Long Tradition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Battling Bards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Coming of Age in the 21st Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Who Inspired This Madness? and Why? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Slam Poetry Goes National . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Slam Poetry Goes Global . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Slam Poetry Here and Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 If you remember anything, remember… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Chapter 2: Soaking in the Spirit of Slam . . . 17 The Big Definition of Slam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Poetry and Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Staged Bouts for Audience Appeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 “The Points Are Not the Point” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Sowing the Seeds of Slam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Striving for the Best of Both Worlds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Relearning the Art of Listening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Boo! Hiss! Audience with Attitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Stage a Slam_Final_INT.indd 5 2/26/09 1:22:48 PM Other Strategies Audiences Employ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Who’s the Best and Who Cares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Performance Poet as Audience Servant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 “As Dr . Willie Used to Say” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Behind the Slam Curtain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Breaking Down the Color (and Collar) Barriers . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 The Culture of Democracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 If you remember anything, remember… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Chapter 3: Slam Competition—Rules, Regulations, and Other Formalities . . . . . . . 31 It’s a Game, Stupid! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 A Familiar Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 The First Slam Competition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Who Says Who Wins? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 The Basic Rules of Slam Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Perform Your Own Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Three Minutes Is All We Can Stand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 No Props, Costumes, Trombones, or Other Carry-On Luggage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Scoring: 0 to 10 (or Down to Minus Infinity) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Make the Process Fun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Signing ’Em Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Picking the Judges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Alternative Styles of Judging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Famous Slam Disclaimers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 The Mean Chicago Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 The Official Emcee Spiel Used at the National Poetry Slams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 It’s Your Thing, Do What You Want to Do…To a Point . . . . . 44 Slams Are Open to All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 All Styles, Forms, and Subject Matter Are Welcome . . . . . . . . . . 46 The Prize Is Not the Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Stage a Slam_Final_INT.indd 6 2/26/09 1:22:48 PM The All-Important Audience Should Always Be in Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 If you remember anything, remember… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Chapter 4: Should I Become a Slammaster? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Do You Have the Itch? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Taking Inventory—Do You Have What It Takes? . . . . . . . . . 52 Are You Doing This for Yourself? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Do You Have a Vision? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Do You Have a Support Network? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Do You Have the Time and Energy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Are You a Show Maker? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Are You as Crazy as the Rest of Us? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Tallying Your Talents and Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Been There, Seen That . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Been There, Done That . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Anticipating the Obstacles Ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 The Hoity-Toity Establishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Cash Flow Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Shifting Sands—Unforeseen Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Pettiness and Social Hostility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 If you remember anything, remember… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Chapter 5: Sharpening Your Vision . . . . . . . . 67 Finding Form in Your Musings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Look Inside: Identify Your Personal Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Look Around: Discover Your Community’s Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Look Back: At What You’ve Seen & Heard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Sampling the Many Flavors of Slam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 The Original Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 The Unseen Slam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Theme Slams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Stage a Slam_Final_INT.indd 7 2/26/09 1:22:48 PM Pong Jam Slam—Music to the Poetic Ear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Other Slam Spin-Offs—An Ever-Evolving Art . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Heading for the Nationals—Serious Slammin’… Sort of . . . 77 If you remember anything, remember… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Chapter 6: Plotting Your Show: All Aboard Slampapi’s Entertainment Express . . . . . . . . 81 The Entertainment Express—Scheduling Departure and Arrival Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 The Main Station Stops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Greetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Open Mic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Special Acts and Guest Performers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 The Competition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Adding Some Bulk to Our Bare Bones Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Detailing Your Trip Tick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Lace the Evening with Ceremony and Ritual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Bring It On—Heckles, Jekylls, and Hydes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Jacks in the Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 To Spin or Not to Spin? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Fleshing Out Our Sample Slam Journey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Final Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Pace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Marketing Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Leave ’Em Wanting More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 If you remember anything, remember… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Chapter 7: Scoping Out the Right Venue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Compose a Venue Wish List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Size Matters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Think Small—Small Enough to Create a Happening . . . . . . . . 104 Think Bigger…When Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Stage a Slam_Final_INT.indd 8 2/26/09 1:22:48 PM Going Colossal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Ambience Is Everything . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Designed for Comfort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Dripping with Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Supportive Service Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Enthusiastic Clientele . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Conducive Background Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Consistency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 A Supportive Owner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Frame the Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 What about the Stage? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Checking for Essentials: Necessary Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Location, Location, Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Write All This Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 At the Sound of Ohhmmm, Begin the Search . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Finger Walking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 The Net Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Hit the Pavement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Hook Up with Your Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Judgment Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 What Night’s Right? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 The Initial Reconnaissance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Don’t Jump before You Have To . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Closing the Deal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Money Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Who Does What? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Hey! I Can’t Find a Venue! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 If you remember anything, remember… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Chapter 8: All the Slam’s a Stage . . . . . . . . 129 Poet-in-a-Box: The Black Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Above the Crowd on the Bandstand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 The Spartan Stage: Cleared Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Stage a Slam_Final_INT.indd 9 2/26/09 1:22:49 PM