Toronto Poetry Slam couldn’t have asked for a better Anything Goes Slam. There were saxophones, violins, slams within a slam poem, stripping, black-marker tattoos, Don Cherry impersonations , Saul Williams covers, K’naan covers and a generous dose of kick-ass spoken word.

Since the night wasn’t part of the Season proper, all 15 hungry poets were allowed to enter the first round. And they didn’t disappoint, no matter what rule they decided to break – Soulfistikato had the biggest team piece, performing a mini-slam on stage with a whack of other poets (e.g. Danejahras, Brown Bastard, RD,etc). Then we got a faceful of Taylor Mali courtesy of Duffman, who broke his slam virginity in fine fashion. Tanya and Gypsy went the Buddy Wakefield route (what a team piece!) and Tomy used a variety of props in his classic Reality piece. Thunder Lipsius showed his range with a slam-tastic rendition of Don Cherry’s Coaches Corner, giving his rundown on TPS scenesters.

Yogi made third round by bustin out two covers, K’naan and Saul, and bringin the fire with his own poetry alongside Soul on the djembe. Is it me or is Yogi a rising star that’s been slaying stages recently?

Not to be overlooked were the fine poetry busted on stage that night, especially from those who just wanted to play by the rules. Props to Miss Britta B. for making second round on two solid poems and kudos to Will and Hibbed for rocking the stage with their insightful poems.

One of the most rule-breakin’ poets of the night was Elyse, straight outta London Poetry Slam, who wowed us with a stylistic buffet – she went funny with her first piece about big breasts, doing a lil striptease that ended in an ironic payoff; her second piece focused on brutally honest poetry revolving around rape statistics; and her third returned to the anything-goes vibe with a hilarious PowerPoint presentation on a Birthright Israel trip gone naughtily wrong. For her efforts and incredible talent, Elyse took home top prize — $75 and a Samsung MP3 player.

This slam recap wouldn’t be complete without giving a massive high-five to Mysterion the Mind Reader, the guest feature who unscrewed reality with a great set starring mental telepathy, fork bending and more than one moment of hilarity. I gotta hand it to Mysterion – I was skeptical about mind-reading and ESP but I was convinced of his powers within 10 minutes.

So that wraps up another epic Anything Goes Slam, which will return to the same slam channel next year.

And if you’re jonesing to hit the stage or absorb poetic awesomeness at the next slam, mark this date on your calendar: June 21. The event will feature New York’s Jamaal St. John, at the Drake Hotel.

Until then!

This entry was posted by Dave under Slam roundups.