Rules to March’s Story Slam have been posted- but not in narrative form, so Dave loses two points.

Team qualifier standings updated here. Detailed scores here. - the web guy

It was a slam to remember for many reasons: Record amount of possible competitors, 23 vying for 12 slots; the most amount of audience/fans in recent memory, with the unofficial tally coming close to 170 through the night; first time Krystle Mullin has won a Toronto Poetry Slam, even though she’s been on the slam team at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word; and also the first time Valentino Assenza has made the third round, which he wonderfully deserves.

February’s slam featured raucous applause for Electric Jon’s power-raps, Truth Is’ emotional thunderclaps and guest feature Ritallin’s soulful poem-songs. Everyone in the crowd elevated the energy to an unprecedented level, and from the stage I could feel the love in cool little wavey thingies. It was beautiful.

The final round saw Truth, Valentino and Krystle battle for a playoff berth and $75, with Krystle scoring the highest and winning mad love from practically everyone in the room.

Props to birthday girl ‘Tasha — and Tomy Bewick’s sweet birthday call-out — and guest judge DJ Abdominal.

Look forward to seeing you at the Feb. 24 Last Call Poets slam (see Listings) and the next TPS on March 24.

[Standings have been posted. - yer web guy]

“Poetry is taking life by the throat.” Robert Frost’s quote could’ve been the motto for the January slam at the Drake Hotel, where performance poets taught the 145-strong audience the raw truths of humanity: Amanda hypnotized the room with a powerful piece on grief; Krystle made us remember what it was like to be a kid again; Tomy gave us his heart and soul in a poem about his lost cousin; and Mystic gave us a rare glimpse into freestyle gypsy truth-speak.

In one of the best third round bouts I’ve witnessed in awhile, Mike Smith laid down the a humour-tinged call-to-arms piece about a political party filled with apathy. Boona cracked up the crowd — even the suited folks — with a punchline poem that should be put out as a single EP, no doubt. And Amanda once again kept it real by telling us about her mother, accent and all.

Praise be Jebus, there was a tie for first! Mike Smith and Boonaa shared the $75 booty, and now earn a spot in the semi-finals in the spring. Congrats to both of those kick-ass poets, and to all who came and saw.

And you know who truly conquered? The rad features from the U.S., Mike McGee of San Jose and Robbie Q of Chicago. They rocked our faces off with poems about pudding, love, bad car commercials, Russian literature and “dino dudes.” Undoubtedly, they were one of the top spoken word features this city has ever seen, and if you missed them at the slam, check them online. You won’t regret it.

See you February 10.

Hey all - slam-master Dave “Big Deal” Silverberg has finalized the rules and regs for those itchin’ to rep Toronto in Halifax for 2007’s Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. Get to know them intimately here; discuss them in the forum here.

And for the skull scratchers, here’s a taste of what you missed this year - video from a documentary following Calgary’s slam team and their trip to the the 2006 CFSW, hosted proudly right here in Toronto:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

One of the most beautiful things about slam poetry is when rookies shock the veterans out of their comfort zone. That’s what happened on Dec. 15 when slam virgin Ariana took the stage and won the entire competition, earning a spot in the International World Poetry Slam in Vancouver in late January. She looked more overwhelmed than anyone else!

But before the slam, the packed house at The Boat was treated to the spoken word power of Will Evans, straight outta Columbus, Ohio. He gave us fresh perspectives on love, politics and even the simple phrase “Fuck That.” Props to peeps who bought his CD, cuz supporting a touring poet is always a mitzvah in my book.

During the slam, poets brought the kind of variety the Toronto scene is known for: Electric Jon doing his voodoo-reggae song “Death by Shark”; Krystle waxin poetic about handing out resumes; Memo rippin apart first-impression ignorance; That Brown Bastard wishin the entire human race a fiery death; and Ariana droppin both funny and heart-breaking poem-monologues that surprised every earhole in the room.

Congrats to Ariana, Boonaa and G.E. for makin the final round, and big-time props to Will Evans for gracing our stage.

Check this space for information about the 2007 season, and what it’ll take for poets to make the 2007 team reppin’ Toronto Poetry Slam. See you Jan. 12 at the Drake (early start time, remember!).

On Nov. 25, 2005, Toronto Poetry Slam was born in the small back room of Oasis Cafe on College Street. Exactly one year later, Toronto Poetry Slam enjoyed the type of energy and good vibes that it’s experienced all year. At the always-packed Cervejaria last Saturday, 15 slammers took the stage after a blistering set by guest feature Versiz from Detroit. First round saw the human-sampling power-rappery of Electric Jon, poignant poetry about love courtesy of Krystle, kick-ass team pieces straight outta the Slam Fam and some courageous verse from Valentino, Ziy, Truth Is, Peter, and Slim Stanway (aka Spencer).

Come third round and it was Ziy, Truth Is and R.D. kickin’ poems at 1:30am, the crowd still hungry for mind-expanding word-constructs. After Ziy’s touching poem about cancer, it was up to Truth to see who would take home the $80. Like many a slam in the past few months, the winner was decided by .1 of a point, and Ziy took home the November crown and ’nuff respect.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone who has supported Toronto Poetry Slam and the spoken word poets who have taken the stage through the months. A slam is only as good as the poets and audience, and there’s a lot of love in my heart for every single person who cheered, booed, stomped their feet, and got interactive like a slam audience should. Undoubtedly, the Slam is the most enjoyable thing I do in my life, but I couldn’t do it without you.

See you in December for the last slam of 2006…and watch for the 2007 season to begin in mid-January!

Lovers of words, it’s been a sweet month for poetry. The Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in Toronto blew many a mind, and gave the city some fresh perspectives on the art form of spoken word. Poets from across the country dropped some serious science on our cerebrals. When all was said and done, Vancouver took home their third championship in a row, with the Toronto2 team coming in second. Most importantly, poets guerilla-stormed the Indigo on John Street, we packed the St. Lawrence Centre on the finals night, and the community strengthened to the point where many of us were sad to see each other go back to our respective hometowns.

But onto this month’s real significance — the one-year anniversary of Toronto Poetry Slam. This funky spoken word competition began a year ago in the back room of the old Oasis Cafe on College (now The Savannah Room). Since that packed-wall-to-wall night, the Slam has taken off beyond my expectations: We’ve filled the El Mocambo on a Sunday night, crammed the Drake with hot poetry courtesy of New York’s Rives, and turned amateur poets into stars on any given night. I think it’s appropriate to big-up the winners of the past Toronto Poetry Slams, but note that every competitor deserves applause. A special congrats to: Spencer (3-time champ), Gypsy Eyes, Mic Smith, Tomy Bewick, DaneJahRas, Amanda Hiebert, and Leviathan.

The 2007 season of Toronto Poetry Slam is going to be a rockin’ good time, and I look forward to another 12 months of enthusiastic and supportive audiences. Watch out for themed slams, guest appearances by slam superstars Mike McGee and Barbara Adler, and an organized season of slammery that will determine the next Toronto Slam Team that will compete in both the U.S. National Slam Championship and the 2007 Canadian Festival of Spoken Word.

See you at the anniversary show on Nov. 25 at Cervejaria! Until then.

Know that tingling feeling at the ends of your fingers when you just experienced something extraordinary? Saturday night’s Toronto Poetry Slam got me all tingly, and I doubt I was the only one (judging by the audience reaction). More than 120 lovely people packed the Victory Cafe to watch a spoken word battle that gave us break-up rants, marijuana rallying cries, righteous indignation and, courtesy of Tomy Bewick, fiery passion poems.

And it was Tomy Bewick’s red-faced inspiration that won over the judges, but not by much: Much like last month’s decision, the winner took home the $75 with just a .1 of an edge. Congrats to the other final stage poets, Krystle and Truth Is, who also wowed the crowd in round 2 with a debut of a duet that will never be forgotten.

Much love has to be showered on the guest feature of the night, Jamie Kilstein from NYC. Now we know why he’s ranked fifth in the U.S. - that dude brought the funny mixed with the serious in a package Toronto hasn’t seen before. Do Jamie a favour and check out both www.myspace.com/jamiekilstein and www.myspace.com/modernbeats.

There’s no Toronto Poetry Slam, per se, in October but it’s gonna be a busy and exciting month for spoken word: The massive Canadian Festival of Spoken Word runs from Oct. 11 to 14, so check out www.cfsw.net for details; Dementia 5 features the incomparable Buddy Wakefield on Oct. 19; and Vancouver’s Barbara Adler and Brendan McLeod visit Toronto for a special Oct. 29 showcase. Stay tuned to this page or our event listings.

As if a city neighbourhood suddenly squeezed into a Portuguese bar, August’s slam carried a vibe that personified community. A good portion of the growing slam family rocked the stage and open mic, and 3 vets made it to the final round: Electric John gave us some sacrilicious power-raps, DaneJahRas displayed impressive range with both heartfelt and clever pieces, and Tomy Bewick
blasted his poem around the room sans mic.

Although Tomy won the judges’ hearts in Round 3, the timer wasn’t as friendly, and a penalty pushed him down to 2nd place, just missing the well-deserved slam winner DaneJahRas by .1 of a point. Damn, it was a hot final round, and may I digress and praise the second round stalwarts (Glick, R.D.) for giving us some tasty niblets of poetic goodness.

Also worth highlighting was Motion and her beatboxer buddy, King RC, who both rocked the mic right. Motion has a tight flow that shoulda had people jumpin out of their seats, but the audience seemed unprepared for the pure hiphoppery pouring out of the Toronto MC.

Watch this site for more updates, and see you at Victory Cafe on Sept. 30!

• We have a forum! Share your words. Comment on slams, post poetry, use it as you like.
• Hogtown hipster newspiles Torontoist and BlogTO take notice, while Valentino moves closer to securing a position as official unofficial TPS cheerleader.
• July guest feature Rives reflects on a day in Toronto before attending the underground sensation known as the “Toronto Poerty Slam” (note to Rives: we spell it that way to confuse the squares).
• And some atmospheric pictures of the ever-emotive Rives’ set, courtesy of Selina: