September round-up
Read or join the discussion on this post.
It was a night of newbies, veterans and surprise rib-ticklers. As for newbies, several slam competitors were virgins to the Toronto Poetry Slam stage, including Shannon, Emily, Dave and Lady Loxx. They each brought a spicy flavour of performance poetry the audience had never seen before, especially Dave — he performed in German and English! Oh, the foreign appeal of TPS just got stronger.
In the second round, the always entertaining Electric Jon rocked the Drake with R.D. backing him up on vocals, while another veteran, Truth Is, kicked it into high gear with some classic poems of hers. The newbie Lady Loxx (dressed oh so fine in high heels and mini skirt) power-punched our minds with hard-hitting rhymes and potent content, giving her the edge to make it to third round.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. A huge kudos must be lavished on the guest feature, comedian Chris Gibbs. He had everyone laughing heavily at his punchlines on British accents, raising a child, sympathy cards and saving our Winnipeg Jets. I’m sure 3 minutes of his material at a slam would garner him at least a 9.3 from judges.
In the third round, veterans Truth Is and Lara battled it out against Lady Loxx. Both Truth and Lara performed poignant poems of heart-wrenching verse, but it was Lady Loxx who won over the incredibly loose judges (including Knopf Canada publisher Diane Martin). It’s always refreshing to see a newcomer to the slam take home the $75 and the confidence to return for another slam in the future.
The next slam will be on Oct. 27, and I know that’s a long time for many of you, but rest assured the slam scene will be buzzing with activity: From Oct. 10 to 14, the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word descends on Halifax, and many local poets will be competing in this mega-slam: White Noise Machine, Amanda Hiebert, Krystle Mullin, Arianna, Truth Is, Boonaa, Leviathan, Tomy Bewick, Dwayne Morgan, and more. In a week or so, check out www.cfsw.net
September 11th, 2007 at 11:45 am
Did… did you just call the judges prostitutes?
September 11th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Dave, your round-ups are so well written I feel like I was there. Thanks!
September 12th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
i think the fact that Lady Loxx was wearing ‘oh so fine high heels and a mini skirt’ was really a piece of information that was important to her win.
k
September 12th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
Gimme a break, peoples. These round-ups are supposed to paint a picture of the poets, the venue, the vibe. Part of that is describing the visuals, what the poets look like. Is it wrong to call someone stylish? I never inferred Loxx won because of her looks, hardly. *sigh* A lot of assuming going around these days.
September 12th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
For the record, I’m not accusing you of anything Dave, but it is a bit cringeworthy that the only clothes that got mentioned were the ones of a woman, dressed “provocatively.”
Especially when the white jeans and undercut were the clear provocation.