What do you do in features besides read slam poems?

[sirenoftitan1]

I am dissecting the anatomy of a good feature, because I think a twenty-minute set should be more than just five or six slam poems.

Some things I've used or seen others use:

Cover poems
Short poems
Some type of intermission (Limericks, haiku, beatboxing, etc.)
First drafts

What else, LJ kids?

Comments

[k80fs]

when i've visited cities for longer than a night, putting together a duet or larger group piece with local poets has always been a highlight.

[sirenoftitan1]

Oooh...that's cool. How do you do that in such a short time-frame?

[k80fs]

1. i roll into town with the script ready. i haven't ever forwarded it to people in advance, but it's something that could be done.

2. i don't give a shit about memorizing--i just want it to sound right and to demonstrate a rollickin good time onstage. most slam audiences i've tried this with are open to a little raw, as long as it's not sloppy. in any case, i think it's a more interesting peek into process (as opposed to polish) than a first draft indy piece.

[nerak_g]

This is awesome. YES! This! More of THIS!

[gunpowdersmile]

Awe. Some.

[wonderdave]

I did this With Zachary Kluckman when he was featuring in Berkeley and and I was spotlighting. Duets off paper are fine especially if the audience knows you put it together just for this show.

[succulentpoet]

It was so awesome when we did this when you were in Vancouver.

[k80fs]

vancouver has totally been the pinnacle of this for me.

i have done this

[cynthia_french]

with Amy Steinberg. We did an impromptu duet with song and poem, her on the piano singing her song mixed with one of my poems when we dual featured at the green mill a few years ago. it was super fun and we kept it going throughout our tour.

Also, I have been promised by the Vancouver Slam that they will perform Bowling with me at my feature in November. Sean, Duncan and RC. Although I think RC was a few sheets to the wind when he accepted.

i have done this

[cynthia_french]

with Amy Steinberg. We did an impromptu duet with song and poem, her on the piano singing her song mixed with one of my poems when we dual featured at the green mill a few years ago. it was super fun and we kept it going throughout our tour.

Also, I have been promised by the Vancouver Slam that they will perform Bowling with me at my feature in November. Sean, Duncan and RC. Although I think RC was a few sheets to the wind when he accepted.