Last night I went to an open mic in Brixton’s Queen’s Head. It was quite at first and I arrived an hour early so sat at a lamp with Proust and a glass of wine. Rachel Pantechnicon was the featue who I’d seen a few times before at Farrago but had’nt spoken until this time, and I also recognised one of the open mic acts.
I felt a bit embarrassed when I got off the stage after performing ‘Cinderella’ to press record again on my camera, and the microphone kept swinging away from me. Other than that, the audience were really supportive and seemed to like it. I really enjoyed it anyway and smiled throughout it. The video I recorded did cut off my head though.
This is just a quick update about the last open mic night I went to, last Tuesday at the Half Moon pub in Herne Hill. I used to live in the area, but it was before I was five so I don’t remember much, it was my parent’s first place though so I have like one vague memory in a park as well as those confused with photographs and home videos. So, the event was Needle&Thread and although I was there an hour before to sign up, after one glass of wine, my friend Amy came along, as she lives five minutes walk away.
It was good to see Amy, and although the other acts were all men with acoustic guitars, it was fun and relaxing. It was weird at first because the lights were so bright I couldn’t see the audience – I used to like that when I was dancing but it felt like reading to an empty room, although the crowd were really nice with clapping and cheering.
It has to be said, the bar staff were really nice and friendly, and it seemed an all-round cool pub. I was gutted I had to leave so early to get my last train. If I didn’t have work the next day I would have bussed it back. There was one guy that was going to do poetry that talked to me and my friend at the bar, and he interrupted our conversation and then said “don’t beat me up” so I would have loved to see what he did!
Next up, tonight, The Queen’s Speech and The Queen’s Head in Brixton. So far, going it alone. I’ve become soooo skint over the summer as well – thank God for my travel expenses from Penned in the Margins!
On another note, I had my last day at my internship and it’s easily the best bit of work I’ve ever had, such a great experience, and let me tell you, there’s some exciting stuff coming up in the next year! I had a goodbye lunch at Juno which was delish! I pretty much could have eaten anything on the menu, except the fish… not a fan – very unEnglish of me! I’ve no idea why there’s bad reviews online, I really liked it, my perfect menu and nice atmopshere, with a cool space invaders table.
Anyway, I’ll update soon about tonight, as I’ve got my own camera back… well, it says it’s repaired but I swear it’s a new camera! Not bad for £23!
Last Wednesday I went to JawDance at Rich Mix in Shoreditch. It was a few minutes away from where I go for my internship so I met my friend, Siobhan, at the station and we stolled around Brick Lane, and ate at Cafe 1001. I arrived in good time and was about fifth on the open mic list. The other performances were good, and there was a lot of variety of styles.
I enjoyed my set, and got a couple of compliments. I got chatting to one girl, called Laila Sumpton, and I recognised her from my old dance class, Gemini Dancers and asked her name, and it was her. She also knew fellow poet, Alain English – what a small world! I also listened to the video again on the tube to see if you really could hear it, and you couldn’t really, apart from at the stops… so maybe not quite as embarrassing as I first thought.
On another note, I’ve finished Henry James, The Portait of a Lady. It’s one of those books that is so beautifully written that it’s just a pleasure to read it. It makes me feel like Henry James is reading to me as we sit by a fire in an old Victorian mansion. The characters, especially Isabel, the lady in question, captured my interest entirely, and although due to my busy schedule I was unable to keep the pace of my reading, the story drew me in each time I picked up the book. It’s wonderful when a book can truelly take you into another world and make you forget your own life for a while – that’s what this does. At over 600 pages, I’m now ready to take on Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust for the second time.
I went to Thorpe Park yesterday and had so much fun that I implusively bought a “bounce back” ticket for a tenner so hopefully will get to go with a few of the friends that didn’t get to go this time. I went to the gym for the first time in a while, maybe 2 weeks and it felt good to get some excercise done! I’m going to go again tomorrow. I weighed myself afterwards which was a mistake – 9 stone 11 pounds – which is basically my normal weight. I know it sounds stupid, but sometimes I get it into my head that I’d like to get down toe 8 stone 7 pounds. In reality, 9 stone 7 pounds would surfice, as I just want to sort out trouble areas like thighs, stomach and bingo wings, and a BMI of 22.8 would be fine (well, my current BMI is also fine) but 20.4 sounds so much better. All this is silly to say anything about anyway, because the only reason I go to the gym is so I can stuff my face with things like yummy roast dinner and dark chocolate – which is what I’ll be doing later tonight 😀
And I think I’m going to have about 5 cans of Fosters tomorrow night (and that’s me trying to be sensible!) with a friend I haven’t seen since Hop Farm festival! And I have Monday off work. Looking forward to these next few days! Next open mic will be Needle & Thread in Herne Hill, at the Half Moon Pub.
Last night I went to the Lady Fest poetry open mic event ‘So She Said’ at The Victoria in Mile End. I went after work and grabbed a burger and wedges from Cafe 1001 (and a sneaky Carlsberg). The features of the night were Chrissy Williams, Dzifa Benson and Liz Bentley. Chrissy Williams I thought was okay but perhaps more of a “page” poet, given by her numerous publications of which I can only dream of being in currently. If I remember correctly a lot of the poems involved dialogue, which I thought maybe was in order to fit in with the event title, which would have been a cool thing to do, if it was intentional.
My favourite feature was probably Dzifa Benson. I usually find it more difficult to concentrate on the poet prior to going up myself, but I really liked her set, especially one she read about skin. I was pleased with how my set went and the girl who went up after me (can’t remember her name, but she was good!) said she enjoyed my set. She also told me she’d only started doing poetry readings a week or so ago! Where have all these amazing poets come from that need like nooo practice to perform amazingly? (Like Vanessa Kisuule, whose name I wanted to mention in my last Farrago post but am not sure if I did). I also was compared to Brigitte Aphrodite by, Nikki Shaill, one of the event organisers who approached me about contributing to the Lady Fest Zine. I was really surprised by the comparison, but I don’t know maybe it’s the inflection in the voice when performing, expression of emotion or something. I don’t have music in my act (yet!) but if I were to sum up Brigitte’s act, I would describe it as of the cockney music hall variety. Maybe it was ’cause I was with my cockney-East-end-born&bred friend, Elliot Snook (soon to be happy-hardcore music producer, so he tells me). I told my mum this and she said I sound “more cockney” when I read my poetry. My own mother! I was not impressed, I shall have to “get my posh on” in future, all these comparisons unnerve me; flattering as they are, as my friends are saying a lot these days ‘I love it, but it kinda makes me sick’. I guess it’s because I like these people, but see myself as very different to them in so many ways… I guess I’ve always felt I can’t be put in a box (although I LOVE quizzes, you know the ones that try to put you in boxes).
OMG! Two embarrassing things happened to me related to this night as well:
1. I was on the tube and decided to watch the recording of my performance with my Ipod in, to see how long I was on for (which I found out after you can see without doing that). My camera’s at the repair shop, so I was borrowing my mum’s, so I also didn’t know that you could hear SOUND when you play it back (mine doesn’t do that). I even took my earphones out to check but didn’t seem to hear anything, but my mum told me you could after. So yeah, embarrassing! Especially as there was someone who performed there on the tube near me probably thinking what a weirdo loser I was!
2. My parents had their couple friends round for food and drinks, and I went to bed, leaving the camera with my mum as she wanted to take pictures. She told me the next day how great their friends thought my performance was (and compared me to Kate Nash, grrr – see above). I was soooo embarrassed! Mainly the content of my poems. I’ve performed in front of my parents before but carefully picked my poems! Poems about body hair and ex-boyfriends would not be top of the list! Argh! and I haven’t heard it myself yet, hopefully will be able to upload it tonight though!
Anyway, back to the event! Liz Bentley was the last feature and I was enjoying her performance and laughed at her reference to Rachel Pantechnicon, feeling a bit pleased with myself that I got it. So I enjoyed it, despite my personal aversion to people with her first name, UNTIL she did a poem about hating her sister and asked people in the audience to answer whether they hated their siblings. Elliot said he loved his, and he exclaimed “she’s only two!” Liz then engaged in banter, trying to amuse the audience by making out he was “weird” for loving his sister. I felt a wave of embarrassment come over me, like that feeling when you forget lines and everyone is looking at you. Aware it wasn’t me that should feel awkward, I told Elliot ‘I want the world to swallow you up’. I just thought it was an underhand thing to say, as he wasn’t heckling and I found it inappropriate and basically rude. *Sigh* Disappointing.
The next So She Said event is 7th September and I’ll hopefully be going along again.
Last night I went to Rhythm & Muse, in Teddington for the first time to check out the open mic there., having signed up via email. It had a really chilled vibe and was nice to relax with a glass of Rosé. I’d arrived early so I got to sit right at the front, which I like because it means I don’t have to rumage my way through the crowd to get on stage.
The Flying Blueberries were on first, doing mostly Bob Dylan songs, and having seen Bob Dylan at Hop Farm Festival earlier, this was possibly more enjoyable as the real McCoy’s set was long and disappointing, as he avoided the classics that all the fans wanted to hear. Anyway, of the open mic I recognised Peter Francis from The Tea Box open mic who provided a witty rapport with the audience in between poems. I also enjoyed a girl called Laura’s set, who studies at Kingston uni, though felt she did something I tend to do, which is to try and squeeze as many poems as possible into the set.
I loved the headline poetry act, Racker Donnelly, as I find that it’s always impressive when poets know their material by heart, and also felt there was a good mix of the comedic and the tragic… as I think he pointed out himself with reference to Shakespeare before performing a piece on King Lear. I also felt like I was learning something about Ireland, and it’s always good to learn new things. I’ve also been wanting to have a trip to Ireland after my friend Kim suggested it as a place to celebrate the new year (although it hasn’t happened yet). I have to confess that part of the reason is a false hope for Gerard Butler look-a-likes after seeing P.S. I Love You… even though he’s actually Scottish.
Back to the poetry… I was on my own again, so was feeling a bit nervous… and it was coming out of my shaking legs once again – I hope that stops, it’s really annoying! I picked a couple of poems I thought I knew off by heart and folded up the text a million times to squeeze it in my pocket for safety, and annoyingly I needed it! I forgot a bloody line for Cinderella, of all poems, the bane of my life! However, after that it was fine, and I got a really positive reaction from the audience.
The compère, Nick Poole said it gave him goosebumps, and came to chat for a bit afterwards, and even offered me a drink which was very nice of him, but I refused as I thought I should be sensible… the wine was really nice though so it was tempting! I also overheard someone say ‘amazing’ after I came off stage and I don’t care, I’m going to assume it was about me because it makes me feel good haha!
I stayed for the second half but shot off when the first band returned to the stage as I wanted to be home as early as possible; my parents were going away on holiday in the early hours the next day and I wanted to say goodbye. Before going to bed, I decided to try to put a scarf on my head to experiment to see if it would prevent my hair from getting frizzy and I thought what I came up with looked kind of cool in a 1940s way, so I took some pictures and posted one below. It didn’t work though and had fallen off by the time I woke up. xxx
I was feeling excited about going to Farrago, as it’s a place I’ve been many times and it’s a place I feel comfortable in. However, I ended up with NO FRIENDS coming to see me. As my personal life’s been a bit up and down, losing a few friends and that, I had to just not think about this too much or I knew it would get me down. When I am friends with someone I see it as friends for life, so it has been upsetting, but it’s good to keep busy and take my mind off it all.
Anyway, luckily everyone is friendly at Farrago, and an Australian guy who sponsors poetry and puts on events chatted to me for a bit and even bought me a drink. AF Harrold was on first, for his first 10 minutes, but to be honest, as I was on next, I couldn’t give a proper opinion on that as I tend to get quite nervous before I go on.
I really enjoyed my performance, although I’d planned to do one more poem, I knew I was limited to 10 minutes so was happy enough to end it on ‘Roots’, the poem I wanted to finish with. I tried to do it off by heart and was pleased with the amount I had remembered, as I only made a few strange slip-ups like saying ‘miss pronoucing my name’ instead of ”miss pronoucing my words’. What was weird is that I was really shakey as well, like, even my legs were shaking! I’ve never really done that so it was a bit annoying! I think I was a bit more nervous as I usually recognise more people in the crowd, and also, I think I feel more comfortable when I have my mates there for support.
I think Suli Breaks was next, if I remember correctly. I’ve seen him a few times before so knew he was gonna be good. He was really entertaining and funny, and didn’t need bits of paper like me! I was a bit ashamed I didn’t know what ‘crepes’ meant, but then again, there is a reason I get emails from Urban Dictionary. Me and slang don’t go so well together, so I need the emails so I can at least know what’s going on around me haha, one of my mates once even said I’m ‘far too middle class, darling’ to say the word ‘sick’.
I think Fran Landesman was afterwards, and I LOVE her, as I’ve seen her lots at Farrago shows. She’s a bit of a celebrity really! Here’s the only picture I managed to take before my batteries ran out:
I think Niall Spooner-Harvey was up next. I’ve seen him loads at Farrago shows and think he’s great, so is always a pleasure to see him, especially after such a long time as I got to hear a whole load of new stuff!
It was good to hear AF Harrold again, as I couldn’t take it all in as well as I would have liked before. The only thing I would say is that, he probably would have sold more books if he’d read larger sections of his novel, the small sections were funny a few times but it didn’t get the message across. My experience with Penned in the Margins has told me that a big part of selling the books lays with the actual author… not to mention the lack of royalities you end up with! Anyway, John-Paul kept going on about reading the last poem, ‘Cats Are Better Than Fish’ and I have to say, I did enjoy it!
The slam itself was really fun, though I really wanted to have the scorecards and didn’t. There were a few people that stood out, but sadly I can’t remember all their names. One was Amy Acre, who I had been blown away by at the Glam Slam a few weeks ago, and although the MySpace I have linked doesn’t have much on it at the moment, she told me she’s planning to get some stuff up there so keep your eyes peeled! Also, Hannah Eiseman-Renyard, who had been in the Feminist Midsummer Party audience and also went to UEA – I especially liked her last one about being a female writer. A guy called Joshua Morris also walked past me and said he liked my set, he performed in the slam and was pretty good himself, but I feel like he’s an actor… not that that’s a bad thing! I wish I had more acting experience myself. I was pretty chuffed he said that anyway, purely because I thought he was good looking haha! He was directly in my eyeline as well (they always are) so I got a bit worried I was looking at him too much, what a loser haha! At the end a woman also asked me for my email to join some sort of poetry social network thing, called JotSpeak which I have joined. Already someone commented saying ‘Oh wow I saw you last night! I remember thinking you looked like Kate Nash… and sounded a bit like her too. Really liked your set ;-)’
I’m a bit wary of Kate Nash comparisons, since someone made a negative comment once, acting like I was a “wannabe”, although I told them I’ve actually got a poem mocking that kind of judgement and I changed their mind – yay! There’s only been a couple of people that have compared me to her before that, one being a friend who is also an ex-boyfriend of mine, who told my friend (also his cousin) that he thought I looked like Kate Nash (and he loves her up so it pretty much meant he fancied me… how primary school haha). The other was a friend of a friend I met once. Oh! And an old friend thinks I have similar mannerisms after seeing an interview of her. I guess when people say it, it reminds me of the ex, and so it’s a bit complicated, but obviously I want to be myself. I certainly don’t think I sound like her though, I’m from the total opposite end of London haha.
I think it’s so easy for people to be compared to Kate Nash, because she’s just a normal girl, and that’s her whole philosophy and why so many can relate to her. I like her for these reasons, and listening to her still makes me feel happy, and that’s what it’s all about. So I’m not complaining about any comparisons!
Wow, that’s taken way longer than I thought! I was doing it whilst watching Dragon’s Den (well want to go to that Vintage shop with yummy cakes and stuff!) so it slowed me down. I feel really in need of water as well!
I’m off with my parents to eat at Strada and see Toy Story 3, so excited!
Okay… the two videos I did (the one above and my new video blog) makes me sound like Emily from Skins… I think… well, I sound like I have a bit of a lisp. I don’t have a lisp so that’s quite strange… maybe it’s cos after Hop Farm my camera got a bit fucked whilst listening to The Ruskins.
I really enjoyed this night anyway! I went with a guy I met earlier that day, called Greg, and he made me drink more than I wanted to, so I was probably a bit drunk. I got a laugh at the right point – yaaay!! And a woman told me she could listen to me all night which is majorly flattering! One of the hosts, Alan Wolfson, let me do another one as well and came up and said he loved my set 😀
My personal life is a bit out of control at the moment, so at least I have my poetry. I’ve just been practicing my set for my feature next week in the bath, whispering so my parents don’t hear me haha… I can’t believe how close it is! Looks like I’ll be under-rehearsed yet again, grrr!
I did actually practice the other day and knew most of the set off by heart, but it’s unlikely in reality. I hope some of my friends come to see me.
So, I had a great time at this one. I was on pretty early and so got to enjoy the rest of the night properly, was wicked seeing Dean Atta, The Ruby Kid and Poeticat in particular, makes me want my own Cajon player haha! The only musicians I know are like the ruskins and my ex boyfriend… and I don’t think the ruskins would be up for starting a poetry side-project, and I don’t think my ex is up for being a a poetry band called “The Exes”… I think that name’s taken anyways!
After I went to get more drinks for me and my mate Elliot, a couple said how they liked my set and I chatted to them for a bit, and they were really nice. SuperPennie chatted to me for a bit as well, and said how she likes London accents, and that my accent gets more “London” when I read my poems.
I found this a funny thing to say cos I’ve grown up in London, therefore I have a London accent… I think she meant it gets stronger… but in what sense? My voice isn’t cockney and it’s not really posh (though my cockney mates may disagree… compared my my grans proper posh accent!) So yeah, my accent isn’t strong in anyway, plus I’m softly spoken a lot of the time… but when I do poetry or get angry my emotions come out and my words have more force I guess?
My accent is very similar to the friends I grew up with in south london, where I still half live haha. One of my friends said my voice is like Leona Lewis, which I don’t mind, she seems like a nice girl. I think my singing voice is most similar to Laura Marling… but I base that on the fact that I think I can sing her songs and not sound totally shit haha. But yeah, basically this is just my voice, I don’t like it all the time but that’s just the way it is.
Anyway, that comment just got me thinking. I really enjoyed the format of the night and the cool short films they showed, some were quite weird, but I like weird! I also remembered I added Ruby Kid on my MySpace and he commented he liked my stuff. I feel a bit weird when meeting people in those situations who you’ve like communicated with online. I felt like such a dick when he let me pass through on the stairs and I didn’t say anything!
All in all, it was a good night and I hope to go again!
xxx
Poet on page and stage. Creator of She Grrrowls. Facilitator. Writer. 