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!
xxx
Poet on page and stage. Creator of She Grrrowls. Facilitator. Writer. 