Tag: poetry

CWS Speakeasy at The Birdcage

Poetry Gigs

 I arrived at the familar setting of the Birdcage and already there was only the floor left to sit on.  The crowd grew so much that there was no room, as people stood in the doorway.  John Simpson Wedge was hosting, and did a great job with jokes and little poems of his own.  Hasina Allen, Jennifer Grey and Cora Benzie started the night off to a great standard as expected. 

Greta Healy and Christopher Ogden followed after the first break, and I mentioned them both at the last Birdcage event. Emma Webb was next, and I enjoyed her set, and her love of West Ham (which I also “support” due to my dad being a big fan) though I don’t follow football so it’s more moral support haha.

I was up next, decked out in 1920’s style dress, I explained that we were asked to do that – though I like dressing up so wasn’t fussed that not many others actually did it!  I wore a cream dress with matching shoes – not a flapper dress, but a similar ’20s shape.  I also wore my fascinator – any excuse to wear it, as I love it – I got it for my 19th birthday, specially handmade by a Spitalfields Market stall-holder.  I also had a white feather boa – I would have prefered my black one from New York’s Screaming Mimi’s but I can’t find it anywhere – gutted, as it was mega over-priced!

Anyway, less about clothes… I enjoyed my set.  I had a cold, but then so did everyone else really.  I performed my creative writing module pieces from last term, which I never had read out as they are more “page” than “stage” poems.  To pick up the pace, I read Space Station, which I pretty much known by heart now.  I then did newbie Drama, and a plug for an event LitSoc are putting on tonight, and then had time for an unplanned reading of White Lines.  I got a decent amount of compliments, particularly for Space Station, and the rhythm of my performance.  I think maybe because I knew it by heart it was well liked, or maybe because it’s quite emotional and raw.

 Christopher Young was next, and read prose, which many people thought was surprisingly entertaining, as it can be harder to follow prose. I can’t remember seeing him before, but he was really good.  Catherine Woodward was next, and in the past I’ve not been blown away, I thought she was great that night, really engaging. Maybe I was blinded by jealousy before haha, since she gets quite a lot published!

Robyn Comfort was again one to watch – sadly no singing this time though. Josephine Lister delivered her set with confidence, although I can’t remember if I’ve seen her before, I think confidence makes up a lot of how good someone’s set is… I hope I’ve grown in confidence haha! Laurie Eaves was the best I’ve ever seen him, he has improved so much in such short time.  I wondered where he practices because that’s a problem for me, as I like it when other people are out the house!  His set was pretty much perfect, very well prepared and everything went together so well.

CWS were filming the night so hopefully it’ll be up on YouTube at some point in the near future!

Carmina

xxx

HEADcrash Cabaret

Poetry Gigs

Last Wednesday was my first feature since being back in Norwich; HEADcrash Cabaret at The Birdcage.  After getting a glass of wine, some postcards and a ‘cocksucker’ badge from actor, poet and host, Russell J Turner, we found somewhere to sit – on the floor as it was rammed.

I suddenly remembered I forgot to spell check my last post.  There must be lots of errors.

Anyway, Chris Ogden, former president of the Creative Writing Society, was first up.  I knew what to expect as LitSoc showcased him at an event we held at the Hive at UEA.  I really liked his menstruation poem, and it reminded me of how I always forgot I was due on my period a number of times staying round a certain friend’s house, and what it means that he didn’t care and it didn’t feel awkward, which is basically what the poem was about – comfort.

Next was a girl called Greta, not sure of her surname, but I really liked her… that’s all I remember.  Robyn Comfort was next and I especially enjoyed her set, though I’ve seen her a few times, this time it was because she SANG! Well jealous, but of course, very happy for her as she was quite nervous about doing it! 

Then there was Andy Bennett, who a lot of people seemed to know, but I didn’t.  He was really good, and did something similar to Tim Clare in relation to Tom Cruise’s ‘Last Barman Poet’ performance in the film ‘Cocktail’.  It seems to have turned into some cult interest and I don’t know why but I really liked it.  I have been trying to write my version for this event that I won’t be able to make anyway, sadly.

After a break, I was next.  I really enjoyed performing and felt it went really well.  I think because I did so many new poems, although I was worried about the newness of them, it made it more enjoyable because there was a mix of poems I knew pretty much by heart, and those that just felt really fresh or something.  My housemate Kristy said how I had improved so much from last term, which was amazing to hear because it means all the open mic and feature gigs I’ve had over summer have been worth it!

Hannah Walker, who I mentioned in my set, was the last poet.  I’ve written about her before and really liked her set, naturally.  I was hoping to speak to her, but she disappeared or I was busy talking to other people or something like that.  Pay No Mind were the band at the end, I liked the songs but it felt like the singer was singing from the wrong part or something, so she was potentially good, but something was wrong that I couldn’t put my finger on and it kind of annoyed me.

I’ve also now got my heart set on an MA, so plan to take a year out to earn money so I can live back in Norwich.  Ideally I’d do it this coming year, but I won’t be able to afford it.  This probably means I won’t be able to afford to go inter-railing either but I can always do that after my MA… or any time in my life.  I don’t want a job that restricts me to not being able to do that.  I see myself doing lots of different jobs rather than one big one.  I read an article about work-life balance recently in the Sunday Times Style magazine that makes me think a merge rather than a separation is how people are more inclined to working these days.  I want to enjoy my work, and it be part of my life, not waiting for the work day to end so I can start my life each weekend or whatever.

Anyway, to save myself from rambling, I’m going to get reading and try to find someone who will come to see The Neutrinos with me and my housemate Kirstie, only asking for £2 compared to £8.50 on the door! 

xxx

So She Said

Poetry Gigs

I enjoyed the last fundraiser for LadyFest Ten so much I decided to go again to this one.  I was worried the tube strike would force me to take buses and get lost as I have a habit of travelling in the wrong direction.  Since I came all the way from South West London to Mile End, there was really no excuse for anyone not attending!  I think it’s more the idea that there will be problems travelling that stopped them coming, rather than any real obstacles.

I was with my friend Elliot again as he lives walking distance, and we sat in the same place as before; I’m a creature of habit.  We were given Poetry Bingo cards and edible DIY-poetry biscuits which we made with icing sugar glue.  I thought that was really fun!  The other acts this time weren’t as impressive and it wasn’t really as good as the time before, if I’m honest.  The performers that stood out for me were Sophia Blackwell, of course, and Elliot’s friend Aurélie Jestin who played guitar and sang – I didn’t understand what she was saying as it was in French but I loved everything else you can like about music with lyrics you don’t understand.

My own performance, I wasn’t that happy with… I don’t know, I just wasn’t feeling it.  I had to bend to the mic a bit as it wasn’t positioned right, which is wierd as I’m quite short… and I messed up a few lines.  Aurélie and Elliot liked it and the audience did make some ‘woo’ noises so I suppose I should stop being so miserable and just be pleased haha.  However…there was this group of girls that wouldn’t stop talking throughout my set, and Sophia Blackwell… in fact, everyone!  They seemed like such posers, all like “we’re at a feminist event!  We’re lesbians/bisexual/friends with lesbians!  We’re at a poetry event! We’re so cool!”  It was just like, why are you here if you’re going to talk throughout the whole thing?  I get really annoyed at people like that, it’s just plain rude!  I wouldn’t make those statements about them normally, but that’s just the impression I got from their ignorance of attending something like this and not bloody paying attention!

Well, rant over, that’s pretty much all I have to say.  I’m deliberating whether to go to an open mic night next week… and if so, which to go to?  It’s between Farrago and Spoonful of Poison.  Farrago costs £5 which is a big factor really, since my main reason for wanting to go is out of obligation as I said I’d try to go to one before I go back to uni in Norwich.  Spoonful of Poison I said I’d go to a couple of weeks ago but forgot and double booked, so feel a pull to go to that as well, but this one is also FREE to go to, so that would be good.  I’m also hoping to see my friend Natalie on that date and she would probably prefer Spoonful as it’s free and she even did her first poetry reading there.

Dilemmasss!  Any advice about that would be welcome, but I’ll probably end up going to whatever Natalie wants to go to… hopefully she will actually be back from Greece by then.

xxx

Ink, Sweat & Tears

News

Charles Christian has published me on the online poetry and prose webzine, Ink, Sweat & Tears.  You can read the piece by clicking here.

xxx

The Queen’s Speech

Poetry Gigs

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.

xxx

Needle&Thread open mic

Poetry Gigs

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!

xxx

JawDance: Apples & Snakes

Poetry Gigs

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.

xxx

Lady Fest Ten

Poetry Gigs

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.

xxx

Rhythm & Muse

Poetry Gigs

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

Farrago Poetry: School’s Out Slam

Poetry Gigs

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