buddy Wakefield February 28

the poet i chose to go see was buddy Wakefield and his performance was held at the 1104 s Wabash building. i chose to go to this performance because a friend of mine had told me that have heard of him before and apparently he was really good .

i went to there not knowing exactly what to expect because i have never attended a poetry reading before but the flyer that was posted online for the event said that Buddy Wakefield is one of the biggest names in performance poetry, so i expected a performance at the very least.

i was completely blown away by the performance as a whole because they also had Columbia students as well, and i thought there poems were excellent. however, buddy was beyond word for me because it seemed like he was just rambling at first throwing out random ideas and then he would just lead it into a poem like he just came across it by accident, but he put some feeling and emotion behind each word. it also helped that he was really funny as well because it made seem he was a stand up comedian/ poet.

The Buzz

The poetry reading I attended was an open mic at the Buzz Café in Oak Park. There is one held every Monday night from 7 to 9pm. I attended the one held this evening, February 28, 2011. I went because I knew their open mic’s are known for their poets. Oak Park is a very artsy town, and “the Buzz” (as it’s known to locals) is right in the heart of the arts district.

There were some musicians there as well, which complemented the poetry very nicely. Most of the poets only stated their first name prior to their readings, but I guess that’s not too unusual. One of my favorites was a guy named Juan who had a spoken word feel to his work. He did three pieces, but my favorite was called “The City”. Being so close to Chicago, you would think the city he would be referencing would be Chicago, but it wasn’t. I found out through the poem that he’s from Mexico and the city he was referring to was Mexico City. Another poet I really enjoyed was named Karl. He probably considered himself a rapper rather than a poet. He reminded me of Eminem, who is one of my favorite artists. If his pieces had names, he didn’t state them. The other three poets were females. Their pieces seamed more forced than the males. Their names were Jessie, JoJo and Katie. All three of them had a similar style. No rhyming and loudly spoken. When they weren’t reading they were very soft spoken so it was interesting to hear the loud, accented words come out of their mouths. I think that’s part of what made them sound more forced. It sounded foreign compared to the soft tones they began their introductions with.

One of my favorite parts about the Buzz is the food. I discovered tonight that they also serve Mexican hot chocolate! It was delicious. All in all, it was a great evening. It was a perfect mixture of music and poetry and I was able to enjoy quality time with my girlfriend as well. I would deffinatly go again.

Buddy Wakefield at the Film Building

The reading I went to was actually on my birthday, February 28. It took place at the Conway center, otherwise known as the film building. The main attraction was a performance poet named Buddy Wakefield, and he was actually on his first tour in seven years. It was an interesting experience, as I have never been to a poetry reading before. I chose this one partially out of necessity, but also because I like the performance space at the Conway center.

The event opened up with "literary death match" between students of the two Columbia organizations "Verbatim" and "Silvertongue". Contestants competed against each other by reading their pieces. The competitive aspect wasn't heightened a lot though, it was more just to have fun with and have something to get the audience engaged. One of the announcers mentioned that a big aspect of poetry readings was vulnerability, and that stuck with me for some reason.

Buddy came off almost like a stand-up comedian. He didn't sound like he had anything prepared and he just sort of made conversation with the audience. At first, his readings came off the same way. As the night went on, his poems started to take a more serious tone. It got to a point where he was almost rapping his lyrics as he really got into his rhythms. Nonetheless, he still was able to make the audience laugh with his satirical, as well as sincere, sense of humor.

What I enjoyed most about the reading was the idea of vulnerability. I had connected this concept mainly with actors, but I had never realized how much it also applies to poets, or any performance art for that matter. After realizing that idea, it became something very different than just listening to a guy on a stage. It wasn't the same sense I get when I go to see a music show, and perceive the people on stage as somewhat mythical and different from the crowd. It was a much stronger sense of familiarity and relation.

It's hard to say what would have made my experience better. I think I should have taken a notebook and actually wrote some things down because feel like there were other things I learned that I can't remember now. All and all, it was an enlightening experience.

Open Mic

On February 21st I attended an open mic in my residence building the Univeristy Center. I found the location very convienient so of course I jumped at the oppurtunity to attend this event. It took place in a small room that the building usually uses to show movies. All of the poets were students who also lived in the building. It lasted for about two hours. I suprisingly enjoyed myself. I had never attended a poetry reading before then and didn't know what to expect. There were two musical acts there that were kind of refreshing and lightened the mood. Unfortunately I have no pictures.

A Frank O'Hara Tribute Read by Court Green 8 Poets

On February 16, I chose to attend the launch reading for Court Green 8 at Hokin Hall on campus. The reading was hosted by David Trinidad, a leading figure in Columbia's poetry faculty. Court Green 8 is Columbia's annual poetry journal, and this year's dossier is the poet, Frank O'Hara.

To honor Frank O'Hara, candy cigarettes and Cokes were handed out at the entrance to a hall. The reading began with the introduction about Court Green 8 and how it came to be published. After which, they played an audio recording of O'Hara himself, then proceeded to the readings. Each chosen reader read a poem or two of their own and a poem or two or Frank O'Hara's. The poets included:

• Tony Trigilio (co-editor of Court Green 8)
• Holly Amos
• Nate Breitking
• Jessica Dyer
• Susan Firer
• Steve Henry
• Jennifer Karmin
• Robert McDonald
• Kyle Miner
• Larry Sawyer
• David Trinidad

I chose to attend this reading because my good friend and poet Meg had suggested we go together. She thought I would enjoy Frank O'Hara's poetry and she was right.



I thought the energy and overall production of the event was good spirited, which I wasn't sure it would be since it was a college sponsored event.



As for the poets who read, there were varying degrees of poets, who you could tell, had read a hundred times before, and others who were not as well practiced-- but only one or two of the younger looking poets. The most captivating readers were high energy and confident in their tone. The poets who made me laugh were also of the most memorable.



This being my first reading in a long time I was content with the event overall. I think it's important to expose oneself to new artists, living and not. My only thoughts for improvement are to have a better quality audio clip and to give a bit more biographic info on O'Hara. Although, since then I have began reading his poetry on my own because of the event.

Gay Ole Jamboree: The 3rd Annual Round Up!

Usually I go to more open-topic poetry readings than the Gay Ole Jamboree last Wednesday February 23rd. I like to see a variety of poems on different topics, rather than only one thematic issue addressed for the whole night. However, my friend Liz Baudler was performing there so I would have hated to miss it.

Needless to say, the Jamboree was a gay cowboy themed show with an alternating combination of poetry and folk music. For the most part it was poetry - really provocative stuff about homosexuals and the troubles they face in mainstream culture.

It was in the multicultural affairs office in 618 S. Michigan. It wasn't the first reading I've been to in that office. It's a surprisingly big space.

The performers:

• Von Angel
• Liz Baudler (She was pretty damn good. Of course I may be a little biased.)
  
• Tony Denis
• Mario Elias
• Zach Green
• EJ Hill
• Hayden Hinch
• Kim Johnson
• Sam McAllister & Megan Frestedt
• Jay Olson (he took off his shirt at the beginning of his poem to reveal a corset. You don't see that at many other poetry readings, now do ya?)
  
• Jennie Patino (She was awesome too.)
  
• Francis Shervinski
• Cameron Spiegel
• Kyle Waldrop
• Akia Young

It was a rollocking good time. The poems played largely on audience reaction, and there were quite a lot of reactions, to say the least.

Every now and then, bandannas were tossed out into the audience. I got a yellow one myself. According to the host, different colors of bandanna hanging out of the back pocket mean that you like different things out of sex. I just hope yellow doesn't mean anything too strange.

-looks it up-

Oh dear. Well, I'm keeping it anyway, it's pretty.

The one thing that could have been improved, in my opinion, would be that the hosts could have been more enthusiastic. The main girl who hosted it seemed like she hated her job. But I could be reading into it too much, and she could have been trying to not overshadow the performers.

Overall it was pretty dang gay (in this case, by which I mean awesome).

Winter Festival of Poetry

I attended the Winter Festival of Poetry on Sunday February 27th, at the Avol’s Bookstore in Madison, Wisconsin. The seven poets that performed were Fabu, Dave Scheler, Martha Kaplan, Robin Chapman, Andrea Photos, Sandy Stark. I attended this particular reading because it was conveniently going on while my mom and I were waiting for my sisters soccer practice to end, so we decided to check it out

The Avol’s is a small bookstore, but there was maybe only 10 people in attendance so we were able to all sit comfortably. My mom and I were one of the last to arrive and sat in the back row. We were only able to stay for the first two poets, Fabu, and Robin Chapman.

Fabu was the first to perform and introduced herself as the Fabulous Fabu. She had a very soothing soft spoken voice and she dragged on certain words. She also seemed to have a movement/gesture for each line. One of the poems she read that stuck out to me the most was about President Obama, which talked about his strength, confidence and how we the people believe in the hope he brings.

Robin Chapman went next, she was an older lady who had a great storytelling voice. She wasn’t as active with her movements as Fabu was, but she did use subtle hand gesture every now and then. Most of the poems she read were nature poems, so they honestly all blended together for me.

I had never been to a poetry reading before so I really enjoyed the new experience, even if I didn’t care for all the poem that were read. I think I may have enjoyed the reading more if had been able to do some more research about the poets, and would have known their style of poetry before hand. I would have liked to stay a little longer too, to experiences some of the other poets as well.