every Wednesday night at 8 * open mic, featured poet, poetry slam * 738 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Mass.
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The Cantab Lounge: Latest News
Thursday, February 4, 2010
The room was packed again for a vibrant open mic filled with many newcomers and long-time regulars, as well as a surprise visit from Denver’s Ken Arkind. The feature, Eboni Hogan from New York, stunned us with her sharp writing and powerful performance energy in a provocative set that swept us off our feet. In a three-round five-person slam, Kevin Spak took the win in the final round over Sam Teitel, after edging out Sean Conlon, Steve Subrizi and first time slammer Matt C.
Next week: it's Awkward Date Night! Officially known as the Cantab's annual Erotic Poetry Night, this naughty and neurotic event features an amazing TRIPLE FEATURE this year: we'll have spotlights from Cynthia French from Minneapolis, Stephen Meads from the Bay, and our very own Dee Taylor. Of course, we'll also have an extended open mic, showing off the sexiest work from our gritty little bar's dirty little crowd.
Thursday, January 28, 2010We had lots of new listeners out at the Cantab last night for a fabulous open, including a spotlight from Chicago's Tristan Silverman, and the following feature from the two-man duo BROWNSTAR. Pushkar and Sathya rocked the house with their comic wordplay and distinctive perspective. The all-star slam featured a sacrifice from Alvin Lau (Chicago in the house!), and a big win from Richmond's John Survivor Blake over hometown finalist Sam Teitel. What a night!
We'll be back next week with NYC's Eboni Hogan and another open slam. If you can't stand to wait that long, though, you can get a quick fix in the interim with Kate Vander Weide's recent article about the Cantab.
Thursday, January 21, 2010It was a packed house last night for our annual Speed Slam, wherein a whopping thirteen poets showed off two rounds of their finest short work. At the end of a blisteringly hot slam, the standings were:
- April Ranger 55.4
- Erin Jackson 55.1
- Carrie Rudzinski 54.7
- Charley Pope 53.6
- Kevin Spak 53.0
- Megan Thoma 52.6
- Kass 52.4
- Patrick S. 52.2
- Sam Teitel 52.0
- Michael Monroe
- Steve Subrizi
- Andy Locke
- Georgie Delgado
Our top nine finishers (in bold) advance to the February 24 finals! Everyone who slammed put on a great show, and it was especially good to see a few familiar faces return. Special thanks to everyone who came out to watch, heckle, and cheer on the poets: we've got a great start on raising the money to send our representative to the competition in October.
Next week: the clever and innovative duo BROWNSTAR swings by for a full feature. We'll have two mics on the stage, folks, so feel free to bring your group pieces to the open mic. We'll also have another open slam in the 8x8 series.
Thursday, January 14, 2010Last night, we kicked off the evening with an exceptional open mic, even for the Cantab! With almost a dozen new readers on the list, plus another half-dozen out-of-town all-stars, our marathon open was a fabulous series of fulfilling surprises. Then, as if that hadn't been a great show all on its own, our feature William Evans laid down a blisteringly great set that had newcomers and jaded oldsters alike hauling their jaws off the floor and their hearts out of the crisper drawer. The jam-packed poetry slam was won by a triumphantly returning Erin Jackson, who ousted Sam Teitel in the final round.
Holy wow: there's more next week, folks! Our annual Semi-Final Speed Slam will be the feature, showcasing 2- and 1-minute poems from up to nineteen of our recent slam winners, with the top poets advancing to finals on February 24. (Check our schedule for the complete list of qualified poets.) Remember: it's a $5 cover next week to help raise money for the big winner's trip to the Individual World Poetry Slam!
Thursday, January 7, 2010Happy 2010, Cantabbers! Once again, we rang in the new year in style with an all-star line-up slamming at Boston's First Night. Big thanks to Artie Moffa, Patrick S., April Ranger, Brian S. Ellis, Adam Stone, Erin Jackson, Steve Subrizi, Sam Teitel, Casey Rocheteau, Kevin Spak, Melissa Newman-Evans, Febo, and Paulie Lipman, who, as usual, wowed the crowds and tempted many folks out to our little Wednesday night reading. Welcome, new listeners!
Then, of course, just last night, we held our first Cantab night of the year. We don't fool around kicking in the new year, either: 2009 National Poetry Slam Champion Sierra DeMulder brought us a dark and delicious selection of what earned her a spot on the team from St. Paul. Our first open slam of the year was won by Patrick S. over newcomer Brennan G.
If you weren't able to make it out last night, don't worry... We've got a great line-up ahead for the year, continuing next week with a remarkable writer and slammer from Columbus, Will Evans. We'll also hold another open poetry slam in the 8x8 series.
Last, but not least, we've got a few changes afoot in 2010. Nothing big, don't worry --we don't mess with success!-- but if you are a regular open reader, or a prospect for the 2010 slam team, you might be interested in the following announcements:
- Some of you will have already noticed that our sign-up time for the open mic has moved to 7:30. This does mean that the list is likely to fill before 8:00; if you intend to read on the open, please be prompt to the show to guarantee yourself a spot. We are usually able to accomodate all waitlisted readers who arrive by the start of the show.
- We will now announce a nightly writing prompt at our open mic! Parties with prompts to contribute are invited to talk to our bartender, Adam Stone, or email the SlamMaster at cantab@slamnews.com.
- After some discussion, our team slams will now require seven poems and take place over three nights. Dates for this year's team slams are March 31, April 21, and April 28. For format details, please see our team slam details.
- In order to accomodate the College Unions Poetry Slam (CUPSI, a.k.a. College Nationals), taking place in Boston this spring, we will NOT hold a show on Wednesday, April 7. We encourage everyone to attend the show at Emerson College!
That's it for now, folks... We'll be back next week with Will Evans. See you there!
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TODAY'S BIG NEWS
Changes for 2010!
A number of small changes have been made to our format, including a change in sign-up time and the structure of our team slams. Scroll down to the posting from January 7 to get yourself updated!
THIS WEEK'S PROMPT
Lies I've Been Told About Wombats
(Inspired by ABQ/Berkeley poet Christian Drake's comment about New Year's Resolutions): Create a poem centered around an unusual fact about an animal. It does not have to be true.
Michael Brown, former Cantab Slammaster, has moved! Please update your bookmarks to point to his new homepage, michael.brown.name.
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