Peter - The Scriberazone:
>"The sort of stuff we especially like is soulful, funny and/or accessible.
We are >turned off by overly clever material - we like stuff that ordinary
people can get a hold >of. We are hoping to attract a varied audience
including people who wouldn't >normally go to a poetry reading (e.g. educated
ex-clubbers)..."
Having been exhausted by these issues both v. close to home and very far away
('performed' with the London Slam Team in Austen, Texas, a few years back
would you believe) I'll just ask a few questions:
1. Explain 'soulful', particularly the way it is reduced in oral performance
to cliched bonding.
2. What does 'overly clever' refer to? Could you give an example?
3. Why does the reduction of humour to 'funny' in 'oral performance'
generally go hand-in-hand with the reduction of the erotic to sex jokes?
4. You say "and/or accessible". Does this mean that if 'or' then other
qualities, such as soulful or funny, or whatever, don't matter?
5. Who are these 'ordinary people'? (I think I met a few once and they were
rather strange)
6. Why do you want to give 'ordinary people' poetry? If they are quite
contented without it then why spoil things? If people have music and comedy
in their lives then fan-bloody-tastic (so do I) so what is the point of the
exercise?
All the worst of slam-dunking patronised worlds
Tim A.
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