Just this past Saturday, "The Word is Spoken" hosted by David B. Maas had its bi-weekly Poetry Open Mic show at the Laboratory (818 W University). They get together every 2nd and 4th Saturday from 7pm to 9pm to exchange poetry, jokes, music -- anyone in attendance can participate in any way they want.
They will stop having regular shows come Fall, but they will be having a "Christmas in July" show the last Saturday of this month, and their 100th show some time in September/October, as well as their annual "Tasteless Poetry" show number 4 "On the Floor." More information can be found on their Facebook Group "Gainesville Poetry Collection" or by emailing [email protected].
After Maas said welcomes, started the night off with some words, a few attendees had their turns. Judy, an older woman, read some work concerning different types of fears -- physical and emotional harms from a feminine perspective. In her last poem, entitled "April 5th, 2000", she quotes her choice epitaph as reading, "Fuck this shit, I'm outta here." Tom Miller, who also hosts an Open Mic night every Monday at the Laboratory, recites what seems like a mix of actual occurrences, opinions, and other delusions. Tricia reads her poetry for the first time at the Lab, disclaiming that she's not as confident about her writing as the others seemed, but she was actually much better than she let on. Her poems were short, sweet, and deep.
Here's the part where things shift (an understatement). A tall guy with glasses and long straight hair, James Wesson is easy to spot in the crowd. After his name is called, he makes his way up to the stage kicking a bucket filled with props and gadgets. After some technical difficulties, including a loud burst of music that scares half the audience almost to death, he takes the stage. Music playing, he half sings, half talks into one of two (and sometimes both) microphones, creating interesting effects with his voice. His bit is hilarious -- taking time between lines of speech to brush his hair to the beat, or bang on his bucket of stuff with a drumstick. He was quite awkward, but it's hard to tell at some points if that was his intention. Either way, it was a laugh riot.
This wasn't what I was expecting at a seemingly solemn -- if sometimes vulgar -- spoken word event, but the surprise was well received. His act reminded me of Reggie Watts (on youtube), who has made numerous appearances on Conan, and was recently on an episode of WNYC's RadioLab, though White is a professional performer.
Wesson will be doing a similar one-man act at the Civic Media Center on Friday, July 22nd at 9pm. I definitely recommend checking this out. The CMC is located at 433 S. Main Street in Gainesville. Visit civicmediacenter.org for more information.
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