Open Mic at NYC's Bowery Poetry Club

Fair Warning: I do curse a few times in this. If this concerns you, consider yourself forewarned.


I was so excited to perform in NYC. The crowd at the Bowery had such an eclectic, energetic feel that I absolutely loved.

Before walking on stage, I felt much more nervous than last time (my legs constantly shook for the full 2+ hours before my turn), but the piercing spotlight must have (ironically) calmed me, because my nerves were actually less of a struggle this time. It's odd.

I'll have to do open mics a few more times before I know how my nerves usually manifest themselves, what actually causes them (it isn't straighforward stagefright--I actually love talking publicly), and how best to push through them without sacrificing my own ideals of good presentation.

I'm reasonably happy with how I presented the first three (short) poems. The last one, though, should have been much stronger. Unfortunately, my memorization was shaky because I'd recently changed several lines towards the beginning, so I needed the text in hand. Because of this, I couldn't act it out as fully as before. (A lame excuse, I know.) I also rushed the reading. But at least the audio was clearer this time, so the recording should be much easier to understand, despite my hurried voice.

The poems I recited were:

1) "Status-factory Punditry"

2) "The Adage Is Not 'Write What You KNEW'"

3) "When Size Matters"

4) "We'll Make Millions With The Screenplay"


As always, I happily welcome any and all *constructive* criticism of my poems or the presentation of them. Thanks for watching!


PS. For every comment I get from some childish troll, there are 30 or 40 I get from supportive folk. I really, truly appreciate your feedback. Seeing how people respond is one of the great joys I get from posting here. So, to all of you cool folk: thank you.

:`D

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• open
• mic
• bowery
• poetry
• club
• poems

[Unvrknow1]

thats also one of my nerves, do your feet shake and bounce, mine does

[RichyJA]

smh

[pmcrimson]

@RichyJA Well, the only time I've been to this location is the one filmed here--so over a year ago.

[RichyJA]

@pmcrimson ???

[RichyJA]

@pmcrimson When was the last time you went?

[pmcrimson]

@RichyJA Hmmmm, the time I went people weren't chosen through a computer. You put your name on a slip of paper. After sign-up time, they pulled out people's names for each person to put their name on a numbered sheet. Anywhere there was an open slot you could write in. Basically, it was a way of making the order as fair as possible by involving both randomness and choice. I don't know if they've changed since then, but I rather liked that method.

[RichyJA]

@pmcrimson yea I know now that you have to pay a fee but I also heard that the computer picks you so there are times that you do sign up and you dont get to preform

[pmcrimson]

@RichyJA My sister shot this video with my camera. I don't know if anybody at the club videotapes during the open mics, but they were really nice and if you go there it wouldn't hurt to ask. Best of luck to ya. :-)

[RichyJA]

@pmcrimson I want to know does the club record you or did you have someone in the audience record you?