(Note: As performing
poets, we three came up through the open-mic
network on Staten Island, including such
venues as the Cargo Café, Café
Verboten, and the late, lamented Catherine
Street Gallery. It was out of this shared
experience that, along with several kindred
spirits, we founded Staten Island TRASH,
the precursor to The Sepoy Rebellion. When
we began to move toward the more extended
and focused performance style we now use,
we decided to distill our open-mic experience
for the benefit of those just starrting
out. This article, in slightly different
form, appeared in the COAHSI Newsletter,
published by the Council on the Arts and
Humanities for Staten Island, in ??)
If you love poems
and their sounds and their look on a piece
of paper after you have written them down
and how they evoke aspects of your life
and your experience, then you may want to
share them. Whether a new or a practiced
poet, if you feel that your poems need to
be heard, you may do well to attend open
mic events in Staten Island. It's here that
you will listen to others, that you will
learn how poems become effective. It is
at those events that your mettle is tested,
not by others but by yourself, by your desire
to express yourself better, to learn the
craft. If you decide to attend, you should
keep some things in mind to improve your
experience.
1) Learn about the
venue. Some places are easier for beginners,
others can be challenging even to experienced
readers. In general, there are time limits
for the participants. Seven minutes might
be all you get. Two or three poems are probably
all you may read.
2) Decide what you
are going to learn by going to a particular
place. Is it to hear how your poems sound
in public? How able you are to read aloud?
3) Choose your poems
well. If you are new to the scene, practice
reading aloud your chosen poems. Time them.
You will be surprised by the difference
between reading to yourself and reading
aloud to others. Choose what you consider
your best poems. Work at them.
4) Get to the venue
early. Ask where the sign-in sheet is, how
many minutes you have. If you are unsure
of yourself, sign in the middle of the page.
This will give you a chance to gauge how
other persons read and the audience response.
On the other hand, waiting may make you
nervous. While waiting, really listen to
the other participants; hear how they use
language, gauge how effective they are in
reaching you and the audience. Do not read
your own poems over and over or mentally
rehearse them. Above all, don't write new
poems so the audience can see how creative
you are.
5) When your turn
comes, do not be cute or give lengthy explanations
about the nature of the poems or the circumstances
of their creation. Do not say you left your
best stuff at home. Do not claim to have
written the poems "just today."
Above all, do not apologize for your poems.
Let the poems stand for themselves.
6) Greet your audience,
introduce yourself, begin by saying "My
first poem is…" then read the
poem. Get close to the mike. Speak slowly
and clearly. Pretend nobody can hear
you or understand you well. Look up from
your poems from time to time and engage
the audience. Tell them your poems.
Be attentive to the audience's reaction.
7) Indicate you have
finished reading a poem by looking up and
stepping back slightly from the mike. If
there is applause, acknowledge it. "Thank
you" suffices. Pause, then introduce
the next poem by title. If there is wild
applause, do not think this entitles you
to read another poem. Look at the host or
hostess; he or she will let you know whether
you can continue. Be aware of the time.
8) When you have
finished, acknowledge the audience and the
host and head back to your seat. Breathe
a sigh of relief, enjoy. Begin to think
what worked and what did not. Make it a
challenge to understand how people perceived
you. Understand that there are poems written
to be spoken and others for the written
page. They demand different kinds of skills.
(©
Copyright 2000 by J. J. Hayes, Marguerite
Maria Rivas, and Wil Wynn. All rights reserved.
For reprint permissions contact Wil Wynn,
50 Arlo Rd., 1A, Staten Island, NY. 10301;
Tel. (718) 8167340, email WilWynn@aol.com.)
