so, the austin poetry slam has a history of people going as long as they can without repeating.
the first record was set by danny strack. he performed 39 poems in a row without repeating. it took him quite some time. the slam is weekly, and there are three rounds slam, so the most you can do in a week is three if you make it all the way to the third round. that's about 4-5 months with no repeats.
when tony jackson heard about danny's feat, he challenged himself to do the same, and he made it all the way to 40 poems in a row with no repeats.
well, shit... i saw this as a bunch of happy horseshit, so i went and doubled tony's record and did 80 poems in a row with no repeats. it took me about nine months. some weeks, i didn't make it out of the first round, so i could only perform one poem that week. but lots of times, i made the second and third rounds.
danny and i are now racing each other to 100 poems performed in a row with no repeats, and the first person to make it there wins! what do they win? we haven't really thought about that yet, but the audience at the austin poetry slam will certainly hear a whole hell of a lot of poetry from the two of us, lots of old stuff that hasn't been heard in forever, lots of new stuff written on the fly, experimental stuff, golden oldies, greatest hits, and very definitely b-sides.
100 poems in a row without repeating. think you can do it? i freaking challenge you to join us! we start next wednesday.
p.s. and this includes quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals to make your team, too, so you'd best be holding some shit back to save until then. or else write some new shit!
