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« on: May 06, 2011, 07:25:41 PM »
Zork: I hope no one misconstrues my comments to mean that Slam is a family. That is precisely what I do NOT want slam to be. I mean, seriously, how many family members are you completely honest with? How many do you encourage or praise when you should be discouraging or condemning? Art does not need family. Poetry does not need family. I'm sorry, but if someone thinks you suck and they sincerely want you to improve as a poet, they should tell you, You Suck! This rarely happens in slam. My venue is badmouthed quite often (people like to tattle to me on other people...sigh) because if our audience gets bored, we encourage- explicitly state each night, actually- the audience to boo, yell You Suck!, Car Wash Clap (our own form of heckling), etc. No feelings spared because it is not about you, the individual, it is about what you put out there as poetry in an attempt to slam. Slam is The Show, and if any element of the show is weak, strengthen it! This includes bad poets.
I have no problems with people who look to slam for family. We all look to different things for that (I'm a Deadhead!) but for me and for what I am doing in San Antonio, that is not what I want slam to be.
Bro Said: Well put.