Report by Gabriel. Photos by Sabine
Hello Everyone!!
Monday, May 19th was a hell of a night! The theme was “Disease”and we were happy to accommodate it, as we were the poets who read.
Round One started with Drew who discussed old people, shampoo, and sock drawers in spirited poem…did those old people have diseases? probably. And then! We were treated to one of David Sirois’ finest poems whilst he was professionally filmed for unknown purposes, but no doubt good reason. Fred took disease by the horns and joked about his own personal struggles with asthma and getting shots at the doctors office – apparently his doctor uses unadvisedly long syringes. Gabriella read a poem in Spanish and then read a very sweet translation for those who didn’t understand the original. At this point the round gave a turn to John from Toronto (great city with a fabulous hockey team and a crack-smoking mayor) recited a passage from Kerouac’s On The Road. Alex read about L.A., Ret about silk parachutes, and Ed finished off the round with a song. Solid stuff all around.
Round Two saw the temperature rise in the room, and so there was a fair amount more sweating from this point on in the night, and no-one could get us sweating faster than Amel, who sang a Sinead O’Connor song – you know the one…and after that Naniso told of African warriors. Dina read about “better love”and I read some poetry too, but as you all know, I don’t like to talk about myself. Oriane read a really funny story written by her “friend”who has taken a vow of silence, Alexe sought validation, and Nicolas and Steve took us to the end of the round. This was a tough round, but a good round. There was misbehaviour and there was great, nay, brave performances. Shout out to Alexe for tolerating a choking attack just next to her – some people should drink a better quality of rose wine, if you ask me.
Round Three started like the second – with a song. Hannah, accompanied by Amel, sang “I Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You”…at least that’s what I think the song is called, and Roberta read three really interesting poems about French culture as an outsider. Matt then followed with a tale told at a blistering pace about a Mr. Reynolds and his various conditions, and Alim addressed Arnold Schwartzenegger. Charley brought her comedy all the from England to make us laugh, and Amruta reminded us that time is the only friend left. Kelly kept us thinking of Ithica and Helene concluded the night with a theme appropriate story about Syphilis, penises, and mental suffering. This round was very smooth and the audience was really great.
Disease night was a great night. Thank you all for coming and to David and Alberto for the chance to host. Next week’s theme is “Ghosts”.
SpokenWord Paris 