"Mighty" Mike McGee's Electronic Place of Himself.
Typings of a well-traveled, talky, funny, hobo-poet.
Heading home now from Manchester, New Hampshire with Aisha Hiba Naseem and our valiant driver Bill MacMillan. The poetry slam final was a lot of fun. I thoroughly enjoyed playing emcee for my first time ever in NH.
Your 2010 New Hampshire Slam Team is:
Wil Gibson
McKendy
Beau Williams
Roller Girl
Jeff Stumpo
Alternate: Krista Mosca
There are rumors this line-up may change due to some players also contending in other poetry slam finals, but this is the high-to-low of tonight’s results in ManchVegas.
I started of the night by dusting off Jimmy Awesome and busting out with a bit of the lip-sync/puppeteering.
Also the judges — four of whom had never attended a slam prior to tonight — scored the poets between 19.6 (lowest) to 26.7 (highest!)
I was thoroughly impressed. No matter how hard the audience booed a 6.2, that same judge held their ground. I was proud.
Artie Moffa was my score keeper. A good man to have as a bout manager.
Slammaster Mark Palos has a great scene in NH. I always have a good time at his venues. If you’re heading through New England, keep Manchester on your radar. I think this team could make a good showing at NPS this year.
Tonight was good times. Good times, indeed.
———
Word to the nerd.
Originally published at Mike McGee Town. You can comment here or there.
This entry was written by , posted on 8 May, 2010 at 8:00 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged grand slam final, manchester, mancouver, new hampshire, Performance Poetry and Spoken Word, shows, slam free or die. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Tonight: Seattle Poetry Slam Finals (not performing)
Monday, 4/26 – Hanging with family.
Tuesday, 4/27 – Seattle Poetry Slam Feature
Wednesday, 4/28 – Train to Vancouver, BC. NO GIGS. Van-cation. May attend Thundering Word on Sunday. Attending Magpie Ulysses VanSlam feature on Monday.
Tuesday, 5/4 – Train to Everett, WA
———
Word to the nerd.
This entry was written by , posted on 25 April, 2010 at 1:53 PM, filed under Uncategorized and tagged everett, seattle, shows, shows, vacation, Vancouver. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Tonight: Seattle Poetry Slam Finals (not performing)
Monday, 4/26 – Hanging with family.
Tuesday, 4/27 – Seattle Poetry Slam Feature
Wednesday, 4/28 – Train to Vancouver, BC. NO GIGS. Van-cation. May attend Thundering Word on Sunday. Attending Magpie Ulysses VanSlam feature on Monday.
Tuesday, 5/4 – Train to Everett, WA
———
Word to the nerd.
Originally published at Mike McGee Town. You can comment here or there.
This entry was written by , posted on at 1:53 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged British Columbia, everett, seattle, shows, shows, vacation, Vancouver. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Some of the dates and details below will change, but this is a pretty solid list of what’s coming up this month. If you’re in these areas — or know someone who is — please spread the word and tell them they won’t regret coming through. If you come to a show and bring friends, introduce them to me, and I’ll give you and your friends all a $1 off of the purchase of my book, In Search Of Midnight. Woot!
March 10, 2010
Utah State University
0105 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322
Venue: Taggart Student Center Ballroom
Show Starts: 8:00
Event listing
March 11, 2010
Johnson & Wales U
7150 Montview Blvd.
Denver CO, 80220
Venue: SAGE Lounge (Hospitality College)
Show Starts: 8:00pm
March 14, 2010
Denver Poetry Slam
Venue: Mercury Café
2199 California Street
Denver, Colorado
Show starts: 8:00pm
March 15, 2010
Fort Lewis College
1000 Rim Drive
Durango, CO 81301
Venue: The Vallecito Theatre (103 Student Union, 1000 Rim Drive)
Show Starts: 7:00 P
March 19, 2010
Lyon College
2300 Highland Rd.
Batesville, AR 72501
Venue: Edwards Commons/Lower Union
Show Starts: 7:30p
March 24 & 25, 2010
Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM)
Brooklyn, New York
(Private)
March 26 or 27
Kitchen Session #11
(No Feature, 3 poem limit)
April 1, 2010
Hawaii Slam Finals
Every first Thursday of the Month
Fresh Cafe Warehouse
831 Queen Street (@ intersection with Cooke Street)
Honolulu, HI 96813
Doors & Poet Sign-Ups at 7:30pm
Show starts at 8:30pm
Admission is $3 before 8:30pm, $5 after
All Ages
April 7, 2010
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo, California
Another Type of Groove
(More info to come)
CalPoly Event Calendar
April 15, 2010
College of Saint Rose
Albany, New York
Frequency North Reading Series
Also with Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz and Derrick Brown
———
Word to the nerd.
Bunny up.
This entry was written by , posted on 6 March, 2010 at 8:07 AM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged live performance, march 2010, march 2010 dates, mike mcgee live, performance dates, shows, shows, spoken word shows, touring, Travel & Touring. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Some of the dates and details below will change, but this is a pretty solid list of what’s coming up this month. If you’re in these areas — or know someone who is — please spread the word and tell them they won’t regret coming through. If you come to a show and bring friends, introduce them to me, and I’ll give you and your friends all a $1 off of the purchase of my book, In Search Of Midnight. Woot!
March 10, 2010
Utah State University
0105 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322
Venue: Taggart Student Center Ballroom
Show Starts: 8:00
Event listing
March 11, 2010
Johnson & Wales U
7150 Montview Blvd.
Denver CO, 80220
Venue: SAGE Lounge (Hospitality College)
Show Starts: 8:00pm
March 14, 2010
Denver Poetry Slam
Venue: Mercury Café
2199 California Street
Denver, Colorado
Show starts: 8:00pm
March 15, 2010
Fort Lewis College
1000 Rim Drive
Durango, CO 81301
Venue: The Vallecito Theatre (103 Student Union, 1000 Rim Drive)
Show Starts: 7:00 P
March 19, 2010
Lyon College
2300 Highland Rd.
Batesville, AR 72501
Venue: Edwards Commons/Lower Union
Show Starts: 7:30p
March 24 & 25, 2010
Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM)
Brooklyn, New York
(Private)
March 26 or 27
Kitchen Session #11
(No Feature, 3 poem limit)
April 1, 2010
Hawaii Slam Finals
Every first Thursday of the Month
Fresh Cafe Warehouse
831 Queen Street (@ intersection with Cooke Street)
Honolulu, HI 96813
Doors & Poet Sign-Ups at 7:30pm
Show starts at 8:30pm
Admission is $3 before 8:30pm, $5 after
All Ages
April 7, 2010
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo, California
Another Type of Groove
(More info to come)
CalPoly Event Calendar
April 15, 2010
College of Saint Rose
Albany, New York
Frequency North Reading Series
Also with Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz and Derrick Brown
———
Word to the nerd.
Bunny up.
Originally published at Mike McGee Town. You can comment here or there.
This entry was written by , posted on at 8:07 AM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged gigs & shows, march 2010, march 2010 dates, mike mcgee live, performance dates, shows, shows, spoken word shows, touring, Travel & Touring. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Last night’s show at Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio was fun. It was neat to meet people who had already acquainted themselves with me on Facebook. A delightful crew of people joined me for an hour-long set.
In the morning, the sudden snowfall had me wondering if I’d miss my flight, but the crew at the Canton/Akron Airport are obviously well prepared for cold, snowy weather and we took off without a hitch.
After a very brief layover in Denver, I landed in Spokane about 10am. I was met by Nick, Renae and Tiffany, who drove in from Pullman and brought me back.
Very few schools utilize poets in the way that really promotes spoken word/poetry on campus. The Student Entertainment Board, on the other hand, had me perform a teaser in the student Lair, which sits in the center of the student union building and is unavoidable along the main thoroughfair. Then I ran a small workshop on writing and performance. I came back to my motel, showered, and I’m about to head back to the school to host a student slam and to perform a full set. A long, full day here in Pullman.
Tomorrow, I head to Spokane to hang with the Empyrean Cafe crew and to put on a small set later in the evening.
Woot! Yay!
———
Word to the nerd.
This entry was written by , posted on 28 January, 2010 at 5:43 PM, filed under Travel and tagged colleges, mount union college, ohio, pullman, shows, washington, wsu. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Last night’s show at Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio was fun. It was neat to meet people who had already acquainted themselves with me on Facebook. A delightful crew of people joined me for an hour-long set.
In the morning, the sudden snowfall had me wondering if I’d miss my flight, but the crew at the Canton/Akron Airport are obviously well prepared for cold, snowy weather and we took off without a hitch.
After a very brief layover in Denver, I landed in Spokane about 10am. I was met by Nick, Renae and Tiffany, who drove in from Pullman and brought me back.
Very few schools utilize poets in the way that really promotes spoken word/poetry on campus. The Student Entertainment Board, on the other hand, had me perform a teaser in the student Lair, which sits in the center of the student union building and is unavoidable along the main thoroughfair. Then I ran a small workshop on writing and performance. I came back to my motel, showered, and I’m about to head back to the school to host a student slam and to perform a full set. A long, full day here in Pullman.
Tomorrow, I head to Spokane to hang with the Empyrean Cafe crew and to put on a small set later in the evening.
Woot! Yay!
———
Word to the nerd.
Originally published at Mike McGee Town. You can comment here or there.
This entry was written by , posted on at 5:43 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged blackberry mobile post, colleges, events, mount union college, ohio, pullman, shows, tour/touring, Travel, washington, wsu. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Because just posting my dates doesn’t feel like a “real” journal entry, I would also like to point out that I dig you all.
Now, here is a list of my upcoming shows. If you want more information, just drop me a line or leave a comment.
2010 SCHEDULE
January 26 – Mount Union College, Alliance, OH – http://www.muc.edu/
January 27 – WSU Pullman, WA http://www.wsu.edu/
February 5 – Eastern Oregon University – http://www.eou.edu/index.shtml
February 16 – Urbana Poetry Slam, Bowery Poetry Club, New York
March 14 – Denver Poetry Slam, Mercury Café, Colorado
NOTE: More dates to come in Utah and Colorado in March.
———
Word to the nerd.
This entry was written by , posted on 26 January, 2010 at 11:28 AM, filed under Travel and tagged live performance, performances, shows, shows. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Because just posting my dates doesn’t feel like a “real” journal entry, I would also like to point out that I dig you all.
Now, here is a list of my upcoming shows. If you want more information, just drop me a line or leave a comment.
2010 SCHEDULE
January 26 – Mount Union College, Alliance, OH – http://www.muc.edu/
January 27 – WSU Pullman, WA http://www.wsu.edu/
February 5 – Eastern Oregon University – http://www.eou.edu/index.shtml
February 16 – Urbana Poetry Slam, Bowery Poetry Club, New York
March 14 – Denver Poetry Slam, Mercury Café, Colorado
NOTE: More dates to come in Utah and Colorado in March.
———
Word to the nerd.
Originally published at Mike McGee Town. You can comment here or there.
This entry was written by , posted on at 11:28 AM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged events, live performance, performances, shows, shows, tour/touring, Travel. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
In my ever-growing quest to get people on the road, I have come up with a survey. Please, if you know a performer (NOT limited to poets) looking to tour or has toured, send this to them and have them respond to it as a comment or send it to me at ilikemike at g mail with the subject: "Completed Gigging Survey." I will use some of this information for a project later. I may also re-post this information on my website’s How-To page.
My definition of a bare-minimum tour: More than a week of continuous travel between a minimum of two states/provinces, with no less than five gigs performed, each one being at least 30 miles apart from the last, thus having traveled at least 150 miles with no return home during the tour. Anyone who has experienced this or more, please feel free to respond to the survey.
I am initially seeking a little more transparency in gigging (touring; traveling outside of your home region to perform for audiences) and to help debunk a lot of the myth with regard to it so that more people will consider it as an option with their poetry experience.
Here’s what I want to know from touring people and the people who know them well enough to answer each question factually. Please use the corresponding letter-number when answering if not copying over each question:
A. FOR THOSE NOT TOURED
a1. If you have considered touring, but have yet to embark on a trip, what has/is stopping you?
a2. What would lure you onto the road?
B. FOR ORGANIZERS OF POETRY EVENTS
b1. What poetry event do you organize?
b2. What do you look for in a featured performer/poet?
b3. Is their notability a factor in booking them? When is it not?
b4. What is your rate of pay for featured performers/poets?
b5. What do you expect from a poet professionally?
C. FOR THE CURIOUS
c1. What questions would you ask of an experienced traveling performer?
D. FOR THOSE TOURED
d1. Have you toured more than once?
d2. How long did your tour last? What is an ideal length for you?
d3. What type of venues did you play? How many?
d4. What year was your first tour?
d5. How many times have you toured since?
d6. How many tours would you say you broke even, lost money, or made money?
d7. What was your poetry, slam, comedy or music experience prior to your first tour?
d8. How many people have you toured with? Explain.
d9. What are your best memories from touring?
d10. Did you keep a job during any of your touring (was your tour during a break/vacation from work)?
d11. Would you tour again? What would you do differently?
d12. What was/were your primary method(s) of travel?
d13. What was your favorite venue? Which city did you enjoy the most? (May very easily be two different places.)
d14. What was your goal in touring?
d15. Would you consider a long-term career in touring your craft?
d16. Do you consider what you do on stage a craft?
d17. What has been your longest performance? (Marathon events and planned all-nighters not included.)
d18. Are you published or recorded professionally? Who released your product? (Not including any self-made merchandise.)
d19. Does this company support your tours? Do they promote you and your travels, gigs and appearances?
d20. What has been your longest gap between tours?
d21. How do you feel when you are touring? How do you feel when you are not?
d22. When is your favorite time of year to tour? Least?
d23. What was your worst experience on the road?
d24. Ever had to cancel a show? What were your reasons for doing so?
d25. Ever had a show canceled you were booked for? What were the circumstances for cancellation? How did it affect the rest of your tour?
d26. Ever been stranded in a town where you knew nobody? Why?
d27. What is your ideal tour? Explain.
d28. Where do you stay on the road?
d29. What’s your usually daily budget on the road?
d30. What do you carry with you? Your must haves.
d31. How many bags, including merchandise?
d32. Do you create your own merchandise? What do you make for sale?
d33. What are your average nightly sales? What was your biggest sale?
d34. Smallest crowd you did a full set for? Largest? How did they feel?
d35. Most surprisingly attentive audience? Reactive? Best?
d36. Most unexpected result from touring?
d37. Biggest learning lesson from touring?
d38. Longest stay in one place for a gig?
d39. How did you book your tour? Did people vouch for you? Have you vouched for others? Have you regretted it?
d40. What is the most money you’ve ever been paid for a performance? (ONLY if it is under $1,001, otherwise, just state "Over $1,001") Has this been consistent?
d41. What questions are you asked most on the road while touring by non-performers? New-performers?
d42. How many shows have you done for free? Why did you do them? (Not including product sales)
E. FOR POETS SPECIFICALLY
e1. How do you label yourself when seeking gigs to people who don’t know you, in your bio, or to your non-poetry friends and family? (Ex. poetry slammer, spoken word artist, Talky McTalkerson, slam poet, poet, funny poet…et cetera.) Why? Is this important?
e2. Do you use a stage name? If so: Why? Has is been a benefit? Has this hindered your ability to get published? Has it kept you from getting gigs outside of poetry slam? If you were offered a gig/publishing deal, but only if you were use your real name, would you take it?
e3. Ever toured with a group? Slam team? Duo? What were they called and do they/you still work together? Was this easier or harder than gigging alone?
e4. Have you competed in poetry slams? If so, has your involvement in poetry slam hindered your ability to book readings/gigs? Has it been a benefit?
e5. How do you view the relationship between poetry slams and being a touring poet?
e6. Do you enter into poetry slams or competitions anymore? Why or why not?
e7. Do you prefer open mic or poetry slam features? Give details.
e8. Do you view yourself a professional poet? Why?
e9. Who are your biggest influences in writing? Performance? Touring? Humanity?
e10. What are your short-term goals? Long-term?
e40. Are you a bad-ass Bay Area rapper?
———
Word to the road nerd.
This entry was written by , posted on 3 November, 2009 at 1:19 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged bands, comedians, expanding, gig, gigging, poets, professionalism, shows, survey, tour, touring, touring quest-ionnaire!, Travel. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.