Final Kitchen Session Worcester

So, the last Kitchen Session in Worcester (#18!) is almost one year to the day from the very first KS featuring Simone Beaubien. Such interesting timing.

This final Kitchen Session Worcester will feature Tony Brown and I, with mini-features (four poems) from Megan Thoma and Melinda Lee (yes, my roommate, who has yet to read at a KS!)

Tony’s my homie who deserves a feature with all the advice and support he’s given me since before I moved to Worcester. Best neighbor a guy could have.

Megan’s been to most Kitchen Sessions and is super-supportive of the local community.

Melinda’s a fucking badass.

I will state right now that since this will be my last hoorah at my house in Worcester, Massachusetts, I will probably cry like a leaky faucet. A fat, sweaty, good-smelling, leaky faucet. I will try to make everyone cry. I promise.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
1. Normally, I have two sections of “The Openers” prior to the feature; 10 single-poem readers and 5 two-poem readers. In order to accommodate as many readers as possible, I have a 33 person sign-up list on the Facebook Group. It may NOT fill up, but either way, it’s going to be one long night. 33 sign-ups, ONE POEM EACH. No two-poem limits for this one. I know I am crazy, but I want everybody to get a chance to read.

I like the number 33. A. Lot.

I am hoping to utilize this as an opportunity for people to stay intimate with this house and its residents. I fear that my departure will stop people from visiting Melinda, Tony and Missy. That would be wack. They like company. Be company.

There is a small crew of people that are looking to run irregular Boston Sessions. Since I run the Facebook Group for KS, I am thinking of just passing it to them to run. I’d stay on to help. Or I might make it a central hub for all Sessions that pop up. If you’re on it, please stay with the group, if not, consider joining.

MY POSSESSIONS
I want to rid myself of as many possessions as possible. Anyone who attends and donates $$ will get a “thing” from my personal stuff. Books, arts, crafts, clothes, furniture… stuff. The money will be split amongst Tony, Melinda, Megan and I.

This will be seed money for me in the west and coverage money for expenses I may leave Melinda with until she finds a roommate.

I highly recommend arriving before 7:30pm. RC Weslowski’s feature had 40+ in attendance. I imagine this one should come close.

Man. Let’s have way too much fun.

Word to the nerd.

This entry was written by Mike McGee, posted on 20 July, 2010 at 2:52 PM, filed under Uncategorized and tagged kitchen-sessions, moving, Worcester-Massachusetts. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

Update for July 2010

MUST HAVE
Betty White Calendar for a good cause

MOVING ON – 11 DAYS LEFT IN WORCESTER
Admittedly, due to expenses, I have been on a deep, deep search for the least expensive flight from BOS to SFO. I found a one-way ticket through United that required 12,500 miles. I have 11,544. Ugh. I purchased 1,000 miles for $67 on United in order to get the ticket. It takes two days for miles to post. I called the airline and held the flight for 3 days. Hopefully it will work, but the sadness lies in the fact that the flight leaves Boston on July 27. It was all I could find. This means I am gone in 11 days. No August for me.

I have been wrought with every emotion possible on this move. Worcester has been so good to me. I cannot express it all at the moment.

MONEY SUCKS ASS(ES)
The hardest part about performance touring for a living is budgeting – living off of what you make during your “tour season.” Summer sucks for touring. Less interest, less gigs. Even if you make good money on the road in the summer/winter, you have to deal with uncomfortable weather, incorrigible travel conditions and high costs.

CHANGES TO THE KITCHEN SESSION SCHEDULE
Because I love Kitchen Sessions so much, I booked four of them at my house for July as a month-long series of final hoorahs here in Worcester, plus Simone Beaubien took on tonight’s “Kitchen Session – Boston #1” in which I am the feature. A week after planning these, I canceled July 10 due to over-extending myself. And this week I moved the July 30 “Tony Brown/My Feature” to Saturday, July 24, which was supposed to be “New York Poets Invade Worcester.” I was really hoping to foster a poet-love-in between New York and New England. The very last Kitchen Session at my house will be July 24 in Worcester.

Geography lesson for you west coasters: New York is not in New England. New England = Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. No one knows why Connecticut made it on the list. It’s wedged between NY and MA, I believe it’s a toll road.

Of the 20+ NYC poets I initially invited, three or four excitedly offered to attend. I’ve learned over the past 1.5 years on this coast that New Yorkers really prefer not leaving New York. Ever. I think people in big cities have this subconscious expectation for small towners to come to them.

“Hey, I live in this giant city. Everybody comes to us.”

To the New York poets I invited: I love you. Deeply. Wet.

I understand money concerns and loads of poets are lacking funds these days, but I think a lot of people underestimate the generosity of my peeps here in New England. New England poets adore other poets. I’ve seen more money get passed to features then at most poetry slams. Reps from Manchester, NH’s “Slam Free or Die” crew are always supporting everyone’s events in New England. I nominate them as the most supportive poets in New England. They’re just really good people. And sexy.

HERE, TAKE THIS, I THINK YOU SHOULD HAVE IT
I wish more people here in New England especially, and the rest of North America would consider having a Kitchen Session in their homes. It can be so fulfilling and if you’ve never experienced spoken word in a crowd of people you really dig, with the performer less than 6 feet away from you, then you don’t know what you’re missing. I will say that the interest in your reading will depend heavily on the personality of your host. Because the event really only has your house to rely on for consistency, so you have to look to the face of your event for the feel of the night. Your host has to be comfortable and free to talk and be themselves.

There is something about a room full of people who came to an event specifically for the event. It’s quite familial.

I could also see people organizing poetry slams in their homes. Imagine the San Jose/McGee’s Kitchen Slam Team or Chicago/Robbie Q’s Laundry Room Slam Team representing at Nationals.

Can’t say this enough: The writing at these events MUST be new or never-before-read work (NONBRW), or poets just won’t be as consistent. When you have 8-15 regional poets doing their signature poems over and over again, you WILL lose interest and you WILL NOT put butts in seats. I guarantee it. Also, it’s good to pressure your features to do a minimum of two NONBRW so that your home event has something to offer the community of regulars who intend to follow the feature to other venues. People who’ve been to a Kitchen Session can sit comfortably knowing they are in for something new throughout the entire night.

Actually, I’d recommend this to anyone starting any type of show.

I am stoked that Boston is putting the moves on creating a more permanent Kitchen Session in the region. It should be awesome because it is in good hands.
———
Word to the nerd.

This entry was written by Mike McGee, posted on 16 July, 2010 at 2:17 PM, filed under Uncategorized and tagged kitchen-sessions, moving, San-Jose-California, United States. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

I Am Moving Back To The West Coast Around August 1st

I’ve known and been talking with friends about moving back to the West Coast since February (read original post here) and now the time has come.

CATALYST FOR MOVING
I am looking to head back around August 1. I will putting on a one-man show in San Francisco on Sundays this August 8, 15, 22 and 29. It will be called In Search of Midnight: The Mike McGee Show of Awesome. Because of the scheduling, I will be in and around San Francisco for the entirety of August.

Another catalyst is the potential for Dave Perez and I to take the reigns of the San José Poetry Slam. This is all very up-in-the-air in terms of details, but I am sure my involvement with SJPS organizing is assured for the beginning of the poetry slam season in September.

Perez and I have formed Silicon Valley Performance Project (SVPP) as our banner for events we produce, such as our upcoming Slumberfest 2010. SVPP may be taking on some form of poetry slam for Silicon Valley as re-design of its current poetry slam.

LIVING SPACE
I AM PRETTY OPEN TO MOST CITIES ON THE PACIFIC COAST. I ask those of you in the Bay Area to keep an eye and ear out for any available room for rent in and around San José. If I do not find something in the area under my budget by September, I will probably look further into setting up residence in Portland, Oregon. I have a couple of possibilities for housing in Portland. No matter what, I am sure I will spend a lot of time there over the next few years.

WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS
Man. I am saddened to leave these people. Thanks to the fact that I make my living on the road, I know I will be back at least once a year. Who would’ve thought Worcester would become such a special place in my heart.

KITCHEN SESSIONS
My little baby show has made my stay here in Worcester a really fun experience. If you plan to be around New England around any of the KS dates below, please add yourself to the Facebook group here, as I will keep it going to inform people of all Kitchen Sessions I will be involved with. Here’s the letter I just sent to the Kitchen Sessions group members:

Hey, Sessioners.

I am about 75% sure that I am moving back to the West Coast around August 1, 2010.

I know that I WILL spend all of August in the SF Bay Area. I could end up in Portland in September. I may end up in San José. Because of this, I need to pack up my stuff and start prepping for the move.

Kitchen Sessions in Worcester will go into overdrive before I leave.

My first hope is to make these last ones fun & huge. —> Fuge™

Here’s my outlook of remaining Sessions:

June 12 (this Saturday): Mahogany Browne and Jive Poetic had to back out. There will still be a KS @ 8:00pm, I’m just up in the air on the feature.

Saturday, June 19: Vancouver Kitchen Session #1. Hosted by yours truly at the Foxy House in East Van. 7:30pm.

Saturday, July 3: Krista Mosca and Matthew John Conley feature. McKendy will mini-feature.

Saturday, July 10: Ken Arkind feature. Ken has promised all new poems.

Friday, July 16: Boston Diningroom Session. Not at my house. TBA.

Saturday, July 24: New York Invasion feature. Some of our favorite New York poets come up early to BBQ and perform in a “Backyard Session.”

Friday, July 30: BON VOYAGE! A KITCHEN FAREWELL. Co-Hosted with Simone Beaubien. Tony Brown & Mike McGee feature all new work.

My second hope is that someone, be it here in Worcester, Manchester, Providence or Boston (and yes, even Connecticut…) will take the reigns and create their own space for a new series of ongoing Sessions. I understand the general distaste of opening one’s home to something like this so frequently, but it pays off, I assure you. If one is interested in holding their own, I will always be a phone call away for advice and networking.

My goal over the next year will be to incorporate traveling Sessions while touring. If I have a day off, and you have poets and a space, I will try schedule and host a session.

Wherever I end up on the West Coast I will try to establish a new Session there as well. I will probably give preference to any New England poet that comes through to the new Sessions.

Beginning this Saturday, there will be a box/pile of things I do not wish to take with me. It will be the UP FOR GRABS PILE. Take a little bit f me home with you, won’t you.

I hope to see a number of you this Saturday. So far, only Bill MacMillan and Liz Heath are signed up.

Love,
McGee

STAY INFORMED ON EVERYTHING I AM DOING
Members of newsletter list will get neat stuff…

Subscribe to Mike McGee's Newsletter

Email:

Visit this group

This entry was written by Mike McGee, posted on 9 June, 2010 at 3:33 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged california, kitchen-sessions, mailing list, moving west, oregon, portland, Worcester-Massachusetts. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

UPDATES FOR JUNE 2-4!

Happy June, everybody! My whole life, as far as I was concerned, summer began on June 1st. Once we got into the warm J-months, it was summer for me. So welcome to McGee Season! Hope this one’s a good one.

IN NEW YORK
Just made it to Zork’s & LV’s new house in White Plains, NY. Doing a bunch of shows here tomorrow — namely the White Plains Library tomorrow night at 7pm. Then off to Manhattan for the THE INTANGIBLE GRAND SLAM featuring EBONI HOGAN & yours truly on Thursday Night, and the Nuyorican on Friday at 10pm. Let’s hang.

AN IDEA ON MERCHANDISE
Due to the fact that I stopped selling CDs about two years ago primarily because CDs are quickly becoming the dodo bird of technology, and a pain in the ass to produce and carry, I’ve been rethinking my means of transferring mp3s.

My albums available include:

Mike McGee Is Beautiful
Live in Exeter, England
Live in Denver
Miscellaneous

Anyone who brings a flash drive of 1gb or larger, or their laptop, to any of my shows from now on, I will gladly load any or all of these four albums onto their media for $3 each. This means I don’t ever need to carry another disc again and neither do you. I think this may be the smartest way to sell tracks on the road. I understand the desire to have something tangible to take home, which is why I also have a book for sale…

VANCOUVER, B.C.
I will be in Vancouver to attend Lisa Slater’s & Kyle Mallinson’s wedding on June 18. Because Kitchen Sessions have been so fun at home in Worcester, I wanted to bring it to places I love. I will be holding a East Van Kitchen Session #1 at the Foxy House on Saturday, June 19. Due to noise issues, the show must end by 10pm. So we will start at 7;30pm sharp. I am not sure who else is traveling through Van that weekend, but they should contact me and be a part of it. I will host. Sign up will be between 6:30 and 7:20pm for up to two poems each, or a song (I mean, it is Vancouver.)

I will stay in Van through my feature at the VanSlam on Monday, June 21, where I will also sell books and mp3s…
———
Word to the nerd.

This entry was written by Mike McGee, posted on 1 June, 2010 at 10:48 AM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged east van, kitchen-sessions, merch, mp3s, nuyorican poets cafe, United States, Vancouver, white plains. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

Kitchen Session 14 Live Stream Tonight

Kitchen Session #14 starts on Saturday, May 22 at 8:00pm Eastern Time.

The video below is streamed live from Worcester, Massachusetts.

There will be a host of opener poets performing never-before-read work, then a mini-feature from Tony Brown. Our feature tonight is RC Weslowski of Vancouver, B.C.

Your host with the most to roast is yours truly, Mike McGee.

Free video chat by Ustream

This entry was written by Mike McGee, posted on 22 May, 2010 at 11:24 AM, filed under Uncategorized and tagged kitchen-sessions, Performance Poetry and Spoken Word, poetry, rc weslowski, Vancouver, Worcester-Massachusetts. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

The Weekend

My Super-Roomie Melinda “Minja” Lee drove down this morning from Worcester, MA to Brooklyn, NY to pick me up and bring me home. So great. So very great. We stopped for a quick lunch to-go. Melinda: Chinese food. McGee: Jamaican beef patties and diet Pepsi. We met a dude named Cole on the street. He was looking to make enough to “get a taste.” Cole was born in Georgia 52 years ago on February 22. He moved to Brooklyn when he was nine years old. Cole was full of heart and my last $4 by the time we left him. Melinda gave him the rest of her beef and rice plate.

He asked us not to forget him. We won’t. We swear, Cole.

We’re en route to Worcester now. Just got to Connecticut. We have Joyce Lee and Ainsley Burrows in the car with us, hitching a ride. Melinda’s a fucking champ. She owns. She stays owning.

We’ll drop Mr. Burrows at Worcester Union Station and head home.
———
Word to the nerd.

This entry was written by Mike McGee, posted on 25 March, 2010 at 12:58 PM, filed under Uncategorized and tagged kitchen-sessions. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

The Weekend

My Super-Roomie Melinda “Minja” Lee drove down this morning from Worcester, MA to Brooklyn, NY to pick me up and bring me home. So great. So very great. We stopped for a quick lunch to-go. Melinda: Chinese food. McGee: Jamaican beef patties and diet Pepsi. We met a dude named Cole on the street. He was looking to make enough to “get a taste.” Cole was born in Georgia 52 years ago on February 22. He moved to Brooklyn when he was nine years old. Cole was full of heart and my last $4 by the time we left him. Melinda gave him the rest of her beef and rice plate.

He asked us not to forget him. We won’t. We swear, Cole.

We’re en route to Worcester now. Just got to Connecticut. We have Joyce Lee and Ainsley Burrows in the car with us, hitching a ride. Melinda’s a fucking champ. She owns. She stays owning.

We’ll drop Mr. Burrows at Worcester Union Station and head home.
———
Word to the nerd.

Originally published at Mike McGee Town. You can comment here or there.

This entry was written by Mike McGee, posted on at 12:58 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged kitchen-sessions. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

Kitchen Sessions This Week

Kitchen Sessions are monthly (and sometimes twice monthly) spoken word and poetry events held… in my kitchen of all places. I had always wanted a home for an event like this. To be specifically intimate with our words. A reason for me to host people in my home and to emcee in front of my refrigerator. Back in July 2009, I mentioned it to my roommate Melinda, and she agreed it should happen in our home, specifically asking me to hold them on her nights of. Those have changed, but being our home, we can entertain a KS anytime we want.

The crowds are always awesome, hovering somewhere between 22-33 people. I missed the Rachel McKibbens/Rob “Ratpack Slim” Sturma double-feature in November due to travel. While they were rocking my kitchen in Worcester, I was making two gallons of clam chowder at Anis Mojgani’s house in Portland, Oregon.

Anis ate one gallon.

I am writing about this today because I am stunned by how many people ask me about them around the country. I am impressed by who asks for a feature or just to read when they come through. Poets and poetry lovers alike are making it a stop when they pass through New England. The list of readers is impressive and it makes me so happy to have a viable alternative to a venue. There is so much more freedom running a KS.

Here’s the group page on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=241163070354

Join it and stay in touch. Especially if you want start your own…

McGEE’S KITCHEN SESSION FORMAT
What you’ll need:
*a space large enough for 30+ people
*a large table for food and drinks
*access to poets and writers
*a good emcee… (Should be the resident organizer, really)
*the express consent of all roommates
*space for features to crash, maybe even a neighbor’s couch nearby
*a donation collecting vessel

It’s very simple. Start an online group for your sessions. Facebook seemed like the best option since that’s where 98% of my acquaintances gather these days. LiveJournal is fading, Myspace is barely breathing and I still don’t get mailing lists…

I generally start a Kitchen Session between 8:00pm and 9:00pm, depending on whether it follows another local event. The night is split in half. The first half is for the “openers,” usually about an hour long, and the second half is for the “features” who get up to an hour to perform. Very extensive. I have people sign up for the opener by messaging me on Facebook privately. The first person to sign up goes last, second sign up goes second to last and so on. No favoriting. Openers can read up to two poems that must be debuts — NEVER BEFORE READ IN PUBLIC! That’s key to KS, I think; long features and new work. Mandatory. Also, I have never read any of my own work at KS. Never plan to, the emceeing is quite enough. It’s my time to roast anyone sitting too close. And believe me! In my house, everyone’s too close.

OTHER MANDATORY ELEMENTS
*positive attitude, leaving personal differences on the porch
*$3-5 for the feature, or buy a product from them
*a dish — homemade or bought — to be shared
*beverages to share, but no hard liquor
*energy to listen and have fun
*respect for the home, residents, neighborhood and the space

TWO KITCHEN SESSIONS THIS WEEK!
Thursday, March 25, 2010 – 8:30-ish
Kitchen Session #11
With Sonya Renee and Denise Jolly of Salt Lines
6 person opener. Sign up with me through Facebook message.

I will hold KS#12 either Friday or Saturday. Join the group and send me your vote.

I cannot decide if I want a day off after KS#11 or if I want KS-free weekend. Two in a row…? Friday off?

KS#12 will be ALL OPENERS. No feature. 16 person sign up, up to 3 poems each. All poems must be written in 2010… Brand new shit.

I already have about 7 people signed up.

Please consider holding your own home sessions. They are fantastic and pretty easy. I will help you! I will read when I am near!

While events like these have been happening for a very long time, I feel the world could use a helluva lot more of them. Let’s do this!

Living rooms! Bath rooms! Dorm rooms! Bed rooms! Garages! Bring the poets home!
———
Word to the nerd.

This entry was written by Mike McGee, posted on 22 March, 2010 at 10:54 AM, filed under Uncategorized and tagged house party, kitchen, kitchen-sessions, live performance, mike mcgee, poetry, spoken word. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.