Tomorrow, Tuesday, April 3 at the Blue Monkey in Downtown San José. FREE and ALL AGES. The Blue Monkey has a taco grill downstairs, and the show will be in the lounge upstairs. Derrick Brown, one of my favorite poets of all time, is expected to show as well to read in the open mic.

I thought there was a San Jose Poetry Slam being held later, but there is not. The SJ Slam will return April 10, as will I. Slam Mistress Kat and I are working out details to have me host the San Jose Poetry Grand Slam Final sometime in May.

I plan to attend the Berzerkeley Poetry Slam to then watch Derrick’s own featured set on Wednesday, April 4.

I had hoped to attend Tourettes Without Regrets on Thursday at the Oakland Metro, but alas, I must fly to Colorado.

April 5 I fly to Denver, then perform for the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado on Friday, April 6. Yes. That is correct. Mines.

Sunday, April 8, I will be at the newly returned San Francisco City Slam & Experimental Mic at Poleng Lounge.

All details for the SJ and SF events are listed below.

The Poetry Lounge @ The Blue Monkey.
–Next Reading: TUES, April 3 in San Jose

—The Poetry Lounge at the Blue Monkey is a monthly reading and open mic in Downtown San Jose.

—WHO: Hosted by Kim Alvarez and co-sponsored by the Creative Writing Department at San José State University and Poetry Center San José

—FEATURING:  Neil Moody, Karen Wood Hepner, and Mike McGee

—WHEN: Tuesday, April 3, 2007. Open Mic Sign Ups: 6:30,
Show: 7:00pm-9:00pm.

—The Poetry Lounge.
The Blue Monkey. 408.275.6600. 1 East San Fernando Street, San José, CA 95113.
1st Tuesdays MONTHLY. 6:30 sign-up, 7:00pm show.
ALL AGES. Admission is free.
Host: Kim Alvarez (Poetry Center San José)
Info: http://www.pcsj.org
TRANSIT: From Fremont Bart Station, take the 180 VTA bus to Downtown SJ. Walk south on second to San Fernando, turn right.
VTA LIGHT RAIL: Get off at San Antonio Station downtown, walk north to San Fernando, turn left.
DRIVING: 280 to San Jose. 7th Street Exit. 2 lefts after exit gets you onto 7th Street. Left at San Salvador. Right at 3rd Street. Free Parking Garage at 3rd and San Carlos. Walk to First and San Carlos, make right. Walk to San Fernando (1-2 blocks), make left.

From Charles Ekabhumi (Ellik):
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
SF/The City Slam & Experimental Mic.
–Next Slam: SUN, April 8.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~
–The highly-anticipated rebirth of the SF Slam did not disappoint! It was a fantastic show. The talent level was stratospheric. 27 poets signed up, most of them slam veterans gunning for the team. We also had a few talented open mic folks who wanted nothing to do with being scored, just there to soak up the vibe. And WHAT a great vibe!

—The Features, Slam, everything on stage was flaw-less. Poleng Lounge is dreamy, and the room worked even better than I imagined it would. Folks LOVED it. Loved the food, the drinks (full bar), the vibe. Geoff and Noni’s duet was sublime. Xero Skidmore (from Baton Rouge) was incredible and earned a full standing ovation…from our jaded veterans, no less! Thadra Sheridan’s farewell set (She’s moving back to Minneapolis to open a club) had all the new folks, particularly the Poleng staff, rolling in the aisles.

—Mona is an adorable emcee. People gushed about her. I’m so glad she finally has a worthy venue for her talent. She’s perfect for the job of San Francisco Slammaster. Our staff was so pro, everything functioned like a well-greased
machine.

—Maybe you’re wondering who WON? OH! Well, it was a truly fearsome slam. We used a new format, splitting the first round of the slam into 2 sections, separated by a feature. The top 2 poets of each half advanced to a clean-slate final round of 4 poets.

—It was largely decided by time penalties, as several top poets (Jason Bayani, Isaac Miller, Dazier, ect) got axed by the clock. Josh Walters finished 4th with “Summon The Silly”. Cheryl finished 3rd with “Put A Mic To Your Soul”, and
Christian Drake in 2nd with “Bad Seed”, after a time penalty.

—Winning it all by a tenth of a point was Mighty Mack Dennis with “Trees”. I asked if he was coming out of retirement and first he said no, then yes, then maybe, then he’ll think about it. Whatever. The audience went NUTS when he was announced.

—The mood was overwhelmingly positive and upbeat. The 75+ audience members were vivacious till the end, especially when the winner was announced. That’s a great crowd for our first show, only two weeks of promotion, the night after St. Pat’s AND YouthSpeaks’ Finals, a new venue, all that. Mona and I are very happy. It was a very satisfying re-start of a beloved event.

—Look out for next month. Word is OUT, people! Plus, we’re featuring SF, National, International, and WORLD slam champion MIKE MCGEE. Some claim he is the funniest man alive. I’m not arguing. He may be a contender for the sweetest, too! He specifically asked for this gig to build support for a show he wants to see succeed… www.mikemcgee.net