"Mighty" Mike McGee's Electronic Place of Himself.
Typings of a well-traveled, talky, funny, hobo-poet.
1/365
NOTE: Big thanks to BB for reminding me via text message to post the other night. My phone died and I got your message past midnight. I do appreciate your effort though… My restarts are getting stupid.
TRYING TO GET A COUNT
It seems the more I travel and tour around North America, the more poets I run into who are also on tour. I have been very curious lately just how many poets are making at least 51% of their living as a poet. Be it through workshops, traveling tour, merch sales. What I want to know is how many poets’s income is generated under the umbrella of poetry.
I know I won’t get a very accurate account, but this is a start. If I’m gonna keep pushing this thing for me and thise who want it, I want to know who I am working with. The more I know, the more I can do. It’s one thing if there’s just 25 of us trying this, but it’s so much better if there are 100.
Marc Marcel and I did a mental count of people we assumed were working poets and the number surprised us, but that was relegated to just those who tend tour for a bulk of their income. It’s was an inspiring number and much larger than either of us had expected.
I’d also like to see some estimates from poets in the scene before 2000 who may have an idea as to what the numbers were in the 80s and 90s. This will help me see growth or drop-off. I feel there is growth though.
In 1998, I asked a featured poet at the San Jose Poetry Slam what it was like to make a living as a poet, getting to travel and pay bills with poetry. They immediately chuckled and said that wasn’t possible — and this was someone who knew the score. I was saddened and thought, “well, at least I found a sweet hobby.”
While I feel lot of people might label my solo shows as “comedy with poetry strewn in” (which is what it looks like to me) I am way more honored to call myself a poet or a “guy who talks on stage” than a stand-up comedian. I am far more comfortable in a spoken word environment/scene/movement than I have ever been in a comedy club/comedian’s circle. In my experience, the rate of human’s practicing off-stage douchebaggery in the comedy world is much higher than in spoken word scenes.
That is still surprising to me. Poets are either kinder or way shadier…
Either way: I want to see more people on the road. Quality poets. If you suck, get better, then hit the road. The more good performers claming to be spoken word artists and writers there are out there traveling and sharing their work, the more likely we are to have audiences who choose a night of us over must-see-TV or just sittig around the house.
Pick up that pen and write, godammit! Memorize your shit! Show it to people you don’t know. Find venues. Create venues. Support others doing all of the above. Hit the road. Be prepared to be lonely and confused and know that, for the most part, because you claim poet/spoken word artist, you’ve got a family-network out here that is extraordinary and all-too generous. There is support throughout the world unlike anything I can describe and it’s just a matter of seeking it out.
I just really want to expose this awesomeness and show people who are sitting on their asses that this is possible, hard, but possible. In my 7 years of solid touring, I have seen so much growth and no sign of slowing. I feel like the interest in competitions like poetry slams has waned a bit, but spoken word events outside the scope of poetry slam are growing with speed and ease. There are plenty of venues out there for those who want to be in them either as a performer or an attendee.
So who’s out there making a living at this? It doesn’t matter how much of a living it is. I just want to know how many people make a majority of their living through poetry.
———
Word to the nerd.
Originally published at Mike McGee Town. You can comment here or there.
This entry was written by , posted on 14 March, 2010 at 9:19 AM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged professional poets, survey, touring poets, working poets. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
I wish I could save this for Monday, as I know Friday nights are wack for asking for views on any subject, being that peeps have lives and dig going out and avoiding their journals through the weekend, but hey, what the hell…
I was having a conversation with a young female college student who mentioned that she “writes poetry slam.” I let it pass, but inside I cringed, and regretted not going into it. I will actually see her at my show tonight, so I may bring it back up. Maybe not.
My reason for cringing is that to me the phrase poetry slam is akin to open mic or festival or horse race — it’s an event format and never a style. Granted, there are surely competitors in poetry slams who sound similar to others, say new poets who mimic other new-ish poets, a style of performance that is acquainted with modern spoken word, but not relegated to poetry slams. It’s a style I refer to as universal poet voice. It is used by all ages, ethnicities, genders, and beliefs, and It bothers me so much that it’s probably the one style specifically attributed to poetry slam.
I bring all this up because I am floored by how many people I run into on the road that know what poetry slam even is. I feel like a surprisingly large amount of Americans have heard the phrase poetry slam. Of those that know the phrase poetry slam:
*a quarter of them have no clue what it is (heard it in the media somehow, i.e. The Simpsons, Rolling Stone)
*a quarter of them have an image in their head of what a poetry slam looks like (usually an poetry reading)
*a quarter of them have attended one
*a quarter of them have participated in one (at least as a judge)
I suppose I just want to get a detailed view from people inside and outside of poetry slams.
What is YOUR definition of a poetry slam?
Also, what do you call all the other aspects of spoken word and performance poetry? Like styles, genres, strategies, and anything deserving of a definitive name? This is your chance to say all you’ve wanted to about poetry slam.
I have my thoughts on it, but I want to leave my full description out of this as to not influence the views of others. I think most might agree with my views, but I’ve given enough detail above.
ADDITION: Does any of this matter? Why or why not? Does a poetry “slammer” exist off stage?
ALSO: Read Tony Brown’s extensive review/definition of poetry slam here at GotPoetry.com
———
Word to the nerd.
Bunny up.
This entry was written by , posted on 5 February, 2010 at 6:29 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged defining, Performance Poetry and Spoken Word, survey. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
I wish I could save this for Monday, as I know Friday nights are wack for asking for views on any subject, being that peeps have lives and dig going out and avoiding their journals through the weekend, but hey, what the hell…
I was having a conversation with a young female college student who mentioned that she “writes poetry slam.” I let it pass, but inside I cringed, and regretted not going into it. I will actually see her at my show tonight, so I may bring it back up. Maybe not.
My reason for cringing is that to me the phrase poetry slam is akin to open mic or festival or horse race — it’s an event format and never a style. Granted, there are surely competitors in poetry slams who sound similar to others, say new poets who mimic other new-ish poets, a style of performance that is acquainted with modern spoken word, but not relegated to poetry slams. It’s a style I refer to as universal poet voice. It is used by all ages, ethnicities, genders, and beliefs, and It bothers me so much that it’s probably the one style specifically attributed to poetry slam.
I bring all this up because I am floored by how many people I run into on the road that know what poetry slam even is. I feel like a surprisingly large amount of Americans have heard the phrase poetry slam. Of those that know the phrase poetry slam:
*a quarter of them have no clue what it is (heard it in the media somehow, i.e. The Simpsons, Rolling Stone)
*a quarter of them have an image in their head of what a poetry slam looks like (usually an poetry reading)
*a quarter of them have attended one
*a quarter of them have participated in one (at least as a judge)
I suppose I just want to get a detailed view from people inside and outside of poetry slams.
What is YOUR definition of a poetry slam?
Also, what do you call all the other aspects of spoken word and performance poetry? Like styles, genres, strategies, and anything deserving of a definitive name? This is your chance to say all you’ve wanted to about poetry slam.
I have my thoughts on it, but I want to leave my full description out of this as to not influence the views of others. I think most might agree with my views, but I’ve given enough detail above.
ADDITION: Does any of this matter? Why or why not? Does a poetry “slammer” exist off stage?
ALSO: Read Tony Brown’s extensive review/definition of poetry slam here at GotPoetry.com
———
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 6:29 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged defining, ideas, Performance Poetry and Spoken Word, survey. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Hey, all. Welcome to another of my super-rare locked posts!
How many LJ friends and users also keep up with me on Facebook and/or Twitter? Which is primary for you?
How often do you read, write and comment each here on LJ?
I am very curious by who might read my posts but never comment on them. It seems like the hundreds of "friends" I have are mostly lurkers.
I am trying to streamline my web presence and write about it the process. Your answers will be greatly appreciated.
–––––––––
Word to a secret nerd.
This entry was written by , posted on 4 November, 2009 at 4:11 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged livejournal, survey, web usage. 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.