Take the Mic

Overview

Take the Mic is an essential guide for lifting your poetry from the page to the stage. Marc Kelly Smith (So What!), grand founder of the Slam movement, serves as you personal coach, showing you how to craft stage-worthy verse and deliver a poetry performance that shakes the rafters and sparks thunderous applause. In Take the Mic, you discover how to...

Pen poetry that's conducive to on-stage performance
Overcome stage fright
Practice powerful performance techniques
Rehearse like a pro
Shape a loose collection of poems into a killer set
Connect with your audience -- heart and soul
Master the art of self-promotion
Schedule your own slam poetry tour
Transform your hobby into paying gigs
Act professional to establish a solid reputation in the Slam community
Take the Mic is packed with practical exercises you can do alone or in class to hone your skills and transform your body, mind, voice, verse, and spirit into an engaging stage presence.

You'll also find a brief history of slam, the rules and regulations that govern official slam competitions, and a list of PSI (Poetry Slam, Inc.) Certified Slams, so no matter where you are, you always have a place to Take the Mic!.

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Author Information

Bio of Marc Kelly Smith

Marc Kelly Smith is the creator and founder of the International Poetry Slam movement. As stated in the PBS television series The United States of Poetry, a "strand of new poetry began at Chicago's Green Mill Tavern in 1987 when Marc Smith found a home for the Poetry Slam." Since then, performance poetry has spread throughout the world, exported to more than five hundred cities large and small. Chalking up more than two thousand engagements in nightclubs, concert halls, libraries, universities--and on top of the occasional hot dog stand--Marc continues to entertain and inspire audiences as diverse and eager as any to be found in the realm of fine arts. He has performed at the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian Institute, Galway's Cruit Festival, Denmark's Roskilde Festival, Ausburg's ABC Brecht Festival, and the Queensland Poetry Fest in Australia. He has hosted over one thousand standing-room-only shows at the Green Mill's original slam and has been featured on CNN, 60 Minutes, and National Public Radio. He narrated the Sourcebooks releases Spoken Word Revolution and Spoken Word Revolution Redux. Marc's volume of poetry, Crowdpleaser (Collage Press), and his CDs, It's About Time, Quarters in the Juke Box, and Love & Politics, are available through his website, www.slampapi.com.

Bio of Joe Kraynak

Joe Kraynak is a professional writer who has authored and coauthored numerous books, including The Complete Idiot's Guide to Computer Basics, Flipping Houses for Dummies, Food Allergies for Dummies, Bipolar Disorder for Dummies, and Master Visually: Optimizing Your PC. Joe graduated from Purdue University in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in creative writing and philosophy and again in 1984 with a master's degree in English literature. In the summer of 2003, Mikal Belicove, acquisitions editor for The Complete Idiot's Guide to Slam Poetry, introduced Marc and Joe, catalyzing the birth of a creative dynamo. Joe attended his first slam at the 2003 nationals in Chicago, where he and his wife, Cecie, served as judges. For more about Joe, visit his blog at www.JoeKraynak.com.

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Additional Info

Imprint

Sourcebooks, Incorporated

Filesize

4.85 MB

Number of Pages

208

eBook ISBN

9781402224126