Puroslam
Encyclopedia
PuroSlam is the only nationally certified poetry slam operating in San Antonio, Texas
. Started in 1999 by Benjamin Ortiz, PuroSlam has earned a national reputation as one of the toughest, roughest, rowdiest poetry
slams in the United States
, bringing the exciting world of performance poetry
to South Texas
on a weekly basis. “I’m excited about San Antonio,” says Boston
poet
Dawn Gabriel in a 2006 article in the San Antonio Current, “because they have a reputation for being the meanest Slam poets around.” http://www.zwire.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=17010031&BRD=2318&PAG=461&dept_id=484045&rfi=8
, organized and hosted the first weekly poetry slam in San Antonio, Texas, a poetry reading
like no other in the Alamo City. Held at the now defunct Re:Verb music lounge, the first PuroSlam- held on a Tuesday night, May 4, 1999, at 10:30 pm, as it has been every Tuesday since- attracted over 100 rowdy and enthusiastic, and by the end of the evening, very drunk spoken word
fans. For the summer months that followed, a variety of poets from across South Texas descended upon the Re:verb every week to battle it out for priceless vinyl and the weekly title of PuroSlam Champion. Attendees filled the chairs, sprawled across the floor, stood on the bar and pool table in an effort to absorb the wisdom of a dozen or more poets every week. Most poets were competent, some were amazing, some truly sucked, but the audience hung with every word, cheering on the well written and heckling the poorly chosen. PuroSlam was not meant to be a poetry reading for the weak at heart, and by the end of its first month in existence, this fact was obvious to all who dared walk its glittered stage.
Unfortunately, PuroSlam's stint at its inaugural venue came to an end one July night when the owners of the Re:Verb decided to capitalise on the booming business brought in by the poetry slam and booked a Boston rock n roll
band to share the stage with the poets. When the slam ran long and the band decided to soundcheck
in the middle of the poetry, things turned ugly. Poets engaged the band members in heated battle, using words as weapons, and unable to respond eloquently, the drummer
threw a drumstick in frustrated response, hitting the emcee in the forehead. Blood was spilled, punches were thrown, and by the time the melee
died down, PuroSlam was without a home.
Benjamin Ortiz, in his article "Slamnation or Damnnation" http://www.slamnation.com/archive/britanica.com/Britannica_com.htm for Britannica.com, writes about the early months of PuroSlam.
Despite the antagonistic atmosphere, San Antonians still poured through the doors every Tuesday night. Up to 20 poets a week signed up to compete for the attention of a drunk, loud audience numbering near 100. The competition would last until the wee hours of the morning, sometimes closing down the bar before the last poet read and the final prizes were awarded.
Unfortunately, this venue was also not meant to be, as the ownership of the Wild Club found the weekly poetry crowd to be too rowdy for their taste. Once again, PuroSlam had to find a new home.
filmed its Halloween
Special in the early nineties. Their new home was El Toro, an all ages music venue
that saw PuroSlam drawing its biggest crowds yet. The out-of-control berating of the Wild Club disappeared, replaced by a finely tuned heckling that raised the act of verbal dissent to an art form. For months straight, over 100 people came out weekly to watch as many as 22 poets a night compete until as late as 1:30 in the morning. The attendance peak was reached in March 2001 when DJ Jester, The Filipino Fist, http://www.myspace.com/filipinofist held his first CD release party during the slam, cramming 167 people into the smoke filled venue. Again, the owner was not happy with this bristling business and weeks later, she threatened to kick PuroSlam out onto the streets, demanding that they give her a cut of the two dollar entrance fee. When PuroSlam's organizers refused, reminding her that she was doing better bar business on Tuesdays than she was on the weekend, she flexed her muscles and left PuroSlam homeless once again. When co-slammasters Shaggy and Phil West stayed outside to inform slam fans that PuroSlam was moving once again, the El Toro owner called the cops and threatened to have him arrested for loitering.
club in San Antonio. Thanks once again to the hard work and slam passion of the legendary Hollis, Sam's welcomed PuroSlam with open arms and since March 2001, the two entities have worked together to bring poetry to an average of 120 slam fans a week. During a 128-week span starting in December 2002 and ending during a San Antonio Spurs
NBA Finals game in 2005, PuroSlam attracted over 100 paid fans each and every week, including a seven-week span in the summer of 2004 when over 200 people walked through its glass doors every Tuesday. This streak saw a record-high 318 guests for Survivor Slam III in December '03, and a record low 47 on that humid June night in 2005 when the San Antonio Spurs were dismantling the Detroit Pistons
en route to their third NBA title. In fact, the three lowest nights in PuroSlam attendance history all occurred in June on nights when the Spurs were competing for NBA titles.
September 11, 2001 – The only Tuesday night - other than Christmas, Christmas Eve
, or New Year's Eve - that PuroSlam was not up and running was Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Due to the tragic events of the day, co-Slammasters Phil West and Shaggy chose to cancel slam for that night, with Shaggy hanging out at Sam's Burger Joint for almost an hour informing people of his decision. Surprisingly, a large number of people showed up, expressing an interest in community
and the cathartic
aspects of poetry. Ultimately, the decision was made not to hold slam, but the following week, over 100 people came out and the healing process, at least as far as PuroSlam was concerned, began.
. Holding their own against the veteran powerhouses, San Antonio took second place, losing to NYC-Urbana by a mere tenth of a point. Pictures of Finals can be seen here. http://poeticdream.com/photo/photo39.htm
THE VISOR- In February 2003, on a rare 32 degree Texas night, a poet whose name has been lost in the wind, showed up at PuroSlam wearing tennis shorts and a plastic visor
. He read his poem and scored an abysmally low but well-deserved 7.3 (out of a possible 30). The audience hated his poem but loved his incompetence. After the scores were read, a voice from the back (see "Controversy
over Visor" below) yelled, "Score the Visor!". Taking the audience's cue, the host urged the judges to put up their scores card once again, only this time in an effort to score the visor. The visor scored an 11.3, four points higher than the poem written by the visor's owner. From this point on, PuroSlam has awarded a Visor to any poet scoring below an 11.3. On the visor it reads, "I Scored Lower Than the Visor At Puroslam!"; and if the winner of said Visor shows up at the slam wearing the Visor, he gets in free.
CONTROVERSY OVER VISOR- Who yelled "Score the Visor?" has been a debate long raging in the seats of PuroSlam. Some say it was Phil West, former PuroSlam slammaster and poet extraordinaire. Some say it was Keech, PuroSlam regular and original member of the Corner of Hypocrisy
. No one is quite sure who shouted those history changing words, but many have their own recollection of that night. The controversy may never be solved, so for now, PuroSlam credits both men with that historical utterance. (Note: Phil West insists it was him. He remembers shouting it out from the audience that night, and the night's host T-Bone responding by calling for scores for the visor.)
SPECIALTY SLAMS- In an effort to keep things fresh and interesting, the organizers of PuroSlam have introduced a number of specialty slams into the mix. Running approximately 4 every year, PuroSlam continually comes up with new ways to challenge the poets and entertain the audience.
. To start the slam, four poets "Come on down!" to the stage where they guess the retail price of certain items. The poet who guesses the closest without going over wins the item and gets to choose which poet reads next. As with the Survivor Slam above, each round showcases a different style of poetry, including original poetry, cover poems (in which poets read and perform the poetry of another poet), haiku
, limericks, freestyle, anything goes poetry where poets can use props or costumes, and even karaoke
. The final round- the Showcase Showdown- consists of the final two poets competing head to head with an original poem. Before the round commences, the poets guess what the cumulative total of their respective scores will be. The difference between their guess and the actual cumulative is deducted from their respective score, and the highest scoring poet after this deduction is declared the winner.
participation, PuroSlam has taken that concept and pushed it to its limits. Unlike typical open mic poetry readings, where audience members are encouraged to sit quietly until the end of the poem, at which point they are encouraged to clap politely (see golf clap), PuroSlam implores its audience to respond immediately. If they like what they hear, the audience claps, cheers, hoots, and hollers in immediate appreciation of the performance on stage. similarly, if they do not like what they hear, the audience boos, hisses, makes noise, talks, heckles, or outright ignores the poet while they do other things. It is the policy of PuroSlam that if the poet cannot earn the audience's attention through her words and performance, then it is the audience's right to respond as they see fit.
THE CAR WASH CLAP- Possibly the sincerest form of heckling at PuroSlam, the Car Wash Clap appears only for those poets who a) don't seem affected by normal levels of heckling and b) perform long enough that something other than verbal taunts must be issued. Mimicking the opening rhythm of the Rose Royce
song "Car Wash", the audience slowly starts to clap, in unison, gaining in volume until the funk rhythm overwhelms the funkless rhymes of the poet. Timid poets usually succomb to the disco groove and walk off stage with head held down, but there are a confident few who feel empowered by the audience's interaction and do not seem to get the message that getting Car Wash Clapped is not a positive thing.
THE COMEDY CONTROVERSY OF 2006- In the summer of 2006, PuroSlam teamed up with Comedia Go Go, a San Antonio sketch comedy
group known for its controversial and cutting edge humor. On a Saturday night in July, Sam's Burger Joint hosted the two organizations as they put on a $500 All Texas Invitational Slam coupled with a night of sketch comedy. Unknown to the poets, one of the Comedia Go Go members signed up as a poet and 'competed' for the $500 prize. During her poem, a well-written piece about her dying grandfather, two other Comedia Go Go members began heckling her, yelling from their seats that her poem sucked and that she should not exploit her grandfather's ailing health. At this point, not knowing that this was a pre-arranged bit, several poets from other Texas cities approached the hecklers and physically confronted them. The Sam's Burger Joint security staff was forced to get involved, there was much pushing and shoving, and several minutes later things returned to normal and the poet finished her poem. During the set break that shortly followed, arguments ensued outside about the inappropriateness of the bit, and PuroSlam took much criticism over their decision to allow such an event to transpire. After the break, the poet, who, along with PuroSlam, was in on the planned heckling, defended the art of comedy
, and explained that what they were doing was just as legitimate an art form as what the poets were trying to achieve.
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
. Started in 1999 by Benjamin Ortiz, PuroSlam has earned a national reputation as one of the toughest, roughest, rowdiest poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
slams in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, bringing the exciting world of performance poetry
Performance poetry
Performance poetry is poetry that is specifically composed for or during a performance before an audience. During the 1980s, the term came into popular usage to describe poetry written or composed for performance rather than print distribution.-History:...
to South Texas
South Texas
South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of and including San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande River, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 3.7 million. The southern portion of this region is...
on a weekly basis. “I’m excited about San Antonio,” says Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
Dawn Gabriel in a 2006 article in the San Antonio Current, “because they have a reputation for being the meanest Slam poets around.” http://www.zwire.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=17010031&BRD=2318&PAG=461&dept_id=484045&rfi=8
The Re:Verb Months (May 1999-July 1999)
In 1999, Texas native Benjamin Ortiz, living in San Antonio after years spent in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, organized and hosted the first weekly poetry slam in San Antonio, Texas, a poetry reading
Poetry reading
A poetry reading is a performance of poetry, normally given on a small stage in a café or bookstore, although poetry readings given by notable poets frequently are booked into larger venues to accommodate crowds...
like no other in the Alamo City. Held at the now defunct Re:Verb music lounge, the first PuroSlam- held on a Tuesday night, May 4, 1999, at 10:30 pm, as it has been every Tuesday since- attracted over 100 rowdy and enthusiastic, and by the end of the evening, very drunk spoken word
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
fans. For the summer months that followed, a variety of poets from across South Texas descended upon the Re:verb every week to battle it out for priceless vinyl and the weekly title of PuroSlam Champion. Attendees filled the chairs, sprawled across the floor, stood on the bar and pool table in an effort to absorb the wisdom of a dozen or more poets every week. Most poets were competent, some were amazing, some truly sucked, but the audience hung with every word, cheering on the well written and heckling the poorly chosen. PuroSlam was not meant to be a poetry reading for the weak at heart, and by the end of its first month in existence, this fact was obvious to all who dared walk its glittered stage.
Unfortunately, PuroSlam's stint at its inaugural venue came to an end one July night when the owners of the Re:Verb decided to capitalise on the booming business brought in by the poetry slam and booked a Boston rock n roll
Rock N Roll
-Personnel:*Ryan Adams - Bass, Composer, Costume Design, Guitar, Keyboards, Multi Instruments, Vocals, Vocals *Billie Joe Armstrong - Vocals *Melissa Auf der Maur - Vocals...
band to share the stage with the poets. When the slam ran long and the band decided to soundcheck
Soundcheck
A soundcheck is the preparation that takes place before a concert, speech, or similar performance, when the performer and the sound crew run through a small portion of the upcoming show on the venue's sound system to make sure that the sound in the venue's "Front Of House" and stage monitor sound...
in the middle of the poetry, things turned ugly. Poets engaged the band members in heated battle, using words as weapons, and unable to respond eloquently, the drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
threw a drumstick in frustrated response, hitting the emcee in the forehead. Blood was spilled, punches were thrown, and by the time the melee
Mêlée
Melee , generally refers to disorganized close combat involving a group of fighters. A melee ensues when groups become locked together in combat with no regard to group tactics or fighting as an organized unit; each participant fights as an individual....
died down, PuroSlam was without a home.
Benjamin Ortiz, in his article "Slamnation or Damnnation" http://www.slamnation.com/archive/britanica.com/Britannica_com.htm for Britannica.com, writes about the early months of PuroSlam.
The Wild Club Months (August 1999-March 2000)
PuroSlam found a new stage and without missing a beat, it was up and running the following week at The Wild Club, a night club on the outskirts of downtown San Antonio. While the crowd at the Re:Verb was enthusiastic and at times rowdy, the mob at the new venue was nothing but rowdy. San Antonio earned its reputation as a tough slam city during the several months it was here as the heckling reached near violent proportions. Audience members routinely approached the stage as poets read, shouting obscenities in their face. While it never reached the boiling point where words turned to fists, the slam organizers had to shake their heads in awe (and fear) at the monster they had created.Despite the antagonistic atmosphere, San Antonians still poured through the doors every Tuesday night. Up to 20 poets a week signed up to compete for the attention of a drunk, loud audience numbering near 100. The competition would last until the wee hours of the morning, sometimes closing down the bar before the last poet read and the final prizes were awarded.
Unfortunately, this venue was also not meant to be, as the ownership of the Wild Club found the weekly poetry crowd to be too rowdy for their taste. Once again, PuroSlam had to find a new home.
The El Toro Year (March 2000-March 2001)
Thanks to the hard work of The Wild Club soundman- San Antonio's infamous Hollis- PuroSlam landed on its feet once again and found a new home on the St. Mary Strip, the same strip where MTVMTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
filmed its Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
Special in the early nineties. Their new home was El Toro, an all ages music venue
Music venue
A music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from an outdoor bandshell or bandstand or a concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. Typically, different types of venues host different genres of music...
that saw PuroSlam drawing its biggest crowds yet. The out-of-control berating of the Wild Club disappeared, replaced by a finely tuned heckling that raised the act of verbal dissent to an art form. For months straight, over 100 people came out weekly to watch as many as 22 poets a night compete until as late as 1:30 in the morning. The attendance peak was reached in March 2001 when DJ Jester, The Filipino Fist, http://www.myspace.com/filipinofist held his first CD release party during the slam, cramming 167 people into the smoke filled venue. Again, the owner was not happy with this bristling business and weeks later, she threatened to kick PuroSlam out onto the streets, demanding that they give her a cut of the two dollar entrance fee. When PuroSlam's organizers refused, reminding her that she was doing better bar business on Tuesdays than she was on the weekend, she flexed her muscles and left PuroSlam homeless once again. When co-slammasters Shaggy and Phil West stayed outside to inform slam fans that PuroSlam was moving once again, the El Toro owner called the cops and threatened to have him arrested for loitering.
The Sam's Burger Joint years (since March 2001)
Finally, after bouncing around from venue to venue for almost two years, PuroSlam found a home at Sam's Burger Joint http://samsburgerjoint.com/, the punk rockPunk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
club in San Antonio. Thanks once again to the hard work and slam passion of the legendary Hollis, Sam's welcomed PuroSlam with open arms and since March 2001, the two entities have worked together to bring poetry to an average of 120 slam fans a week. During a 128-week span starting in December 2002 and ending during a San Antonio Spurs
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....
NBA Finals game in 2005, PuroSlam attracted over 100 paid fans each and every week, including a seven-week span in the summer of 2004 when over 200 people walked through its glass doors every Tuesday. This streak saw a record-high 318 guests for Survivor Slam III in December '03, and a record low 47 on that humid June night in 2005 when the San Antonio Spurs were dismantling the Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
en route to their third NBA title. In fact, the three lowest nights in PuroSlam attendance history all occurred in June on nights when the Spurs were competing for NBA titles.
September 11, 2001 – The only Tuesday night - other than Christmas, Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
, or New Year's Eve - that PuroSlam was not up and running was Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Due to the tragic events of the day, co-Slammasters Phil West and Shaggy chose to cancel slam for that night, with Shaggy hanging out at Sam's Burger Joint for almost an hour informing people of his decision. Surprisingly, a large number of people showed up, expressing an interest in community
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
and the cathartic
Cathartic
In medicine, a cathartic is a substance that accelerates defecation. This is in contrast to a laxative, which is a substance which eases defecation, usually by softening feces. It is possible for a substance to be both a laxative and a cathartic...
aspects of poetry. Ultimately, the decision was made not to hold slam, but the following week, over 100 people came out and the healing process, at least as far as PuroSlam was concerned, began.
The 2000 San Antonio National Poetry Slam Team
In May 2000, San Antonio held its first ever National Poetry Slam Team tryouts. Over the course of 2 weeks, 12 poets read 8 poems trying to earn 4 spots on the team that would represent San Antonio and PuroSlam at its first ever National Poetry Slam competition. When all was said and done, Amalia Ortiz, Rich Perin, Jason "Shaggy" Gossard, and T-Bone earned spots on that team, traveling to Providence, RI in August to compete against 54 other teams from across the nation. Surprising themselves and the entire slam nation, the rookie team found themselves on the Finals Stage on Saturday night, competing against three teams from New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Holding their own against the veteran powerhouses, San Antonio took second place, losing to NYC-Urbana by a mere tenth of a point. Pictures of Finals can be seen here. http://poeticdream.com/photo/photo39.htm
Puroslam Contributions To The Slam World
Over the years, PuroSlam has constantly evolved in an effort to give San Antonio the best poetry slam possible. Below is a list of some of the wrinkles that have been introduced into the PuroSlam tapestry.THE VISOR- In February 2003, on a rare 32 degree Texas night, a poet whose name has been lost in the wind, showed up at PuroSlam wearing tennis shorts and a plastic visor
Visor
A visor is a surface that protects the eyes, such as shading them from the sun or other bright light or protecting them from objects....
. He read his poem and scored an abysmally low but well-deserved 7.3 (out of a possible 30). The audience hated his poem but loved his incompetence. After the scores were read, a voice from the back (see "Controversy
Controversy
Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of opinion. The word was coined from the Latin controversia, as a composite of controversus – "turned in an opposite direction," from contra – "against" – and vertere – to turn, or versus , hence, "to turn...
over Visor" below) yelled, "Score the Visor!". Taking the audience's cue, the host urged the judges to put up their scores card once again, only this time in an effort to score the visor. The visor scored an 11.3, four points higher than the poem written by the visor's owner. From this point on, PuroSlam has awarded a Visor to any poet scoring below an 11.3. On the visor it reads, "I Scored Lower Than the Visor At Puroslam!"; and if the winner of said Visor shows up at the slam wearing the Visor, he gets in free.
CONTROVERSY OVER VISOR- Who yelled "Score the Visor?" has been a debate long raging in the seats of PuroSlam. Some say it was Phil West, former PuroSlam slammaster and poet extraordinaire. Some say it was Keech, PuroSlam regular and original member of the Corner of Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy is the state of pretending to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie....
. No one is quite sure who shouted those history changing words, but many have their own recollection of that night. The controversy may never be solved, so for now, PuroSlam credits both men with that historical utterance. (Note: Phil West insists it was him. He remembers shouting it out from the audience that night, and the night's host T-Bone responding by calling for scores for the visor.)
SPECIALTY SLAMS- In an effort to keep things fresh and interesting, the organizers of PuroSlam have introduced a number of specialty slams into the mix. Running approximately 4 every year, PuroSlam continually comes up with new ways to challenge the poets and entertain the audience.
- SURVIVOR SLAM- The Survivor Slam series is based on the CBS televisionCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
show SurvivorSurvivor (U.S. TV series)Survivor is an American version of the Survivor reality television game show, itself derived from the Swedish television series Expedition Robinson originally created in 1997 by Charlie Parsons. The series premiered on May 31, 2000 on CBS...
. Picking teams elementary school kickballKickballKickball is a playground game and competitive league game, similar to baseball, invented in the United States in the first half of the 20th Century. Kickball may also be known as kick baseball, base soccer, soccer-base, or soccer-baseball...
style (in an effort to up the humiliation factor), the poets divide into two teams and compete head-to-head in a variety of themed rounds. These rounds include original poetry, cover poems (in which poets read and perform the poetry of another poet), haikuHaiku' , plural haiku, is a very short form of Japanese poetry typically characterised by three qualities:* The essence of haiku is "cutting"...
, limericks, freestyle, anything goes poetry where poets can use props or costumes, and even karaokeKaraokeis a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
. At the end of each round, one poet wins immunity, protecting them from elimination in the following round, while another poet is eliminated. The rounds proceed until only one poet remains and that poet is declared the Survivor Slam Champion. As of August 2007, PuroSlam has held eight Survivor Slams, with local poet Monique Martin winning four of those eight competitions.
The Price Is Right Slam
The Price is Right Slam series is based on the CBS television show, The Price is RightThe Price Is Right
The Price Is Right is a television game show franchise originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, and created by Bob Stewart, and is currently produced and owned by FremantleMedia. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also includes merchandise such as video games, printed...
. To start the slam, four poets "Come on down!" to the stage where they guess the retail price of certain items. The poet who guesses the closest without going over wins the item and gets to choose which poet reads next. As with the Survivor Slam above, each round showcases a different style of poetry, including original poetry, cover poems (in which poets read and perform the poetry of another poet), haiku
Haiku
' , plural haiku, is a very short form of Japanese poetry typically characterised by three qualities:* The essence of haiku is "cutting"...
, limericks, freestyle, anything goes poetry where poets can use props or costumes, and even karaoke
Karaoke
is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
. The final round- the Showcase Showdown- consists of the final two poets competing head to head with an original poem. Before the round commences, the poets guess what the cumulative total of their respective scores will be. The difference between their guess and the actual cumulative is deducted from their respective score, and the highest scoring poet after this deduction is declared the winner.
Heckling
Heckling is the shouting of an uninvited comment, usually disparaging, at a performance or event, that interrupts set pieces or performances. While slam poetry has, from its beginnings, been about audienceAudience
An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature , theatre, music or academics in any medium...
participation, PuroSlam has taken that concept and pushed it to its limits. Unlike typical open mic poetry readings, where audience members are encouraged to sit quietly until the end of the poem, at which point they are encouraged to clap politely (see golf clap), PuroSlam implores its audience to respond immediately. If they like what they hear, the audience claps, cheers, hoots, and hollers in immediate appreciation of the performance on stage. similarly, if they do not like what they hear, the audience boos, hisses, makes noise, talks, heckles, or outright ignores the poet while they do other things. It is the policy of PuroSlam that if the poet cannot earn the audience's attention through her words and performance, then it is the audience's right to respond as they see fit.
THE CAR WASH CLAP- Possibly the sincerest form of heckling at PuroSlam, the Car Wash Clap appears only for those poets who a) don't seem affected by normal levels of heckling and b) perform long enough that something other than verbal taunts must be issued. Mimicking the opening rhythm of the Rose Royce
Rose Royce
Rose Royce is an American soul and R&B band. The group is best known for several hit singles including "Car Wash," "I Wanna Get Next to You," "Wishing on a Star", "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" and "I'm Going Down".-Career:...
song "Car Wash", the audience slowly starts to clap, in unison, gaining in volume until the funk rhythm overwhelms the funkless rhymes of the poet. Timid poets usually succomb to the disco groove and walk off stage with head held down, but there are a confident few who feel empowered by the audience's interaction and do not seem to get the message that getting Car Wash Clapped is not a positive thing.
THE COMEDY CONTROVERSY OF 2006- In the summer of 2006, PuroSlam teamed up with Comedia Go Go, a San Antonio sketch comedy
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
group known for its controversial and cutting edge humor. On a Saturday night in July, Sam's Burger Joint hosted the two organizations as they put on a $500 All Texas Invitational Slam coupled with a night of sketch comedy. Unknown to the poets, one of the Comedia Go Go members signed up as a poet and 'competed' for the $500 prize. During her poem, a well-written piece about her dying grandfather, two other Comedia Go Go members began heckling her, yelling from their seats that her poem sucked and that she should not exploit her grandfather's ailing health. At this point, not knowing that this was a pre-arranged bit, several poets from other Texas cities approached the hecklers and physically confronted them. The Sam's Burger Joint security staff was forced to get involved, there was much pushing and shoving, and several minutes later things returned to normal and the poet finished her poem. During the set break that shortly followed, arguments ensued outside about the inappropriateness of the bit, and PuroSlam took much criticism over their decision to allow such an event to transpire. After the break, the poet, who, along with PuroSlam, was in on the planned heckling, defended the art of comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
, and explained that what they were doing was just as legitimate an art form as what the poets were trying to achieve.
| PuroSlam Nationals Teams | |
|---|---|
| 2000 | Grand Slam Champion: Amalia Ortiz http://www.amaliaortiz.com, Rich Perin http://www.damnintellectuals.com, Jason "shaggy" Gossard, T-Bone http://www.dogmenpoets.com, Alternate: Jacquie Moody |
| 2001 | Grand Slam Champion: Amalia Ortiz, Rich Perin, Jason "Shaggy" Gossard, Monique Martin, Alternate: Shannon McGarvey |
| 2002 | Grand Slam Champion: Amalia Ortiz, Ife, Shannon McGarvey, Randy Barrios, Alternate: Monique Martin |
| 2003 | Grand Slam Champion: Juan Antonio Meza Campean http://library.stmarytx.edu/pgpress/authors/juan_antonio/index.html, Monique Martin, Anthony Flores http://www.goiungo.com/iungozine/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=36, Ife, Alternate: Randy Barrios |
| 2004 | Grand Slam Champion: Ife, Big Poppa E Big Poppa E Big Poppa E is a performer of slam poetry. His live performances combine poetry, stand-up comedy, and dramatic monologue in high-energy rants about relationships, pop culture, and hot button issues of the day. He has appeared on three seasons of HBO's Def Poetry series and is a National Poetry Slam... http://www.bigpoppae.com, Monique Martin, Knowledge, Alternate: RiaListic |
| 2005 | Grand Slam Champion: Justin Smith, RiaListic, Vocab, Anthony Flores |
| 2006 | Grand Slam Champion: Jason "Shaggy" Gossard, RiaListic, Vocab, Amanda Flores, Anthony Flores |
| 2007 | Grand Slam Champion: Anthony Flores, Rich Perin, RiaListic, Amanda Flores, Emily Shafer |
| 2008 | Grand Slam Champion: David Hendler, Monique Martin, Andrea "Vocab" Sanderson, Amanda Flores |