Why does slam poetry all sound the same?

[justcloudy]

This is a serious question. 

I like slam poetry as much as the next girl (speaking general populous here, not PigPenners), but get confused sometimes. Are the random youtubes of slam poets I run across all really the same person and I just forgot how he/she looked or even if he was a she or she was a he? Because not only are the styles of the poems invariably super similar, but everyone seems to have gone to the same class entitled "How to Deliver your Poem Orally (Note there is Only One Way)" by Professor Earnest "Breathless" Speeder.

Here's the video that sparked the question. It's a touching look at depression but it'd be more effective if she hadn't taken that class.

[bena]

It's a great poem. I wouldn't call this a slam poem, because those are written on the spot kinda like rapping (at least in my days they were) and this seems very prepared beforehand so perhaps it is just spoken poetry. In that case...I'm with you on the performance itself. If she is trying to drive home a certain point, I would have liked her to save that shaky, breathless read until the end, until it had built to a zenith. But that's just me.

[Erthona]

Evidently she went to the Judy Garland poetry reading class (what's with those eyebrows, this is just painful to watch). There are many vocal trends in slam poetry, and slam can contain any style as it is not limited to any. Slam relates more to the format than to the expression, although as with anything it can get briefly stuck in a rut, and people can get haughty about if you don't do it this way, you just don't know what you are doing, but no, slam is open to all kinds of verbal poetry spoken by the author(although not written on the spot). It is a competition, watched over by an MC, who picks the judges from the audience. Depending on who is running the slam will determine how this is done, in terms of number of judges, rounds, and so on. Most people think of slam as an aggressive vocal style and often this is the case, and I think a legitimate criticism can be leveled at slam that it is often fooled, or taken in by the most showy, rather by the poem with the most depth. But then again, it is mainly judging the performance, and I think openly acknowledges that, so such criticism may not be valid. Personally I am not a fan as I think it has little to do with poetry, and much more to do with acting. A good actor with a mediocre poem will generally win (with an audience judging) over a mediocre actor with a great poem. I think it can be very entertaining for people that are into the performance aspect of it. In the end a much better name for "slam poetry" would be "performance poetry".
I've been thinking about that girl as I've been writing this (I'm wondering how long it will take to get that image out of my mind), and I am wondering if she just isn't on speed, or at least buffered up some by it. Oh well, overt egoism sprouts its head in many different ways, some just happen to be more unflattering than others, but I do think people should let the dead rest. Rest in peace Judy Garland.

Oh Yeah, nearly forgot. I used that line "I'm not afraid of dying I'm afraid of living", in a poem over 25 years ago, and even when I used it, it wasn't original. Just saying.

Dale  

[milo]

The poem wouldn't hold up to critical analysis by itself. The melodrama is far more suited to daytime soaps. There were a couple good lines. With a lot of work and some strenuous revision it might make a decent poem but I wouldn't recommend she post it in serious first.

[Erthona]

Well since Slam is more akin to "American Idol" than legitimate poetry, and kept that way by being a contest judged by the overall lowest common denominator of the crowd, what else would you expect? I doubt very few on this site would have any success in Slam. I know I wouldn't. I forced myself to become a competent reader at one point, but I never liked it, and that was many years ago. Energetic public display is what gets the tribal blood rushing, certainly not cold intellectual Miloisms N'est-ce pas mon ami ?

[milo]

Well since Slam is more akin to "American Idol" than legitimate poetry, and kept that way by being a contest judged by the overall lowest common denominator of the crowd, what else would you expect? I doubt very few on this site would have any success in Slam. I know I wouldn't. I forced myself to become a competent reader at one point, but I never liked it, and that was many years ago. Energetic public display is what gets the tribal blood rushing, certainly not cold intellectual Miloisms  N'est-ce pas mon ami ?

well, I am not that familiar with it.  Is it all navel-gazing?  (I, me, my, I, me, my).  You usually find this type of "poetry" from beginners but they usually don't stand in front of crowds reading it in the most melodramatic way possible so I guess I am confused.

[Erthona]

That's a good observation. Yes, I do believe that the crowds, as well as the participants are general of that age (or those who have yet to grow out of it) where self obsession still seems a legitimate goal. Still trying to blame their parents for how miserable their lives are, even though they have better lives than 99.99% of all people throughout history. Yes, if you notice when she is getting the applause it would suggest the whiner generations is aptly represented. It is the romance of the old beatnik coffee houses, except now there are winners not just snapping fingers! Yeah! But people can still feel a part of the "in crowd" and by calling it "poetry" they can pretend to be "cultured", and be snobby and look down on everybody else. It's a win, win.   

When you get right down to it, there is not that much variance in human behavior. Every generation has it form of rebellion.

"It mattered not the cause, equality - civil rights.
we cared nothing for the principal, we were fighting just to fight."



Dale

[Wjames]

I thought the poem was pretty good; I've never been into Slam Poetry, but pretty much all of it I've seen has used the same "out-of-breath, about to explode" style as here. I'd like to see some where the poets try and use silence and calm to further punctuate the intensity of other parts.

That's a good observation. Yes, I do believe that the crowds, as well as the participants are general of that age (or those who have yet to grow out of it) where self obsession still seems a legitimate goal. Still trying to blame their parents for how miserable their lives are, even though they have better lives than 99.99% of all people throughout history. Yes, if you notice when she is getting the applause it would suggest the whiner generations is aptly represented. It is the romance of the old beatnik coffee houses, except now there are winners not just snapping fingers! Yeah! But people can still feel a part of the "in crowd" and by calling it "poetry" they can pretend to be "cultured", and be snobby and look down on everybody else. It's a win, win.   

When you get right down to it, there is not that much variance in human behavior. Every generation has it form of rebellion.

"It mattered not the cause, equality - civil rights.
we cared nothing for the principal, we were fighting just to fight."


Dale

Every generation's been the "me" generation. The only difference is that now instead of just real action and dreams, people have access to things like facebook, instagram and twitter, etc, where they can polish, perfect, and broadcast every detail of their imagined selves to everyone they know. This has made it more acceptable and thus more common to be a completely self-absorbed (everyone is at least partially) deuschebag.

[bena]

You're probably right, Dale, about slams. I've only attended one, we were all drunk and there were no judges present, just a punch of poets that made up most of the audience. They gave out subjects and we wrote on them and whoever received the most applause won. Perhaps this wasn't the norm.

Some "Me" poetry isn't so melodramatic, at least that's what I keep telling myself, because that seems to be all I write.

I could probably out-act this chick as well. If I did some of my dark Me poetry there, heavens help them.

[rayheinrich]

I think Erthona's term "performance poetry" is apt.
The term 'slam' and the real-time contest aspect
reward crowd-pleasing histrionics.

But I have seen excellent performances that thrilled me.

It's no different than any other form of poetry: 99.99%
of it is shite and the laws of statistics guarantee that
in any cursory examination it will seem like 100%.

[milo]

It's no different than any other form of poetry: 99.99%
of it is shite and the laws of statistics guarantee that
in any cursory examination it will seem like 100%.

QFT

[brandontoh]

I would say that the problem with slam poetry, or actually just poetry both written and spoken, is summed up nicely in a Don Marquis quote.

'If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; but if you really make them think, they'll hate you.'

As far as performances go, being able to do that will entertain people, but hardly allow any engagement on the intellectual level.

[shemthepenman]

Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to the end of the video in one go. got about halfway through and had to turn it off... then played the rest. I hate this kind of thing. I mean, yeah, Americans seem to be genetically programmed to be slightly louder than any other nation, that's ok, the rest of the world has come to terms with this; but seriously, 3 minutes of a hysterical girl screeching 'Mummy, you don't understand me!' 6 ways to sunday, into a MICROPHONE, is a bit more than I can stomach. I just wanted to slap her* and say 'stop pissing and moaning. Kill yourself. Kill yourself, now."

also, forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't depression almost the exact opposite of hysteria? I think the poem should have been entitled 'Explaining my histrionic personality disorder to my mother' at least that would have added an element of humour and irony to the performance.

*shemthepenman does not endorse slam poetry inspired violence against women.

[Brownlie]

There's better confessional poetry I suppose.

[Leanne]

STUFF IS MORE DEEP AND MEANINGFUL IF YOU SHOUT IT!

Oh, and ladies: make sure you don't shave your legs for months before a reading. Apparently the hair helps with acoustics.

[brandontoh]

Hitler was known as a great orator, and he specialised in the shout and spasm technique, so maybe there is something to the style.

[bena]

mmm slam poetry smells like trampling Polland and tastes like cyanide.

[milo]

mmm slam poetry smells like trampling Polland and tastes like cyanide.

1 kosher brat with extra mustard(gas) please.

[Erthona]

"Apparently the hair helps with acoustics."

I generally read in shorts and tank tops, and I have very hairy legs, chests and underarms. While it is true some of the more moderate looking nerdish chics in the audience (you know, poetry geeks) seemed to observe me with fairly intense attention, I was never aware that this was helping with the acoustics. Although when I read at the original Ruta Maya coffee house my voice did seem to pick up an echo. As to whether that was due to the hair, the fact the building had walls and ceiling built out of two feet of concrete, or I simply had greater timbre in my voice do to all of that perceived sexual energy radiating from these thick glasses wearing, long curly haired, skinny, flat chested librarian types. All I know is that over the years I've grown to find lanky, flat chested, thick glasses wearing nerd chics far more attractive than what is generally held up as the ideal of beauty. I have also found that they have other advantages, such as they are generally more horny than other girls, less emotional volatile, more rational, and able to debate in depth on a number of different topics without thinking they are being attacked in some way.

I'm also contemplating what brandontoh said about "spasm technique". I'm wondering if this is so effective because the males in the audience are interpreting this as an extended orgasm? It would certainly get her points.

dale

[brandontoh]

"Apparently the hair helps with acoustics."
I generally read in shorts and tank tops, and I have very hairy legs, chests and underarms. While it is true some of the more moderate looking nerdish chics in the audience (you know, poetry geeks) seemed to observe me with fairly intense attention, I was never aware that this was helping with the acoustics. Although when I read at the original Ruta Maya coffee house my voice did seem to pick up an echo. As to whether that was due to the hair, the fact the building had walls and ceiling built out of two feet of concrete, or I simply had greater timbre in my voice do to all of that perceived sexual energy radiating from these thick glasses wearing, long curly haired, skinny, flat chested librarian types. All I know is that over the years I've grown to find lanky, flat chested, thick glasses wearing nerd chics far more attractive than what is generally held up as the ideal of beauty. I have also found that they have other advantages, such as they are generally more horny than other girls, less emotional volatile, more rational, and able to debate in depth on a number of different topics without thinking they are being attacked in some way.
I'm also contemplating what brandontoh said about "spasm technique". I'm wondering if this is so effective because the males in the audience are interpreting this as an extended orgasm? It would certainly get her points.
dale

A good speaker appeals to the intellect. A great speaker resonates with the deep primal instincts of the listeners subconsciously. Hair works because of the slight trembling and synchronized movements that occur during speech, which is scientifically known as the act of being effortlessly sexy.