Dirty Gerund at Ralph's Rock Diner!

Special Event Coming Soon!!!

TICKLEBOMB MUSIC & DG PRESENTS

Valentine’s Day Masquerade Ball Massacre!

flier design by Jessica Lovina O’Neill!!!!!

Our feature this week at the Gerund!

DOTTIE HAZARD!

The name may ring familiar with the men-folk of St. Paul, Minesota as she’s been here before. Dottie left the neighborhood years ago, when the heat of the fuzz and mob-bribes got too steep to keep her House of Ill Repute afloat. Not expecting to be back, she said good-bye to her ladies of the evening and set off for a less hazardous way of life. Life without danger did nothing for Dottie. Not being able to stay away from the big lights and city-living, Ms. Hazzard’s making her comeback as a blocker for the Dagger Dolls. But don’t be fooled, the skills of a madam are nothing to play around with. She knows how to keep the ladies in check and the men begging for more.

Okay… When the heat gets too hot and Dottie needs to leave town, she escapes under the guise of her alter-ego……… (wink) CYNTHIA FRENCH

who (wink) completed her Masters of Fine Arts in Writing from Hamline University in 2003. She is currently (wink) working on her first book-length creative nonfiction project. She is a (wink)writer, performer and organizer. Cynthia is the (wink) Slam Master for SlamMN!, the poetry slam in Minneapolis and was the (wink) event coordinator for the 2002 National Poetry Slam – the largest poetry event in Minnesota history. She has been (wink)performing poetry for 8 years throughout the country and overseas, and has won multiple awards and grants for her (wink) writing, organizing and performance. She is the (wink)2006 Minnesota Individual Poetry Slam Champion. She teaches writing and performance workshops to students of all ages, and has been bringing poetry slam to college campuses for the past six years. Cynthia lives in St. Paul with her two cats Malaki and Azriel. She would like to spend her life traveling, writing, and teaching people that poetry isn’t scary.

Don’t worry Dottie! You’ll enjoy a safe haven in Worcester while you’re on the run… I mean… on tour! phew… see (wink) Cynthia performs here.

In honor of Dottie, I mean, Cynthia’s performance, all open mic-ers must sign up under an assumed roller derby name, by which you will be called.

BONUS YUCK RUCKUS! You think you’re funny, like Joe Pesci in GoodFella’s Funny? Like “What the F is so funny about me! TELL ME!” Well here’s your chance to yuck up your fellow gerunders. Bring your funniest poem, rant, collection of jokes or Seinfeldesque “observations”! What’s up with that? (sigh…) Most belly laughs gets a prize!

The Campaign to Nominate Yosh Shartin as Worcester’s Sexiest Bartender is escalating. Jessica Lovina O’Neill has been named official campaign manager after certain (clearing of the throat) photos of Nick were leaked to the press. Really Nick? Really? (if you don’t know what I’m talking about… consider yourself lucky).

Who’s got the snacks! Hit us up if you can volunteer for snack-time glorification!

KEEP IN THE BACK OF YOUR MIND RUCKUS – if you haven’t made Valentine’s Day plans yet, fear not! TickleBomb Music and the Dirty Gerund’s got your back! And front! WOOOT! Details coming very very kinda very, well it depends on things, meh, nah, very, very soon!

Holy Ironed On Madness of a Spectacle this past Monday at the Gerund was! Me no type english good no more! Still frazzled from an incredible night of poetry and music and love and dancing! Alex here punching in with a recap. My man Nick’s relaxing after his first day at the new job, so I thought I’d update while the lasagna bakes in the oven. I had a feeling we were gonna have a great evening, but you never really know how good its gonna get until the ruckus actually starts. I wanted to kick things off in style, so me and le Orchestra de TickleBomb (as they’re known in Luxembourg) spackled together a last minute cover arrangement of Soul Coughing’s “Screen Writer’s Blues,” with a couple improv lines of “It is 9 P-M and you a re lissssssstennnnning to The Dirty Gerund”! Shane, Brian and Justin jammed along swimmingly as we dove into the open mic. Wolf went digital! Alana re-visited. Jessica kept it short and sweet!  Melissa took us for a stroll! Michelle Lyons (glad to see you back) showed us snap shots from the MBTA! Ryk did his thing! (welcome pal!) Jackie went accoustic! Whelan performed from the book of Saul! Mandi paid tribute! and Mareh took us back in style! About half way through the open mic, snacktime made a SPLASH as the good Doctor Gonzo from Uncommon Condiments Fame took our taste buds and microphone to another level, sponsoring snack-time with a flourish of cheese and crackers dipped in an array of hot and sweet sauces that morphed our usually demure audience into a pack of hungry jackals (in a good way), as we thrashed and howled to get another taste, Dr. Gonzo grabbed the mic and carnival barked a stunning display of jamboree raising / off the cuff hilarity. I was forced to grab the nearest tambourine and shake it like a goof! It was inspiring! Nick closed the open mic with a tasty tribute to our favorite local brew and Ticklebomb got the party going in full swing as we all prepared ourselves for the awesome to come!

Iyeoka Okoawo took our stage and proceeded to take us all on a journey that reached spiritual proportions. Being show promoters, it sometimes behooves us to flex our hyperbolic muscles in an attempt to amplify how good certain performers are (sometimes for the sake of show biz, sometimes because its just plain fun to spin that gab) but no lie, Iyeoka’s performance was mesmerizing! Sometimes, there’s a time and place for people to congregate to share memories, process grief, meet and celebrate life and come together as a community… Iyeoka tapped into a grief that many of us in the spoken word community felt after the recent passing of our friend and compatriot Gabrielle Boulliane, from the first soulful note of song, Iyeoka journeyed from meditating on loss to new beginnings and paid tribute to life and love and music and art and all of us coming together. To say it was electric is an understatement. Ticklebomb backed admirably. Iyeoka orchestrated the room, from inviting us to sing with her to imploring us to meet and hug someone we’ve never met before to ending the set by creating a gravitational pull that compelled us all to rise and dance and truly share in a circlular vortex that could reach the cosmos, we were all divine in that moment! So yeah… it was a helluva performance, and most in the audience would say it was something more than that… Many thanks and blessings to Iyeoka! She even wrote a piece later that night about her experience, you can find that and so much more about this amazing artist at www.iyeoka.com – Remember she’s Boston based, so, if anyone out there wants to see her again, you don’t have to travel far!

The dance party continued as we tried to pick up our collective brain and get political. All evening long, a makeshift voting station was open for folks to log on and nominate our heralded bar man Yosh Shartin for Sexiest Bartender in Worcester – we even threw down on a poetry challenge, with Mandi, Nick and Jackie sharing dedication verse to the man who lets us do what we do every monday! Nick’s call and response ode was palpable, Jackie’s tribute sweet, but in the end, Eric, serving as Yosh’s proxy, voted Mandi’s salacious words as the winner! So we’re buying her a lunch date with Yosh at Coney Island Hot Dog (even though she’s a veggie… uhm…. we’ll sneak in a salad or something). If you haven’t, log onto the Pulse Magazine Website and nominate Yosh! Let’s do this!

Special thanks Jason Kjellberg (pictured left) and Naomi Christenson (pictured below) for sharing some of their pictures from the ruckusy evening! I don’t think I’ve ever been photographed or been a part of something as incredibly photographed in all my life! I gotta enroll in a scrapbooking class one of these days. Truly, another wonderfully epic night all around! Thanks to everyone who came down! Check out Doctor Gonzo’s Store! Check Iyeoka out on her site and her next gig! Stay tuned! More mad-cap and beautiful fun every week! As Nick would say, “I Miss You Already!” Peace!!!

THIS MONDAY!!! We’re proud and AMPED to be presenting Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo as our featured performer! A Poet/vocalist, the 2nd place 2009 Individual World Poetry Slam Champion, Iyeoka’s a recipient of the 2008 National Performance Network/NCCC Artist of Color Residency Award. A first-generation Nigerian-American, Iyeoka was a practicing pharmacist before launching her career as a poet, performer, activist and educator.  Among Iyeoka’s individual lists of credits is performing at the Kennedy Center for an award event honoring activist and actress Mia Farrow, being commissioned by Discovery Channel for their 2008 brand campaign, being commissioned by a top-twenty ad agency to write a piece for a diversity training tool, receiving a Massachusetts Industry Committee Hip-Hop Award for Spoken Word Artist of the year, and a New England Urban Music Award for the Best Female Spoken Word Poet. She holds the distinction of being the only member of the nationally competing Boston Lizard Lounge Slam team to have earned her position nine years in a row.  Iyeoka is currently partnering with selective arts organizations to present the ART AS LIFE Professional Development Workshops on a 2010 nationwide tour. Iyeoka is also the  founder and lead singer of the music group The Rock by Funk Tribe. Iyeoka is at the forefront of creating a new artistic genre that gracefully interweaves spoken word poetry with jazz, blues, gospel and electronic soul. Iyeoka & the Rock by Funk Tribe is one of the most sought after supporting acts for touring artists showcasing in New England.  As a dynamic sensation in the Boston music scene, Iyeoka and the Rock by Funk Tribe have been chosen as the supporting act of choice for touring artists including son of Afrobeat FEMI KUTI, popular “World Music” group ZAP MAMA at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston and SLICK RICK @ Harper’s Ferry. She’s got numerous other amazing credits in her bio, but my fingers are getting tired from cutting and pasting! Suffice it to say, she is one of the BEST IN THE BIZ, so much so, in fact, it doesn’t feel like a biz when she takes the stage… biz don’t get this holy! She’s rocked stages all over the world… check out her website www.iyeoka.com or bow down before these clips of Iyeoka performing Revolution or… Solitary Girl…

BONUS RUCKUS – WE ARE PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT FOR THE FIRST TIME, OUR BONUS RUCKUS IS NOT A CHALLENGE! We do have a challenge, but this week’s RUCKUS will be found during a little ditty we like to call SNACKTIME – “why’s this snacktime so special?” well, I’ll tell you! This week’s snacktime is being sponsored by none other than DOCTOR GONZO’S UNCOMMON CONDIMENTS!!! the one, the only… fasten your taste buds, cause the good doctor’s coming down to share some unique flavor!

CHALLENGE!!! – fine, we’ll give you a challenge! OUR MAN YOSH SHARTIN WILL BE Worcester’s SEXIEST BARTENDER! The good folks at Pulse Magazine want to know, so let’s let them know, the more poetic, the better! Any good Gerunder knows that art and poetry are SEXY! so anyone who goes out of his way to support us is DAMN SEXY! Email nominations to contest@pagioinc.com~
include name, photo, & name of bar/club. Winners featured in April Issue of Pulse Magazine! Submissions due by Feb. 10th, 2010

EMAILING PULSE IS GOOD! But let’s go one better! Let’s dedicate some verse to our candidate! Bring a dedication poem about Yosh to Ralph’s Monday Night! Winner of the challenge gets an all expenses paid lunch date with Yosh at Coney Island Hot Dog! WHUT!!! SEXY!

Worcester Telegram & Gazette is DOWN… are you?

Alex coming at ya with a (slightly) belated ruckus recap for this past Monday’s show at the Dirty Gerund. The audience keeps coming out in FORCE!!! and we get all warm and squishy when we welcome new friends, romans and/or countrymen (and/or country women) to our gaggle! The open mic was the biggest we’ve ever seen with over 12 readers hitting our stage like they were mad at it! Nick held things down, host style as we welcomed Ben Daniel, Luke Knowles and Dave Keddy to our list of rambunctious rabble rousing regulars, all reading for the first time! COME BACK! We also got good words from local favorites Alana, Jackie, Kirby, Bobby, Michel, Mike and Jessica Lovina, yet still managed to make time for an Iron Poet Challenge opening ceremony. Like any good executive, our heralded bar man Yosh delegated authority and placed Eric in charge of presenting BATTLE “SALAD IN A DIAPER…” no shit… or pun intended… there were salad makings… wrapped in a disposable diaper. We all hissed a collective groan and trudged on bravely with help from Shane Hall and the Ticklebomb Orchestra! We were also happy and sad to give Jessica Gray extra time on the open mic to read and say good bye as she makes her way across country to relocate in California! Sad to see her go, but glad to have gotten to know her and watch her writing grow and prosper and kick many asses! West Coast… prepare yourself for an eventual Dirty Gerund Franchise… over 100 people SERVED!!!

The open mic ended with a campaign announcement and an impassioned plea from myself on behalf of Yosh Shartin… the man who works hard to feed and booze us and has supported the idea of this poetry thing taking off at Ralph’s Diner. He’s been nothing but awesome to the Dirty Gerund and we’re making a humble attempt to reward him through DIRECT POLITICAL ACTION!!! That’s right! We are going to VOTE YOSH as Central Mass’s SEXIEST BARTENDER!!!

Official Campaign Propaganda Machine Starting Soon! Supporting ART is SEXY!

FEATURE TIME – We were incredibly fortunate to welcome BLAIR and his band THE BOYFRIENDS from Detroit, Michigan to our stage. They’re just starting out on a three month plus national tour and we got a chance to rock out to both Blair’s spoken word and his musical stylings Monday Night! Chris (drums) and Ken (upright bass) are super good house guests and bad-ass musicians and we’re proud to have given them a place to crash, some late night drinks and a stage to rock! I gotta say though, Blair’s gutsy, honest, impassioned words deserved a bit more attention. I had to shout down some excessive crowd noise… I’m glad folks are coming down. I’m glad folks are having a great time. But when a poet can’t hear themselves, I’m gonna regulate. So I make this online plea! Please keep the conversation down a bit. Especially when a poet steps to our stage without benefit of an amplified band, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep loud conversations up front in the diner. We do our best to bring AMAZING talent to our stage from all over the country. The reason we do what we do, is because we want to be heard. So…. DON’T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE! Thanks. I love you, but it may be the kind of love I augment with a BRUTE SQUAD!

IRON POET CHAMPIONSHIP CHALLENGE!!! Newly crowned champ Jessica Gray’s only title defense had to come soon because of her new address in California. Jon Wolf is a hungry, talented, veteran poet who wants to drink cocktails from the trophy cup! There was salad in a diaper and two hosts who weren’t sure these stalwart competitors could make it happen! BATTLE “SALAD IN A DIAPER” commenced with the haiku round, where Jon took a commanding lead, reaching almost perfect scores in all three categories (taste, presentation, and use of the secret ingredient). Jessica hung in there, trailing by 11 points going into the second head to head round. The short poem category saw Jessica rocket back into contention, taking the lead. Some say her poem was great, others say Jon dropped it…. literally, like the stanza that contained the secret ingredient slipped out of his hands… and he couldn’t find it amidst the pressure and cheap draft beer! OUCH! Jon trailed by 4 points in a stunning turn of events. Both poets finished strong in the incorporation round, but at the end of the day Jessica came out on top by a final of 251 to 244, retaining her title and forcing us to go trophy shopping soon. (she wanted to give it back… but come on! I paid a buck for it at a flea market in Vermont!) Me and Nick are scheming on creating a tournament to crown our next champion! Think WWE… or don’t…

THANKS FOR COMING OUT! TELL YOUR FRIENDS! NEXT WEEK’S GONNA BE SICK!!!

This week at the Gerund! Our featured performer for the evening is David Blair!!! BLAIR is a National Poetry Slam Champion.  He’s been nominated for 7 Detroit Music Awards, including a 2007 nod Outstanding Acoustic Artist. He’s been named Real Detroit Weekly Readers Poll’s Best Solo Artist and The Metro Times Best Urban Folk Poet.  In 2007 He won Seattle, WA based BENT Writing Institute Mentor Award. BLAIR has performed on bills with Stevie Wonder, Oscar winner Michael Moore, Mike Doughty, Bitch and Animal, Justin Bond, members of Sweet Honey in the Rock, Richie Havens, The Butchies, Tribe 8, Wilco, Cat Power and others. BLAIR was the January 2005 HBO Def Poetry Jam Website Featured Poet.  He currently studies privately with a poetry instructor as part of the writer’s collective Write Word / Write Now. BLAIR has toured the United States and Europe extensively and performed in South Africa both solo and as part of Walk & Squawk’s The Walking Project of which he is a co-writer and cast member. He’s performed at New York’s historic CBGBs and The Knitting Factory, The San Francisco Public Library, at Miyagi’s on L.A.s famed Sunset Strip, Detroit’s Hart Plaza and Magic Stick and with a string section at the home of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. His new CD, The Line, was released in June 2009 on Repeatable Silence Records. Check out some mp3’s of Blair with his band Blair & The Boyfriends see his East Tour Schedule at Seriousartists.com

We’re psyched that Blair’s gonna be giving us a double shot of awesome! He’s gonna do a spoken word set and a music set with his band, who’s on tour with him!

or check out this video of Blair performing live right HERE

BONUS RUCKUS!!!

We got a special situation this week! If you were fortunate enough to have caught last week’s show, then you know we have a new IRON POET CHAMPION in the plucky Jessica Gray who dethroned the only champ we’ve ever known, Jackie Morrill, by the slightest margin in the short history of our challenges! The special situation is that Jessica’s moving to California, like THE NEXT DAY! and we’ve decided to throw one more challenge her way for a shot to keep our thrift store purchased trophy in WORCESTER – Soooooooooo – Let them Battle! IRON POET CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH with JESSICA GRAY vs. JON WOLF (former Worcester Slam Team Veteran and winner of the special 4-Way Challenge held at the Raven last week!) Let’s see if Jon can earn the title and hold things down for Worcester!

BONUS BONUS RUCKUS!

Lots of folks are kicking themselves this week over a certain senatorial election that may or may not have gone the way some of us may or may not have wanted! Time to get active and flex our electoral muscles! Pulse Magazine is running their annual Sexiest Bartender in Worcester County Contest! I think we got a candidate! Strike that, I KNOW we have one! Official Campaign Kickoff starts Monday!!!

Good Morning everybody this is Nick Davis with your Dirty Gerund ruckus recap for this past Mondays madness. The returning Tickle Bomb Orchestra who had just finished up an east coast tour, invited their tour mate Matt Hopewell(AKA The Mad Cowboy) up on stage to begin the show with some inspired jams that brought the house down.  The night was off to a rollicking start for sure.

After the audience (over 50 strong!) and the hosts recollected their collective shit after getting it blown away the opening ceremonies for the Iron Poet Challenge were held. Iron Poet Champ Jackie Morrill and challenger Jessica Gray stood bravely on stage while the secret ingredient was revealed, sending them both off to begin BATTLE SNOWBALL!!!

Lively and lovely host Alex Charlambides rocked out an incredible version of his “Cracked Plate” Poem w/ the band to kick off an open mic that was just jam-packed with fantastic performances from familiar faces such as Jeff Cannon bringing the epic, and Jon Wolf bringing the funk & Alana Melanson bringing the light.  Plus we saw some incredible debuts from Brandi, Mike Rose, and Chris Dino who showed how to make a great first impression.  Also on the mic was Anne O’Neil who read from the heart and Mike Whelan who dropped jaws stepping up for only the second time.  We also had a surprise guest from Lowell, Anthony Febo who was a beast on stage. Thanks to all of them and those I didn’t mention.

Before the dust had even begun to get settled after the simply awesome open mic, Tickle Bomb Orchestra jumped into a frenzied set that ignited an impromptu dance party unlike any seen at oury show before. If you haven’t checked out there website, bought their CD or seen them live do yourself a favor and make sure you do. They are one of the greatest pure rock and roll experiences to be found.

Transitioning from rock and roll dance party to poetry would be a difficult for any poet but our feature was the one and only Mighty Mike McGee and as soon as he began a sans band set of hilarious observations, prose and poems the audience was right along with him. We laughed till our tears had to pee as Mike waxed poetically about all sorts of topics from pudding, to liking, to Neil Armstrong. After a brief performance he left the stage with a promise of coming back for a second set but this time with the band.

But before that could happen Iron Poet Challenge was ready to be held. BATTLE SNOW BALL was to begin with the haiku round with the champ Jackie Morrill bravely going first. Though the round was fought stoically by both, Challenger Jessica Gray took an impressive lead by bringing a haiku which explored all the meanings of “snowballing”. With bated breath we wondered how or even if Jackie could make up the lead in the second round, the short orignal piece round. Jessica came strong comparing frustrated male manhood to snow balls but Jackie stepped up and delivered a thought-provoking poem about the tricky process of warming souls closing in on the lead by a mere handful of points. The third round, incorporating the secret ingredient into an already written poem, would be the decision maker and the air was tense. Jackie stepped up first followed by Jessica and they both gave it there all but after the calculations of points the lead Jessica had after round one was too much for Jackie to make up. So by one tiny point a new champion was crowned  IRON POET CHAMPION JESSICA GRAY! Jackie Morrill defended the title bravely, courageously and with pride. She defeated strong challengers for many months so with great respect I say Jackie Morrill you were a hell of a champ and I’m sure to see you back with the title in the future.

Following those fireworks Mike McGee once again stepped to the mic to complete his feature, this time backed by Shane Hall and The  Tickle Bomb Orchestra to give the crowd a performance we soon won’t forget. The band and the poet danced gracefully and powerfully swinging from emotion to emotion giving the audience a rollercoaster of a ride. Mike McGee showed us all once again why he is considered by many as one of the top performance poets in the country. Please follow the link here to his to learn more about this incredible man.

The night closed with Tickle Bomb Orchestra jamming proper as the drinks flowed.  We danced and sang and loved and showed Monday night who’s boss. So to the audience, to the open mic-ers, the special guest bartenders, the hosts, the band, and to The Mighty Mike McGee, thank you so much for the unforgettable  fun we had at The Dirty Gerund this week. There is no other way I can describe but pure magic. I can’t wait to see you next week. I miss you all already.

With all the love I can muster,

Nick Davis

What’s Up! Thanks to those who came and rawked the ruckusy ruckus last night for our special DG presentation at the Raven – We’ll have a recap for the night up soon!!!!

Meanwhile, Monday Night, the Dirty G is uber proud to feature Worcester Resident, Two Time Individual Poetry Slam Champion, Write Bloody Press Author, All Around Funny Man, Story Yeller, Super Bad-Ass Good Dude, the one and only MIGHTY MIKE McGEE!!! Mike Originally hails from San Jose California. A long time slammer, repping the Bay Area Poetry Scene, Mike rose to seemingly overnight fame, after capturing the 2003 National Poetry Slam Individual Title, (although any one who knows him will tell you he was pretty awesome well before that…) Mike hit the road… HARD for the next four years, capturing the 2006 Indie World Poetry Title, traveling all OVER the U.S, Canada and Europe, as part of the Revival Tours, Tons of Fun University (T.O.F.U.) and has shared the stage with an incredible array of poets, comedians and musical acts. Mike just spent his birthday performing with me in support of the Worcester Youth Poetry Slam at Assabett High School, which also coincides with his one year anniversary of living in the 5-0-8. His energy and good will towards all have lit a fire under this entire community and we are proud to call him neighbor! Mike’s in town on a break from tour and is looking forward to rocking a full set with the Ticklebomb Orchestra! He likes Lady Bugs, Hugs, Jugs of Awesome Nuggets, Fine Oriental Rugs and ill rhymes! for all things Might Mike, check out www.mikemcgee.net

speaking of the road…

SHANE HALL & THE TICKLEBOMB ORCHESTRA is tearing up some road pavement themselves as they’ve kidnapped my co-hort NICK DAVIS,  local favorites THE MAD COWBOY and SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD, for a whirlwind, 3 day weekend warrior tour of Brooklyn, Charlotte and Phili before returning Monday Night to hang with us! They’re riding in a bio-diesel van ya’ll! SAFE JOURNEY!!! BRING MY CO-HOST BACK!!!

no, really…

bring him back…

or

whatev… (sigh)…

BONUS RUCKUS!!!

Monday’s show is gonna be great! And this bonus ruckus is gonna be all the more greater with another installment of THE IRON POET CHALLENGE! Our Very Own Miss Dirty Gerund, JACKIE MORRILL will be defending her trophy (yes, there’s a thrift store purchased trophy involved here!) against fellow word warrior JESSICA GRAY, who had another strong iron poet showing, placing second behind Jon Wolf in the special four way challenge held at the Raven last night! Jessica earned the right to challenge Jackie by winning “Battle Half Sour Pickle” a few weeks ago. She’s also informed us that she’ll be relocating to California soon to introduce all things DG to the left coast. We’re sad to see her go, but happy for the chance to see her rock out Iron Poet Style one more time! THIS SHOULD BE A GREAT CHALLENGE – Let’s see what kinda of special “special ingredient” we can think up this week!

*WE CAN ALWAYS USE A SNACK TIME VOLUNTEER! HIT US UP AND WE CAN WORK SOMETHING OUT!
*WE SHOULD ALSO BE BACK STREAMING ONLINE AGAIN. *FRIEND ME OR NICK ON FACEBOOK FOR UPDATES!!!

This past monday evening at the Dirty G was different. Our good friends in the TickleBomb Orchestra took a well deserved night off from rocking our collective shazbot so they can prepare for their upcoming east coast tour. Different’s just different, and it was still a fantastic evening of poetry and I just want to take a second to thank all that came down and read and really respected the poetry that was more than able to stand alone without music for an evening! Music and and the ruckus it brings will be back next monday!

We had a great open mic, kicked off by Nick and his tribute to all hero’s alcoholic! Nick hosted with his usual flare and kept things moving quick because of the increased number of readers in the house! The open mic featured regular DG veterans Melissa, Jessicas (Gray and O’Neill), Mandi and Jeff Cannon. We were also ecstatic to welcome Worcester spoken word stalwarts like Jon Wolf, Bobby Gibbs, Danny Balel and Mareh Lebinski! Always a blast to host them talented cats. We also welcomed newcomers Michael (who Nick met in Vermont this weekend) and James (who drove all the way from New York to catch our feature and swing her back to the NYC), great stuff! Hope to see you all again! Our heralded music man Shane Hall even stepped to the mic and delivered some dope words and cool headed improv when interrupted by an unknowing, drunken heckler type!

2009 National Poetry Slam Champion Sierra DeMulder from St. Paul Minnesota, brought the crazy dark, impassioned, cerebral persona work to our stage for a full set! From Dahmer’s mother’s heart, to sleep apnea love, from going inside the head of a school shooter to certain last minute apocalypse “gerunds”… she kicked the door down with some intense, brave and stunning words!  She’s got a full length poetry book coming out at www.writebloody.com soon, so you want to check in, order it and support a true verbal gunslinger embarking on what I’m sure will be a fantastic and fanatic spoken word career!

The evening closed with a two poet “F@$#%@K my New Years Resolution” Poem Challenge. Jon Wolf and Jessica Gray went one round for glory and a box of Girl Scout Cookies (woooops, there goes my resolution), and after the dust settled, the judges handed the title to Jon by a score of 2 to 1, for his insightful look back on spending formative years in bible camps and a meditation on being able to forgive oneself.

REMINDER!!!

THIS THURSDAY – DIRTY GERUND WILL BE IN FULL EFFECT FOR A SPECIAL SHOW AT THE RAVEN! TICKLEBOMB WILL BE BACKING AN OPEN MIC, PERFORMANCES BY YOUR CO-HOSTS, A 4-WAY IRON POET CHALLENGE AND MUSICAL SETS BY THE MAD COWBOY, SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD AND SHANE HALL!!! 258 PLEASANT STREET WORCESTER, 9PM

A VERY VERY special tour kickoff show is happening on January 14th at The Raven…Including a DIRTY GERUND ROAD SHOW!!!

The “Words & Music Tour” kickoff show

The Mad Cowboy
Shane Hall & The TickleBomb Orchestra
Speaker for the Dead
—Mini Gerund—
Featuring Alex Charlambides and Nick Davis
FOUR-WAY IRON POET CHALLENGE!!!
SNACKTIME!!!
Poetry/spoken word open mic, backed by the TickleBomb Orchestra

$5 21+
$8 all ages
Doors and open mic signup at 9:00
Open mic starts at 9:30