Doors open at 7pm, and proceedings will kick off at 7:30pm. This gives people time to meander in, get used to the space and the acoustics, sign up for whatever part of the evening they want to take part in, and sample the bar! Entrance fees are £5 for audience, £4 for performers - so it’s worth signing up to even read a tiny limerick: it’ll save you a quid! Performers also get free biscuits. You can sign up on the night or here.
The format of the Kapow! evening is pretty general at the moment, but runs along the lines of a three-round Slam competition (winners of the first go on to the second, and so forth), interspersed with Open Mic sessions, to which anyone is welcome to contribute. There will also be musical numbers to break things up a bit (mostly acoustic slots from local artists).
Performers are judged on the poetry, and the performance itself - in other words, this is more than just a straight ‘reading’ of your work. There’s no theme in particular, and no restrictions on rhyme, metre or other structural elements. And you can choose to read from the written version, or perform by heart - we all have our different preferences. More details to come on the structure of the Slam section - keep watching!
The Open Mic sessions are open to anyone - regardless of whether they’ve signed up for the Slam or not - and will give people the opportunity to perform without the pressure of being judged. We will call your name in order of performance (so be sure to tell us if you’d prefer a particular time slot to go on due to transport restrictions, etc.) will be limited to one poem at a time to give everyone who wants one a fair go, but - if we’ve called everyone - you can get up again as many times as you like during the Open Mic period.
We plan to be having mini-competitions throughout the event... including a return of our riotously popular "beermat poetry" slot, but we’re leaving the rest as a surprise until the night - keep watching the website for more news.
If you have any queries, just get back to us. Otherwise, you can check out the Frequently Asked Questions. We’re really looking forward to seeing you!