By Laura Scarfo
On the small stage in the dimly lit Mercury Lounge, Jim Larwill takes his place behind the microphone.
“This one is apocalyptic . . . for the kids here tonight,” he jokes. He begins reading a poem of his own creation and his voice booms through the crowd in the small bar as he reaches the climax of his piece. When Larwill is through, there is thunderous applause and various judges dispersed throughout the audience hold up scores: 7. 5, 8.0, 8.2.This is Step Up Slam: an open mike for spoken word poets or “slam” poets in Ottawa. The slam has just moved to the Mercury Lounge in the Byward Market, due to the increasing numbers in attendance, says Step Up Slam director and poet, Kris Northey.
“The Aloha Room (their former location) was about half the size of the Mercury Lounge,” she says. A definite step up – no pun intended – for the organization, which consists of Northey and five other slam poets who make absolutely no money from it. In fact, they don’t even pay for the use of the Mercury Lounge, but that’s just fine with the Lounge’s manager, Tim Allen.
“We’re just following through on the original mandate of the club, which is to be a venue for artists to present their work whether it be poetry, music or whatever,” he says. “We’d have a stagnant art scene if we didn’t do things like this.”
The rules of the slam are very simple. Northey announces the rules before each event. Anyone who wishes to participate must sign in at the door and are exempted from the $5 admission fee. All the money collected at the door is given to the winner of the slam. The winner also has the opportunity to host the next slam.
“Judges are chosen at random from the audience – they’re usually people who are there for the first time,” says Northey. The poet with the highest total score is the winner. Each poet must present an original work, no longer than three minutes, without costumes or props.
Larwill, 47, and a graduate student at Carleton University, has been writing poetry for the past 10 years and enjoys the slam atmosphere.
“I think the slam is great,” he says. “It’s more of a party atmosphere with a more upbeat audience…a lot of poetry readings are not as energetic. The judging sort of goes against the normal vision of poetry… but the slam makes the point that the poet is up there for the audience to entertain or to jostle in some ways.”
Sharon Coward, a 25-year-old songwriter, was inspired in the bathroom to write the poem she presented later on stage.
“I have a lot of friends who are students and they’re all very intellectually messed up so I’ve kind of written about that and about myself when I was in school,” she says.
She says that the intimate atmosphere of the slam allows people to talk and share ideas.
Tim Murphy, a youth director for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, read at the slam for the first time.
“My experience was good . . . I felt comfortable. It was a good crowd – everyone was friendly and laid back so I enjoyed it very much,” he says.
Northey says that the true appeal of the slam is the poetry itself.
“This is an opportunity to hear people making really important statements about current events or their own lives and it’s very engaging,” she says. “You really get to see through another person’s eyes. People are always telling us afterwards that it was so real. That’s how people always describe it.”The Step Up Slam takes place at the Mercury Lounge on the last Sunday of each month.