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SMART GALS' 6th ANNUAL DEAD POETS SLAM: MONARCHS vs. MINIONS

Smart Gals' 6th Annual Dead Poets Slam: Monarchs vs. Minions

8 Dead Poets, 3 Judges, and 1 winner!

How do poems from monarchies fare against poems by the oppressed? Can royal stanzas stand up to the power of the people? Will the crown be plow-shared into submission by her former subjects? Find out April 9th, at Smart Gals 6th annual Dead Poets Slam (held at Skylight Books for the first time!), when a team of anonymously performed, deceased, monarchial poets face off against poetic minions of colonized countries.

Hosted by Christine Louise Berry (Smart Gals), and featuring Noël Alumit, Daniel Bess, Jerrod Cardwell, T.K. Carr, Kathleen Coyne, Juli Crockett, Imani Tolliver, Steve Tom, and Lori Yeghiayan. Our esteemed judges will include writer and poetry professor Chris Davidson, playwright Katy Hickman, and well-read physicist Clifford Johnson. The behind-the-scenes team includes poetry seekers Tori Patterson and Laura Louden, who is also a baker of delicious things for the slam.

Tea and comestibles shall be served.

Smart GalsSmart Gals is a nonprofit, public benefit organization dedicated to developing the greater arts community in Los Angeles, by constructing original events in unlikely places and creating transformative social gatherings through The Reading Preserve™, our site-specific performance series Are You Interested?™ and the recently-deceased semi-literary salon, The Speakeasy™. Now in its 11th year, Smart Gals has been featured in the LA Weekly, Los Angeles City Beat, LA Alternative Press, The Los Angeles Times, Bitch, Los Angeles Magazine and on KPFK radio. Smart Gals’ visionary approach to collaborative work has introduced audiences and artists to a wide array of alternative venues, from a local church basement, to a machine shop in El Segundo, to Cleveland High in Reseda, to the land and sites along the Metro Gold Line.

Noel AlumitNoël Alumit wrote the novels Letters to Montgomery Clift and Talking to the Moon. His solo performance pieces have been performed nationally.

Christine BerryChristine Louise Berry is the Founding Artistic Director of Smart Gals Productions, and works as a film and television editor. She is a former, ever loyal employee of Skylight Books, and is very glad to find herself back among the stacks. (Photo by Sahra Sulaiman)

Daniel BessBorn and raised in Hawaii, Daniel Bess is an actor primarily seen on 1hr TV Dramas and in 99 seat theaters around Los Angeles. He also is a singer/songwriter with multiple placements and an album of Hawiian/Country music on itunes.

Jerrod CardwellJerrod Cardwell is a comedy writer born and raised in Los Angeles, California. He's currently in production for his web show starring Patrick Warburton that will premiere this summer on Crackle.com.

T.K. CarrA self-taught songwriter and musician, T.K. Carr performed at the Troubador, Ice House and nightly at The Comedy Store Belly Room in the late 80s, and in the late 90s she taught songwriting at Chino Men’s Prison. Since earning a Certificate in Screenwriting from UCLA at the turn of 2000, she’s written several screenplays and has recently completed her first novel.

Kathleen CoyneKathleen Coyne is acting all the time. Sometimes for free and sometimes for cash, but always for the sheer pleasure of it. Favorite theaters: Ensemble Studio Theatre and Company of Angels.

Juli CrockettJuli Crockett is a singer/songwriter, playwright, theater director, retired (undefeated) professional boxer and amateur champion, ordained minister, and lead singer of the alt-country/Americana genre-defying band The Evangenitals.

Chris DavidsonChris Davidson once before judged the Dead Poets' Slam and was miserable. Nevertheless, for love of the fair Christine, he has found himself yet again in the jury box of this annual celebration of poetry. Davidson lives and teaches in Southern California, where he also writes poems, in the hope that they will one day be read at events like this and judged by people suffering from acute self-consciousness.

Katy HickmanKaty Hickman is a public school teacher, writer, and incoming PTA president of her daughter’s school. An advocate for Arts Education and a member of Dog Ear Playwrights (http://dogear.org/), she is both a monarch and minion enthusiast.

Clifford JohnsonClifford Johnson is a professor in the department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southern California. He blogs at asymptotia.com.

Laura LoudenLaura Louden is interested in all things visual and visionary. A highlight of her life was being a Molly in Smart Gals’ Are You Interested? Bloomsday. Skilled at finding the hard to find.

Tori PattersonTori Patterson
Born in the wagon of a gyspsy show
Educated without permission
Employed with impunity by sub atomic particles for the betterment of all.

Imami TolliverImani Tolliver is a poet, visual artist and educator. She also volunteers, marches, and pitches in whenever she is able, in support of the vibrant and beautiful LGBT community of which she is wholly and happily a part.

Steve TomSteve Tom is a fly fisherman who has sunk to the level of television, film and commercial acting in order to pay for his obsession with wild trout. He is currently the host of Funny or Die Presents on HBO.

Lori YeghiayanLori Yeghiayan likes poets - dead or alive. She is happy to have been a part of numerous Smart Gals productions and Dead Poets Slams. She earned an MFA in Acting from UC San Diego and is the Associate Director of Communications for AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

 

Event date: 
Saturday, April 9, 2011 - 7:00pm
Event address: 
1818 N Vermont Ave
90027 Los Angeles
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