Stand-Up Poetry Club - London, Thurs 16

I'm going to try to make it: I'd love to see you all perform, and meet you all too if there's a chance. Enzo.. Read my rubbish novel as it happens! http://somesolitude.wordpress.com/

I have a couple of friends in that neck of the woods who would like that sort of thing so I may try and make it, but I think they're going to make me do work at work tomorrow so it's unlikely.

Sounds cool. I'll be there 7ish. Dan-would be good to see you if you could make it. Enzo.. Read my rubbish novel as it happens! http://somesolitude.wordpress.com/

So I went along last night and want to say this about it: 1. It was great to see Spack, Rokkit and Macca in the flesh. Spack was exactly who I imagined him to be, Macca wasn't at all, and Rokkitim was in between. All were lovely. Maddan was there too, but I've met him before, so he was just as expected. That chap Luke Wright also seemed like a jolly intelligent fellow, although I didn't speak to him. 2. The performances. It's hard to know what to say... I was utterly blown away by the confidence of everyone who got up there. And I don't mean in a 'wow, it must be hard to do that' way, I mean in a 'F*ck me, that's stage presence!' way. All were totally engaging. Spack's seemed to fly by in a whirl...I was so impressed by the way he held himself and the delivery. He was also brilliant at those bits in between the poems, that probably have a name, but I will call: the talking about the poem before the poem happens. Macca's List Your Friends is somehow even better performed than on paper; as someone who has rarely heard poetry performed, this came as a surprise: but that's probably the case with many poems. Great stuff! Then, at the end, Tim popped up with the energy of a 7 year old, the honed control of Arsenal number 7 Thomas Rosicky and the perfect elocution of my year 7 music teacher. I loved "the Blake one" (name escapes me) and Gay Day, in particular. I believe he also mentioned that poem was inspired by Perec et al, who I am quite a fan of. Life: A user's manual is great. 3. So, in conclusion, an eye-opening and extremely impressive night. I was left wanting more, and would enthusiaticly attend any future similar events. 4. There is no way that should have been free. I've paid for much worse, many times. Thanks all! Ben Read my rubbish novel as it happens! http://somesolitude.wordpress.com/

Hey Ben, It was really good to meet you. You were pretty much how I expected you to be, I think. Except, when someone is funny online I often think that they won't be funny when you meet them - not so, in your case. It was good to meet Dan as well, albeit briefly, who also seemed like a very nice chap. I'm glad you enjoyed the reading - I was gutted I missed the other sets. For my part, I enjoyed myself and thought it went well. I was nervous beforehand which, I find, is usually a good thing. Thanks loads for coming down, We'll keep you informed of any future dates. I know Tim's got lots of readings going on at the moment. Cheers, Joe

I second everything enzo says, I'm very glad I made the effort to turn up - it owuld have been a bargain at twice the price. The blake one is here. I looked it up this morning because bits of it were still making me giggle on the drive to work. I can't find the B.A. one, which was quite moving.