Austin Poetry Slam rocks the Scoot Inn with raw emotion [VIDEO]

photo by Beard Papa on Flickr used under Creative Commons

On Wednesday night, my boyfriend TK and I traveled over to the East Side for Austin Poetry Slam‘s weekly Wednesday event at Red’s Scoot Inn.  I’d never actually been to a poetry slam before and came to find out it’s not purely a spectator sport.

The Austin Poetry Slam’s website states that a poetry slam is “a group of poets competing, usually for cash, with three-minute performances of their works.”  These performances are judged by several teams composed of audience members.  Scoring is based on points between 1 and 10 with one decimal place to break ties.  We, the remaining audience, were encouraged to cheer or boo the judges’ scores which made it impossible not to be a part of the fun.

The night started with a teaser poem of three members of the Austin Poetry Slam team.  As the men waxed poetic about the female orgasm, I realized no subject matter was taboo.  This was reinforced throughout the night with topics including politics, immigration and sexually abusive uncles.  Each poet bared their soul and their art to the audience with real and raw emotion, kinda like art therapy or performance art.  The more expressive performances seemed to elicit the greatest response from the audience.

My favorite poem of the night, by a woman named Chrissy, described a psychotic tale of asking her man to get married, just for one night.  She spoke with such energy that I strained to catch every utterence so I wouldn’t miss any of her word play.  You can check out her quick-witted delivery in the video below.

It takes real courage to stand before strangers, perform and then immediately receive judgment on your ability.  It’s awe-inspiring to watch.  For a quick sample, check out the 2-minute video to see a few of the night’s poets.  It’s gritty, raw look fits the event perfectly.  With low lights and just a point and shoot camera, I was able to capture what a poetry slam is really all about: emotion.

If you like what you saw, you can find the Austin Poetry Slam weekly at Red’s Scoot Inn until August 12th.  Starting August 19th,  you can find them in a new venue,  The Independent at 501 Studios.  Also, head out to their dance party tonight at Beso Cantina! If you find that you really love poetry slams, head to Florida in August for the national competition!