da poetry lounge, the los angeles open mike

"da poetry lounge" is the best open-mike in los angeles,
and probably the best west of the mississippi.

it's held every tuesday night, slam on the 3rd tuesday,
and it regularly pulls 200+ people to a 99-seat theater,
so they're sitting on the stage, in the aisles, in the rafters, etc.

some of the best-known slammers in the country are regulars,
including the 2002 national individual champion sekou the misfit,
and the 5th (rives) and 6th-place (gina loring) individuals in 2002,
as well as the poets on the 2001 team that finished in 2nd place.
powerhouse poets like taalam acey, steve connell, and bridget gray
have also graced the slam-team that comes out of this place. it's hot.

but the best part of da poetry lounge is the high-quality newcomers,
who -- having witnessed some of the best -- now know what it takes,
and come with excellent poetry coupled with excellent performance.
it's not unusual to see poets get up for the very first time on stage,
yet come with their piece fully memorized, which is quite a treat.

the audience is warm and friendly, and recognizes great poetry,
so visiting poets are typically blown away by the response they get.

the producers of this fine event -- the best i've ever seen in l.a. --
are poetri, shihan, gimel, and dante. gimel is the usually the d.j.,
but d.j. jedi jam (and others) also spin here on a regular basis.

the series runs every tuesday night from 9-12.
it's usually free, but slam nights have a $5 cover.
parking is free in the lot directly to the north of the venue,
which is the greenway court theatre, on fairfax, south of melrose.

for more information, see the page on my website:

http://lounge.performancepoetry.com

Added: July 20th 2003
Reviewer: bowerbird intelligen
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