Wednesday, January 20, 2010

What a weekend!!

I share my birthday with Dr. King. Growing up it was always cool to tell the kids at school this bit of trivia. My wife spoiled me taking me by gathering the troops to accompany me at my favorite restaurant, buying me an x-box and new travel bag, and just being the best wife a man could ask for:)

On Monday, I was the poet chosen from the MLK marade(marade= march and parade joined as one word) to share poetry in front of tens of thousands of people. It was a humbling experience. Watching people march for something, holding signs and protest banners on Immigration, Gay rights, police brutality, and of course ending the wars were all popular themes. There were prayers and candles lit for Haiti. Native drums led the group as the American Indian Movement sang songs in American Indigenous tongues, reminding us what America really looks like. It was beautiful. Children were there. Elders were there. The spirit of those who came before us was strong.

Later that evening, I had a show with The Original Woman and Ayinde Russell at the Colorado School of Mines. Reading poetry to a bunch of Engineering students proved to be a difficult task, but we got the job done. The organizer of the event told us that the student body at the Engineering college was not used to "thinking outside the box", but if you are a good communicator, and a good performance poet, you break those barriers by choosing material that speaks to the "human experience". It was fun. We discussed Dr. King and his legacy, as well as how what we do relates to an ongoing sense of responsibility and social activism.

Last night I attended the first class of an eight week acting workshop taught by Anne Penner. She is an accomplished actor and teacher, and I learned that we share the same talent agent at Radical. The class seems like it is going to be very useful in sharpening the blade of acting as a craft, and I am looking forward to the next 8 weeks. They say as an actor, you should either be working, or taking a class, so since I am not doing any theater, or anything else with a time commitment, I enrolled.

I left the class a bit early as I had one hell of a show scheduled with Suzi Q, Lucifury and Ayinde Russell at CU Boulder. It was another event around the Dr. King Holiday, and we blew the place apart!!! When we get paid the big bucks, we bring a DJ with us to hold down the set, and further set the mood of what we do as performance poets. The crowd was with us the whole time, were very responsive, and we all tried some new things out on stage. Lucifury and I did a couple of duets to mix up the energy, Ayinde and Suzi sang a bit, and we were able to dialogue about life and politics with the kids after.

It was a good weekend.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Auditions, New Bookings, Poetry

Denver is no N.Y. or L.A., but if you play your cards right, you can stay very busy as a performer here. Earlier this week I auditioned for the USA network T.V. show "In Plain Sight", which shoots in New Mexico. I am waiting on the call back with fingers crossed, and hunger for that first National T.V. gig. Monday I auditioned for a Red Robin Commercial, Tuesday auditioned for a Colorado Lottery Spot, Wednesday for forrent.com, and today I attended a commercial print audition for Miller Lite. I'm always on the fence about doing gigs for Liq corporations, but do my best to use good judgment in deciding whether or not to go out for them.
Hopefully I can land a couple of these gigs. I thank Kathey and Patty at Radical Artists Agency for all of their hard work and professionalism!

About a year ago, I was booked for a series of national commercials for a new banking idea called KASASA. They are offering a new, fresh alternative to traditional banking. As a part of this ongoing gig, I will be heading to Idaho Falls, Idaho at the beginning of February for a workshop/seminar/performance for up and coming slam poets in that area. Check out the video of one of the spots in the link below



I received information from my College booking agent today that I will be performing at the University of San Antonio Texas and Coe College in Iowa in March. This is the beginning, of what I hope will be, a chance to get my feet wet in the national college circuit. My good friends Panama Soweto and Ken Arkind have been the highest booked slam poetry act in the college circuit for the last two years! Special shout out to Panama for pushing me to pursue performance poetry!

Last Night was the most fun I have had at an open mic in quite some time. There is a new poetry venue in Denver called Deja Vu, and my good friend and fellow poet, Ayinde Russell was the feature. Some of Denver's best stacked the invite only open mic, and Ayinde tore the joint down with his soulful voice and RIDICULOUS poetic talent!

Tomorrow I will be heading to allaccess live to film some poetry for a potentially significant T.V. pilot program that will be pitched in the future.....stay posted for details!

Big things in 2010!!!!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

2010


Happy 2010! This year promises to be even more fruitful than years past! I have made a commitment to go EXTRA HARD this year in focusing as much energy and time on growing, and pushing the limits of my artistic abilities as a performing artist! I will document as much of the daily grind as I can, right here, so check me out every now and again!
~Peace,
Bobby