By Katerina Webb-Bourne
There are not many spoken word nights that can boast premier poets, a top class DJ (DJ Able), and a spot on host (Dan Simpson) in a full house but the Gallery Cafe had it all for the Word House’s January gig… And then some!
Going from strength to strength and remaining one of the freshest nights on the scene, there can be few better ways to spend a chilly winter eve in London than in these toasty environs. The familiar format – 3 established acts and 10 open mic slots – proved as comforting and as eye-opening as ever.
From Latitude to The Word House, Adam Kammerling was no less adept at raising the roof in this more intimate venue. He was quick to engage the audience in a three way conversation with himself, building on a gifted MC set to rhapsodise about “ethical muggings” and the delights of dustbin raiding (“not just any bin food, M&S bin food”). Simply inspired.
The open-micers faced the difficult task of maintaining momentum until the interval but they did not disappoint. Material as diverse as the Foxton’s Xmas party, golfin’ dolphins, and the ‘fictional’ Jesus provided fertile ground for soliciting throaty laughs and occasional deeper thoughts. You have to be brave to take on the open-mic here but fresher faces and old hands alike had something to say, and say it well they did.
It was noticeable that the fairer sex had been underrepresented on this particular evening but Holly McNish’s verses on school discos, erotic cooking and town planning were more universal than her dad gave her credit for… Far from being “women’s poems” she impressed with improvised French and clever observation. She also earned a deep belly laugh from me for her impassioned reasoning that willies most certainly aren’t more dangerous than guns. Listen up Mr. Cameron.
You might not expect to hear a re-imagining of a Brother’s Grimm classic on such a night but Ross Sutherland’s version of Red Riding Hood was a cheery curtain-closer. Twenty three revisions later he might yet make a modern classic out of the “Liverish Red-blooded Who-ha”. Versatile encapsulates the evening’s entertainment in a word.
The Word House mixes the right amount of light with the dark, always serious yet never pretentious, it should be a permanent feature on any culture vulture’s calendar. It has become an East End institution but here is the rub; this latest gig left many fans in the cold as the venue filled to capacity. It has outgrown it’s humble beginnings and needs to seek pastures new. Let us hope it continues to set the bar high and challenge all our preconceptions on what poetry ought to be in the most intriguing ways possible.
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