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RULES OF THE SLAM
Signup for thePURO ¡SLAM! begins at 10pm every slam nite and closes at
roughly 10:20pm, but poets are advised to show up EARLY!
[SLAM SCHEDULE]
The signup list is randomized by simple cut/jumble/draw method, so that the
First Round order mixes it up.
OPTION A: 10 or more poets
Second round of 8 poets, third round of 4 poets. In Rounds 2 and 3, poets will read
in order of high to low scores, with winners based on all cumulative scores.
OPTION B: 6 to 9 poets
All poets read in first two rounds, 4 poets read in third round.
OPTION C: 5 or
less poets
All poets read in all three rounds
Every round, each poet can read one poem of their own, original creation,
in any style and on any subject. No props, costumes, or musical
accompaniment. No reading the same poem twice on a given night! (But poets
can read the same poems from week to week; although the PURO ¡SLAM! has
had the effect of provoking poets to write new stuff every week!)
Poets are allotted 3 minutes per poem, plus a 10-second grace period to
finish. Now remember: Timing starts as soon as the poet makes a connection
in any way shape or form with the audience. Best to hit the ground running.
If the poet goes over 3 mins., there is a point penalty depending on how
long the poet went over time:
3:10.01 - 3:20 = -0.5
3:20.01 - 3:30 = -1.0
3:30.01 - 3:40 = -1.5
3:40.01 - 3:50 = -2.0
and so on, with -0.5 for every 10 seconds over 3:10.
PROP/COSTUME/MUSIC PENALTIES:
The host will announce if these penalties apply:
1) costume: disqualification
2) prop: inadvertent use = -subtract two points from cum.
premeditated = -disqualification
3) music accompaniment: -disqualification
JUDGES: Every
slam, we choose 5 judges randomly/arbitrarily from the audience to
play the Judge Judy of poetry, and they will assign each poem a score of
0.0-10.0. [0.0 goes to the worst possible poem imaginable performed by
someone who should not quit his/her dayjob, and 10.0 goes to a poem
peformed perfectly that causes simultaneous orgasm throughout the house.
NOW AGAIN: ZERO MEANS "BOOTY" / TEN MEANS "DA BOMB." Judges use only
one
decimal point.
The scorekeeper will drop the high and low scores for the round and tally
the other three judges' scores for round's cumulative score.
THE
JUDGE'S INSTRUCTIONS
POETS: These
judges are NOT experts; even better - they are your public!
These judges have been given instructions on how slam is the art of writing
poetry plus the art of performing, and it is your obligation to communicate
effectively, artfully, honestly, and with gusto, to compel the audience to
listen. Part of performing is dealing with a crowd that sometimes might
want to talk back, so whether you incorporate audience response into your
poem, ignore it, get your feelings hurt, or just plain talk back, it's up
to you, poets, to move YOUR audience.
It's also up to you poets, to BE A GOOD SPORT! Whether you win or lose, BAD
SPORTS WILL NOT BE SUFFERED HERE AT THE PURO ¡SLAM!
POETS' OATH
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