And then...

And then I hit Canberra... and thought about things....

Yeah nothing like a bit o poets interacting n talkin shiiiii...

Spending the day with amazingly super nice fellah Andrew Galan and humbling, peering-at-you-over-glasses-while-stroking-beard type guy Doubting Thomas has been a reflective thing.

Just the other day I posted about the elitist and pompous view of some poets. I rallied for success and achievement. I wanted to bring out the point that it's okay to search for meaning in your poetry, to see it reflected in an audience through their shared laughter, sadness, anger, pride etc etc

But I'm no good with blogs

and I got all second-guessiveness on it. (Shakespeare made up words too ma faaarkaaaa)

I really can't help but acknowledge that life's not all black n white.

Basically I'm trying to be as good a poet as I can be, while still having fun with it.

And that's the most important thing. You gotta have fun in your art, your life, your soul and mind.

I want to effectively bring things to a stage that I believe showcase me, my home, my heart, my friends and family, my world.

But please oh god please I don't want to be like THEM...

you know the ones?

The Lleyton Hewitts of Slam? The ones who pump the air when they get a 10 and pace the sides of the stage in an embarrassing display of... um... dick head.

But I'm really not up for the whole avant-garde, John Cage kinda I'm-gonna-stand-on-stage-and-be-really-artistic-dont-you-see-how-artistic-I-am thing.

So where does that leave me?

Wherever I am that makes me enjoy my time as an artist to be honest.

And if that means making crowds laugh and cry and cheer than so be it. I don't really enjoy confused stares and sneers. But I do enjoy challenging audiences. Poems that you can hear a pin drop. An uncomfortable silence. And then juxtaposing that with a piece that leaves you roaring.

If you've seen me perform I would hope you would say it's not all fluff and glitter.

Let's face it though:

It can, and has, already been done.

Slam's 30 years old... Poetry's OLDER. Spoken word is ANCIENT.

I'm not anything special. But I'm totally me and unique (he whispers to himself in his pillow at night... sob...)

I'm a broken record that's been playing since oral stories of Jagera elders. Since Greek theatre and colosseum's crumbled.

And I'm also some dude from Brisbane who wants to blow up stages.

Hypocrisy, thy name is Darkwing Dubs. Embrace it.

Yearly breakdown, break it down!

Oh my my... so I told you I was no good at keeping up with this stuff eh? Very unprofessional they tsk... but seriously... I'm just not good at writing all this out and sometimes it just becomes me venting or talking shit and I do enough of that on stage.

But anyway. What's happening?How's your 2012 going? Oh that's good/bad. Oh my.

Well I toured Melbourne last year. Hip hooray. Very successful according to feedback. I like doing shows more than I like writing in blogs because that way you can actually kinda know who I am. I'm a stage person. I like to move. To imbue meaning through words and action. Written poetry is very hard for me because it leaves out that part of the game that I like: the expression.

So this year, after doing woodford and melbourne, I'm going to go for big things.

No I'm not trying to take over the world pinky. But I would like to reach as many people with as many stories as possible.

I love Tim Minchin see? And Roald Dahl. And Ursula K. Le Guin.

The reason I bring them up is because you can watch or read anything by them and it is at once easily accessible and yet thought provoking (OK for Le Guin fans I know that some of her sci fi is incredibly dense and an acquired taste, but that's beside the point).

So I want to play smart, get active, and move crowds. Sounds easy but it's not.

And some poets out there, even some of my friends, love to raise their nose and say that's like selling out, it's like compromising your art, it's like, just not poetry man...

Well I find that point of view not only incredibly boooooooooooring but fuckin ironic. You see, to want to be great, you have to acknowledge certain things within yourself. You have to peer at yourself in the mirror and say "well, what are you going to say that's just SOOOO fuckin special mate? Who's going to want to hear YOU speak?"

And those questions leave you with answers you never thought were there. Nor ever considered before.

But when artists say "I DON'T DO THIS" or "I only do paid gigs" (that's always one for a chuckle) or "that's too easy... ohhh look at how difficult and thought provoking I am." You're placing limitations on yourself and your art. What you're actually saying is "I'm so far up my own arse to give a fuck what an audience thinks, their intelligence, their capability of holding meaning, joy, and all things art related." You're admitting you're an up yourself tosser who would rather be the fuckin elite.

"You didn't GET my poem? oh, poor YOU..."

So that's why I'm going to go to Canberra this week and blow up BAD SLAM! NO BISCUIT! on Wednesday 15th Feb, with my good friend Doubting Thomas.

That's why I'm going to perform in the installation art of Julie-Anne Milinski, the staircases, the elevator and the street corner at Metro Arts this Saturday (18th Feb) night for BEAF.

That's why when JAM JAR Poetry Slam (26th Feb) comes along I'm going to do my best to entertain, provoke and lift my game. Move. Engage the stage. Create great things through words. Because when you do that you're saying "I care about my audience and I want to give you the best. I want to tell you a story I find important. And most of all, I'm going to have a ball doing it. Because I love it and it's fun."

And I'll get paid bugger all, be out of pocket, be hungry and be lost for where to go next. And I will fail. I'll do really lame stuff. And I'll do stuff that I don't think is that good but people will like it.

I WILL TAKE RISKS!

And I'll love every step on this starving path.

And there might be dragons!

Welcome to 2012.