So, I am at Queen's Pizzeria, where we host the slam, and where my younger daughter has employment. It's my week back at the Poetry Slam and this week we are hosting a Song Lyric Slam. In the past, for us here in Mesa, this has produced some of the most memorable moments in our 16 years of poetry slam.

The thing about reciting song lyrics, is that there has to be a connection- the audience has to recognize the song, otherwise all bets are off. If they recognize the song, they have a baseline to work from.

Then, whatever that baseline is, you blow it away. However you do that is your choice, but predominantly, taking songs and making them tour de force's in comedy tends to be the most frequent. But a well placed Cohen/Dylan or Mitchell is a great counter strategy as well.

The slam has been growing now for a few months, it will be interesting to see how this event goes over. These types of events are meant a community builders- these are the events that the regulars come to, the ones that everyone gets to gather around and share something new about themselves. The poets can step out of their regular "personas", escape the performance expectations and do something very different.

Or not.

That's the thing about song lyric slam, it is just as much for the poet to pay homage to their influences, the musical artists that have influenced their writing style, their views on life. As much as it can be about poking fun, it can be just as rewarding to finally perform that lyric that you really tuned into the first time that you heard it.

That's the fun of SLS, it's a goose to the normal slam format, and turns he event, and it's performers, on their heads.

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