- Jack McCarthy
:"For other uses, see:
Jack McCarthy (disambiguation) ".Jack McCarthy (born
May 23 ,1939 ) is an American writer and slampoet .Biography
McCarthy was born in
Massachusetts and now lives inSeattle ,Washington . He began writing poetry in the 1960s, but did not begin performing his works for audiences until the 1990s. It was then that he was introduced to slam poetry at theCantab Lounge inBoston, Massachusetts , after intending to get his daughter interested in the artform. McCarthy has described his performance style as "stand-up poetry ," or that he is a "stand-up poet," in that the work he does on stage is not subject to a specific regimen of poetic style, but is loose enough in form to be humorous and performed in a manner similar to that ofstand-up comedy . He was awarded "Best Standup Poet" by theBoston Phoenix in the 1990s.In short time, McCarthy has placed himself into a niche of
spoken word that had long been unnoticed: the funny character. His storytelling and humor are well regarded within theperformance poetry community.McCarthy has relocated with his wife to the
Seattle, Washington area and can be found performing at theSeattle Poetry Slam and other such events in that region of the United States.Competition
In 1996, McCarthy competed and took a spot on the Boston poetry
slam team and went to theNational Poetry Slam held that year inPortland, Oregon . While he was there, Paul Devlin, afilmmaker , was shooting a documentary on the phenomenon of slam poetry and utilized McCarthy extensively throughout the film.Filmography
"SlamNation", directed by Paul Devlin
Bibliography
"Say Goodnight, Grace Notes", 2003 ( [http://www.em-press.com EM Press] )
External links
* [http://www.standupoet.net Jack McCarthy's Website]
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