Anti-Slam

Anti-Slam is a movement was started more than a decade ago by Rev. Jen Miller in reaction to the Poetry Slam movement on the Lower East Side of Manhattan at a venue called . The weekly event has spawned a movement of non-traditional performance among Lower East Side based performer who refer to themselves as Art Stars. At a poetry slam, performers are given a score of 1-10 by a panel of three judges, while at an anti-slam, all participants are given a perfect ten -- stand-up, fiction, commentary, poetry, rants, are all welcome. [http://www.revjen.com/antislam/index.html Reverend Jen Miller website: Anti-Slam page]

In the book "Words In Your Face: A Guided Tour through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam", spoken word icon John S. Hall cited the anti-slam as a valid and inspired response to New York City's notoriously competitive Poetry Slam community. He noted:cquote|To me, one of the best commentaries on slam was when Reverend Jen came up with 'the Anti-Slam,' where everybody gets a ten. In a sense, that's kind of like the opposite problem, which is that you're saying there are no winners or losers at all. And even at an open reading, there are winners and losers, but it seems less stratified and controlled and gamed. The system is more gamed, I think, in a slam. And you're more limited in how you're going to succeed in a slam than you are in an open reading.Aptowicz, Cristin O'Keefe. (2008). "Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam." New York City: Soft Skull Press, 289. ISBN 1-933-36882-9.]

On October 17th, 2007, Rev. Jen Miller hosted the final anti-slam at Mo Pitkins House of Satisfaction. It was the open mic's 12th Anniversary. [http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_232/anopenmic.html "Downtown Express" "An open mic night ends, and an audience braces for change" Volume 20 Issue 23 | October 19 - 25, 2007]

References

External links

* [http://offoffbway.com/2006/10/05/reverend-jen-says-that-youre-a-10/ Off Off Broadway.com article on the Anti-Slam]
* [http://nyartists.org/schedule.htm Downeast Arts Center schedule]
* [http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/new_york_new_york/the_church_of_the_open_mic.php The Church of the Open Mic] from The Morning News
* [http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_35/eastsidearts.html East Side Arts] from Downtown Express
* [http://www.villagevoice.com/theater/0609,sd,72337,11.html Slamming Back] from Village Voice
* [http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0201,regulars,31191,16.html Jan 2002, Reverend Jen's Anti-Slam] from the Village Voice