EARLVILLE – The Earlville Opera House presents more fun in the summer with the second in a series of free Family Series Events. This upbeat performance celebrates the spoken word traditions of urban youth culture with the Mayhem Poets on Saturday at 4 p.m. This event is generously sponsored by NBT Bank.
“Let’s go see a poetry show!” This sentence is one that is rarely proclaimed and may normally be responded to with cringes and excuses by the uninitiated. The Mayhem Poets would like to change that. Having been dubbed “an amazing ride” by the New York Times, this mind-boggling performance has been described as “The Simpsons meets Malcolm X at a Notorious B.I.G. concert.” These theatre trained, comedically gifted, lyrical virtuosos seamlessly blend raw elements of hip hop, theatre, improv and stand up comedy to tell thought-provoking truths that leave audiences forever changed.
The Mayhem Poet’s unique approach to spoken word has landed them feature spots on The Today Show and Eyewitness News, after winning 1st place and a grant for $100,000 in the Microsoft Idea Wins Challenge in 2006. Since then they’ve been touring internationally collaborating with the likes of hip hop legends such as KRS ONE. Their recent CD, Reverse Birth was hailed as one of the Top spoken word CD’s of 2007 by about.com’s poetry section. Their NYC based educational training operation Slam Chops is providing opportunities for aspiring poets of all ages.
The Mayhem mission originated At Rutgers University in 2000, when Kyle Sutton (aka Black Skeptik) and Scott Tarazevits started an open-mic on campus called Verbal Mayhem. They wanted to find a way to access people from all walks of life with spoken word. As a result they reached out to prisons, fraternities, churches, and hip hop/poetry fans alike. The spirit of Verbal Mayhem has set in motion the Mayhem Poet’s new mission to change people’s lives and reshape society’s view of poetry.
The Family Series Events celebrating the spoken word will continue with African stories and music by Charlotte Blake Alston on Saturday afternoon, September 26th at 4pm.
