Chicago’s poetry scene experienced a combination of literary styles Monday night, when six contestants and a crowd of approximately 40 young and middle-aged adults gathered to hear stories, poetry, music and comedy while enjoying beers and good food.
“We represent the first original poetry slam ever…we decided, let’s launch a new kind of slam that actually combines all those different art forms into one competitive art…it’s the only one of its kind, that I know of,” host J.W. Basilo, executive director at Chicago Slam Works, said.
LitMash, which takes place the first Monday of every month at Haymarket Pub & Brewery in the West Loop, gives those involved in Chicago’s poetry, comedy, story-telling and musical scenes an opportunity to express themselves and share their talents with an excited audience.
Haymarket, on the corner at 737 W. Randolph, houses the Drinking and Writing Theater, which sits in the back of the building, past the brew house, kitchen, bar and other dining rooms. White lights are strung up on the ceiling, and dartboards, small TV screens and plenty of high bar stools and tables are there for visitors.
The crowd cheered and clapped enthusiastically as Basilo began the show. In the first round of LitMash, each performer had six minutes to sway the audience to later vote for them. Five judges, chosen randomly and sitting in the audience enjoying their drinks, decided on a score after each performance and held it up on a miniature white board. Basilo then added up the totals for each performer, and later, the two with the highest scores performed once more in a battle to win $100.
Monday’s performers were Tumelo Khoza, Demetrius Amparan, Erin Diamond, Monte LaMonte, Jamila Woods and Renee Albrecht-Mallinger. Each had their own unique style for the show, and each received a big welcome from the audience.
Khoza, the first performer of the night, incorporated the singing of lullabies with storytelling to tell her personal views and struggles with the controversy of abortion. Next up, Amparan told stories and rapped about growing up in Englewood and raising his daughter in a similarly dangerous environment.
Diamond used story-telling in a more comedic way; she told the story of a sudden breakup with her boyfriend of five years, and how she then “lost her mind,” turning to wine, marijuana and “Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee,” a book about the government’s betrayal of Native American tribes.
The show’s third performer, LaMonte, told the audience about his experience attending a Megadeath concert at the Aragon Ballroom in 1988 as a senior in high school. The crowd laughed as he relayed the dirty details of having severe itching “down there,” applying Icy Hot to his private parts, and then later splashing toilet bowl water on himself to relieve the discomfort.
Woods, inspired by R.L. Stine’s