This page contains information about a past slam season in Worcester. For current information please go here.
| What is Slam? | 2007 Slam Structure | 2007 Slam Scores | 2007 Indy World Poetry Slam | 2007 National Poetry Slam | Archived Info |
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Congratulations to the 2007 Worcester Slam Team - Gary Hoare, MC Spiel (aka Bill MacMillan), Erin Jackson and Trevor Byrne-Smith. They were the winners of the May 20, 2007 Worcester Slam Team final and represented Worcester at the 2007 National Poetry Slam in Austin, TX in August '07.
Many thanks to everyone who supported the team in our fundraising efforts this year. We couldn't have sent the team to Austin without you.
We're glad you asked that... Slam poetry can be moving, funny and deadly serious, sometimes all in the same poem. Each round participants perform their own original work for the audience. Five randomly chosen judges from the audience give each poem a score between 0.0 to 10.0, with 10 being the highest possible score. The high and the low scores are dropped, and the three remaining scores are added. There is a time limit of three minutes per poem, with a 10-second grace period. After the grace period is passed, points will be deducted from the poet's score.
Most slams consist of two rounds, though team semi-final and final consist of more rounds. The winner is the poet with the highest combined score at the end of the slam.
Sound like fun? The Poets' Asylum holds both just-for-fun themed slams
and open slams. Check out the Sunday schedule for
the dates of upcoming slams.
Looking for more info? Head on over to the PSI FAQ page for all the info you need.
| The points are not the
point; the point is poetry!!! -- Allan Wolf, former slmmaster, Asheville, NC |
Here's the structure for the 2006/2007 season:
| Winter Semi-final |
Spring Semi-final |
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Each Semi-Final will be a four round slam with a different time limit each round (1, 2, 3, and 4 minute rounds). A no repeat rule is in effect; the poems used in semi-finals can not be used in finals.
As with all competitions there are rules to follow. Worcester follows the rules as laid out by PSI with respect to time penalties, etc. The basics are covered in the MC spiel, a variation of which follows.
What you are about to witness is a poetry slam. The competitors, of whom there are 8, will perform their own original work, 3 minutes in time length or less. They will use no props, no animal acts and no musical accompaniment.The judges, of whom there are 5, will take those hard wrought words and score them, Olympic style, zero to ten. Zero... the worst poem ever written. So bad that the poet should be forced to play in traffic so we never have to hear it again. Ten... the perfect poem. World peace and spontaneous orgasms throughout the room. We'll drop the high, we'll drop the low, add them together and poof, we have a score. The poet with the highest combined score after two rounds is declared the winner. Judges, please use one decimal point as it helps avoid ties.
Poets who go over 3 minutes are taken out back and shot. Either that or we give them a ten second grace period and then start deducting half a point for every 10 seconds they go over after that. Judges, don't worry about the time, we'll take care of it after you give your scores.
That just about covers the structure and rules. One last thought... Worcester has always tried to stay true to the spirit of Slam. We look at Slam as a friendly competition that is meant to be fun. We try not to take ourselves, or the competition, too seriously. You'll find great poets and poetry at the Slams run by the Asylum. We hope you enjoy the show.
This is the place to check out the winners of the latest slam, qualifying or otherwise.
| 09/17/06 Slam | Jon Wolf | Nick Davis | Kirk Mailloux | Andrew Watt | Trevor | Japonica Boone | Joseph Guinn | Urban |
| Round 1 Score | 26.2 | 26.9 | 19.5 | 24.4 | 24.8 | 24.9 | 24.8 | 25.9 |
| Round 2 Score | 25.2 * | 27.8 | 19.5 | 26.4 | 26.7 | 25.8 | 25.2 | 26.9 |
| Final Total | 51.4 | 54.7 | 39.0 | 50.8 | 51.5 | 50.7 | 50.0 | 52.8 |
| Final Rank | 4 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 2 |
| * Jon's
second poem clocked in at 3:38.56 for a 1.5 point penalty. His original
score was 26.7. |
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| 10/08/06 Slam | Isaac Baron | Jon Wolf | Danny Balel | Dave MacKenzie | Trevor | Jess | Phil | |
| Round 1 Score | 24.8 | 28.2 | 27.0 | 26.3 | 28.2 | 21.9 | 27.7 * | |
| Round 2 Score | 27.5 | 28.5 | 27.4 | 27.9 | 27.9 | 20.4 | 26.7 | |
| Final Total | 52.3 | 56.7 | 54.4 | 54.2 | 56.1 | 42.3 | 54.4 | |
| Final Rank | 6 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 3 | |
| * Phil's first poem clocked in at 3:12.9 for a .5 point penalty. His original score was 28.2. | ||||||||
| 11/12/06 Slam | Gary Hoare | Nicole | Bobby Gibbs | Erin Jackson | Mareh | Phoenix | Brandi | Tyler |
| Round 1 Score | 23.3 * | 22.2 | 27.7 | 27.9 | 24.7 | 26.4 + | 25.5 | 22.0 |
| Round 2 Score | 27.5 | 25.7 | 29.2 | 28.6 | 25.0 | 24.4 # | 26.3 | 23.5 |
| Final Total | 50.8 | 47.9 | 56.9 | 56.5 | 49.7 | 50.8 | 51.8 | 45.5 |
| Final Rank | 4 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
* Gary's first poem clocked in at 3:11.1 for a 0.5 point penalty. His original score was 23.8. + Phoenix's first poem clocked in at 3:27.3 for a 1.0 point penalty. His original score was 27.4. # Phoenix's second poem clocked in at 3:20.0 for a 0.5 point penalty. His orignal score was 24.9. |
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| 11/26/06 Slam | Gigglez | Sylvia | Phil | Simone | Gary | Alex | Peter | Michele |
| Round 1 Score | 20.0 | 23.0 | 23.8 * | 27.7 | 26.5 + | 27.4 # | 19.0 | 19.5 |
| Round 2 Score | 21.8 | 21.5 | 24.4 | 28.2 | 29.8 | 28.9 | 18.0 | 22.0 |
| Final Total | 41.8 | 44.5 | 48.2 | 55.9 | 56.3 | 56.3 | 37.0 | 41.5 |
| Final Rank | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 7 |
* Phil's first poem clocked in at 3:13.4 for a 0.5 point penalty. His original score was 24.3. + Gary's first poem clocked in at 3:16.1 for a 0.5 point penalty. His original score was 27.0. # Alex's first poem clocked in a 3:18.3 for a 0.5 point penalty. his original score was 27.9. |
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| 12/17/06 Winter Semi-final Slam | Jon Wolf |
Alex Charalambides | Bobby Gibbs | Trevor Byrne-Smith | Nick Davis | Erin Jackson | Urban | Gary Hoare |
| Round 1 Score | 26.9 | 21.6 * | 27.2 | 27.1 | 27.5 | 28.1 | 27.8 | 28.7 |
| Round 2 Score | 26.4 | 26.0 + | 23.6 # | 26.8 | 24.8 @ | 26.4 | 24.5 | 29.8 |
| Round 3 Score | 28.8 | 27.2 % | 26.3 | 26.3 | 28.0 | 29.3 | 27.5 | 25.7 |
| Round 4 Score | 29.4 | 27.4 | 27.6 | 29.2 | 27.0 | 29.2 | 28.0 | 28.3 |
| Final Total | 111.5 | 102.2 | 104.7 | 109.4 | 107.3 | 113.0 | 107.8 | 112.5 |
| Final Rank | 3 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
* Alex's poem in the 4 minute round clocked in at 4:32.5 for a 1.5 point penalty. His original score was 23.1. + Alex's poem in the 1 minute round clocked in at 1:13.5 for a 0.5 point penalty. His original score was 26.5. # Bobby's poem in the 1 minute round clocked in at 1:11.3 for a 0.5 point penalty. His original score was 27.9. @ Nick's poem in the 1 minute round clocked in at 1:12.3 for a 0.5 point penalty. His original score was 25.3. % Alex's poem in the 3 minute round clocked in at 3:17.4 for a 0.5 point penalty. His original score was 27.7. |
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| 01/21/07 Slam | Mareh | Liz | Dave K. | Tyler | A-Dawg | John | Halliday | |
| Round 1 Score | 24.7 | 23.1 | 24.9 | 21.7 | 23.1 | 24.5 | 25.1 | |
| Round 2 Score | 25.5 | 23.5 | 25.1 | 20.2 | 21.0 | 22.8 | 23.6 | |
| Final Total | 50.2 | 46.6 | 50.0 | 41.9 | 44.1 | 47.3 | 48.7 | |
| Final Rank | 1 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 3 | |
| 02/11/07 Slam | Johnny | Kate | Cowboy Matt | MC Spiel | Liz | Troy | Tony Brown | John Clarke |
| Round 1 Score | 21.7 | 25.1 | 25.2 | 25.3 | 24.3 | 23.8 | 26.8 | 24.3 |
| Round 2 Score | 24.1 | 23.5 | 26.1 | 25.9 | 24.8 | 23.5 | 26.5 | 24.1 |
| Final Total | 45.8 | 48.6 | 51.3 | 51.2 | 49.1 | 47.3 | 53.3 | 48.4 |
| Final Rank | 8 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 6 |
| 03/18/07 Slam | Johnny | Mya | J*me | Liz | Alphonso | Dave Mac | Heather | MC Spiel |
| Round 1 Score | 18.1 | 24.3 | 26.0 | 22.8 * | 27.5 | 24.4 + | 21.5 | 25.9 |
| Round 2 Score | 19.4 | 27.9 | 26.7 | 24.5 | 26.3 | 28.3 | 22.3 | 25.4 |
| Final Total | 37.5 | 52.2 | 52.7 | 47.3 | 53.8 | 52.7 | 43.8 | 51.3 |
| Final Rank | 8 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 5 |
* Liz's poem in the first round clocked in at 3:35.7 for a 1.5 point penalty. Her original score was 24.3. + Dave's poem in the first round clocked in at 3:29.7 for a 1.0 point penalty. His original score was 25.4. | ||||||||
| 04/01/07 Slam | Kate | Bobby | Halliday | Cyndi | Dennis | Maya | ||
| Round 1 Score | 26.4 | 26.3 | 22.7 | 27.9 | 20.7 | 28.5 | ||
| Round 2 Score | 30.0 | 29.9 | 24.4 | 26.5 | 21.5 | 29.6 | ||
| Final Total | 56.4 | 56.2 | 47.1 | 54.4 | 42.2 | 58.1 | ||
| Final Rank | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 1 | ||
| 05/06/07 Spring Semi-final Slam | Cowboy Matt | Tony Brown | Mareh | Maya | Kate | MC Spiel |
Dave Mac |
Dave Keali'i |
| Round 1 Score | 22.5 | 23.9 * | 24.1 | 25.1 | 24.9 | 26.2 | 25.3 + | 24.8 |
| Round 2 Score | 26.2 # | 26.1 | 24.4 | 25.9 | 26.5 | 26.0 | 22.9 @ | 25.7 |
| Round 3 Score | 25.5 | 26.8 | 25.6 | 26.3 | 25.1 % | 26.1 | 26.1 | 25.8 |
| Round 4 Score | 28.6 | 26.6 | 25.0 | 25.6 | 26.6 | 26.7 | 24.8 & | 25.6 |
| Final Total | 102.8 | 103.4 | 99.1 | 102.9 | 103.1 | 105.0 | 99.1 | 101.9 |
| Final Rank | 5 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 6 |
* Tony's poem in the 4 minute round clocked in at 4:52.3 for a 2.5 point penalty. His original score was 26.4. + Dave Mac's poem in the 4 minute round clocked in at 4:11.3 for a 0.5 point penalty. His original score was 25.8. # Cowboy's poem in the 3 minute round clocked in at 3:11.9 for a 0.5 point penalty. His original score was 27.9. @ Dave Mac's poem in the 3 minute round clocked in at 3:13.7 for a 0.5 point penalty. His original score was 23.4. % Kate's poem in the 2 minute round clocked in at 2:19.2 for a 0.5 point penalty. His original score was 25.6. & Dave Mac's poem in the 1 minute round clocked in at 1:13.8 for a 0.5 point penalty. His original score was 25.3 |
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| 05/20/07 Team Final Slam | Maya | Tony | Jon | Kate | Erin | Trevor | Gary | MC Spiel |
| Round 1 Score | 27.0 | 26.8 * | 26.5 + | 26.9 | 28.8 | 28.7 | 29.0 | 27.2 |
| Round 2 Score | 27.5 | 28.3 | 28.6 # | 28.3 | 27.6 | 28.7 | 25.9 % | 28.5 |
| Round 3 Score | 28.5 | 28.0 | 29.3 | 28.6 | 29.0 | 28.6 | 29.9 | 29.9 |
| Final Total | 83.0 | 83.1 | 84.4 | 83.8 | 85.4 | 86.0 | 84.8 | 85.3 |
| Final Rank | 8 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
* Tony's poem in round 1 clocked in at 3:30.1 for a 1.5 point penalty. His original score was 28.3. + Jon's poem in round 1 clocked in at 3:16.7 for a 0.5 point penalty. His original score was 27.0. # Jon's poem in round 2 clocked in at 3:13.1 for a 0.5 point penalty. His original score was 29.1. % Gary's poem in round 2 clocked in at 3:54.4 for a 2.5 point penalty. His original score was 28.4. |
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The 2007 Individual World Poetry Slam championships were held January 31st through February 4th in Vancouver, BC Canada.
Congratulations to Erin Jackson on winning Worcester's iWPS Slam-off & Winter Semi-finals on December 17th. Erin represented Worcester at iWPS in Vancouver, BC in February. She finished 41st out of 72 poets. An article on Erin Jackson appeared in the February 1st edition of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. You can read the article online at telegram.com.
The iWPS '07 website can be found at individualworldpoetryslam.com.
In 2007 the National Poetry Slam returns to Austin, TX, site of NPS '06. A website has been set-up at austinslam.com/nps07. There isn't much there yet however if last year is our guide there will soon be tons of info available.
The host hotel will be the Hyatt Regency Austin (208 Barton Springs, Austin, TX).
Information on the past six years in Worcester Slam can be found in the links below.
| 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 |