Show BT More than coffee T 1 just JUlie June Nguyen Contributing Writer Cup of Joe is a local coffee shop located in downtown Salt Lake which has open mic mile nights available to the public Open mic lets the public present their talents from music to poetry performances Open mic nights are on Saturdays at 8 pm p.m. They're free for anyone who wants to perform or improve their talents in front of a live audience But anyone can come and enjoy a cup of coffee and anda a live performance if they dont don't want to perform This is the place where art people come together to come up with great ideas said Brain Shay aka Shae former student and Slam Master at Cup of Joe The poetry scene here is pretty interesting Cup of Joes Joe's open mic began approximately nine years ago as a poetry venue It was leas started by Melissa Bonds then Jaguar Duffy Slam Master at Cup of Joe took over Open mic started as a monthly venue then Duffy opened it into a weekly venue about five years ago Shays Shay's interests in poetry motivated him to become Slam Slain Master at Cup of Joe Shay has been writing poetry for six years Salt Lake City Slam is the organization currently affiliated with open mic They also received a lot lotof lotof lotof of help from the Utah Arts Alliance Open mic has three rounds in which the public can can perform their Heir talents without competing Its It's a place where beginners can get experiences performing but even experienced performers are welcome Performers can read their Original writings or published pieces of another authors' authors work Open mic uric doesn't have a time frame or any rules and regulations Occasionally open mic at Cup of Joe mixes it up with different pOets Sometimes we have a around around around round of open mic th then n a feature poet will come in from a different state to read said Shay Open mic will help beginners with their poetry performances Cup of Joe offers a poetry workshop every Saturday at 6 pm p.m. It is free for anyone who wants to learn more about poetry The poetry workshop is a new program just barely started June 30 and was taught by Shay but there will be various poets teaching the workshops We Ve cover performance of poetry poetic tools and how to make a chat book said Shay Poets can step up to a whole other level where they can compete in poetry slams like at the 2007 Utah Arts Festival National Poetry Slams or even the Mayhem in the Mountains The 2007 Utah Arts Festival had a poetry slam at the Big Mouth Cafe Caf where poets recited their own creative poetry in front of a live audience The Poetry Slam was a four- four day competition and the winner won a brand new laptop David Stevenson a Pediatric Geneticist was the winner in the poetry slam The rhe National Poetry Slam Slain will take place in fn Austin Texas from Aug 7 Seventy five teams will compete including one from Salt Lake City Mayhem in the Mountains is a yearly event during summertime where poetry teams are invited to compete Poetry teams come from the mountain regions and western regions We have team against team said Shay We have a slam to determine who will be on the team called the slam off A slam off is the standard method of choosing the poetry team The team will usually have four to six people Cup of Joe occasionally has poetry slams with a winning prize of 50 Open mic at Cup of Joe does a lot of pubic relations in getting people interested in poetry readings We got flyers up we have events and hold slams said Shay Open mic helps people express their opinions and feelings You have to have a venue for your free speech said Shay It opens up more dialogue between people I think that this scene is spectacular and it has produced some of the most amazing poets Barnes and Nobles Noble's Sugarhouse location has open mic the first Friday of the month at 7 pm p.m. but they have speech limitations They dont don't let you swear said Shay They have cash prizes for the slams Poetry at Cup of Joe can be a whole different experience for people who are interested I think that the most important part about the open mic at Cup of Joe is that we open minds said Shay Cup of Joe is located South West Vest Visit the Poetry Slam webs i te at com corn |