21 June 2010 – Van Slam featuring Mike McGee

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From Sean:

Where: Café Deux Soleils (2096 Commercial Drive)
Doors and Open Mic Signup are at 8:00PM
Open Mic Starts at 8:45PM
Slam at 9:00 PM
Cover is $5-10 sliding scale

On June 21st, The Vancouver Poetry Slam is very excited about welcoming back honourary Canadian, Mighty Mike McGee.

Mike McGee was born with Spina Bifida in Fort Campbell, Kentucky and Tennessee, but grew up in San José, California. He discovered a love of words at the age of three, but didn't write poetry until the age of twenty-three. McGee now writes and performs all over the world.

In 2003, he won the National Poetry Slam Individual Grand Championship in Chicago, and then in 2006 he won the Individual World Poetry Slam Championship in Charlotte, N.C., becoming the first person to attain both titles. McGee has served time as a pirate radio station disc jockey, altar boy, travel agent, floor sweeper, hip hop emcee, band leader, and screenwriter. He was also one of the first American poets to perform at the University of Paris, La Sorbonne.

McGee is a co-founder of the live spoken word groups Tons of Fun University (T.O.F.U.) and Solomon Sparrow's Electric Whale Revival.

Mike has a mighty appetite, an uncanny relationship with ladybugs, several tattoos and siblings, and a passable Scottish accent. He breathes somewhere between Silicon Valley, California and Vancouver, B.C. as often as possible, but currently resides in Worcester, Massachusetts. Mike thoroughly enjoys weather, beverages, the number 3, and the scent of mock orange blossoms in the spring. Welcome back. Live love. Feel free.

Mike McGee is a storyteller. He has been a force in the San Francisco Bay Area spoken word scene since 1999. His reach expanded in 2003 when he won the 2003 National Poetry Slam Grand Championship, then embarked on an international poetry and comedy tour, which has taken him all over Europe, Canada and the U.S. He has become a favorite performer to many schools around the U.S. and was one of the first Americans to perform at the University of Paris (La Sorbonne) and Glastonbury, the largest music festival in the world.

In 2006, Mike won the Individual World Poetry Slam Championship, becoming the first person to attain two separate titles.

Mike travels over 100,000 miles a year and has appeared on CBC, NPR, and had a popular performance HBO's Def Poetry Jam. Mike was born with spina bifida and feels lucky to be alive, so his goal has always been to share his joy of life with every audience, and to get them to listen, laugh and think.

This is another qualifying slam for those interested in becoming Vancouver's IWPS and Canadian Indies Rep and as always we'll have a short open mic before the slam.

Come early because this show will sell out.