Golden Rule of Poetry Slam

The Golden Rule of Poetry Slam

The points are NOT the point. The point is the POETRY!

Basic Poetry Slam Rules

The following rules are the common rules of poetry slam that govern all poems:

1. Each poem must be an original creation. Referencing (or sampling) and/or parodying other poems may be permitted, so long as the poem remains clearly distinct from the sampled or parodied material.
2. Poets must perform without the use of props or costumes. An object that is present in the performance area and available to all performers, such as a microphone stand, will not be considered a prop.
3. Poets must perform without pre-recorded audio or live instrumentation. Beat-boxing, singing, or other ways of creating rhythm or music with your body are allowed.
4. Each poem must be completed within a maximum time limit. For Hullabaloo, this is three (3) minutes (plus a 10-second grace period) to read one poem. A poem that goes over time will have points deducted from the total score given by the judges. The poem/performance will lose 0.5 (point-5) points for each 10 seconds they go over.
5. Memorization is not required or necessary. The poet may choose to bring a sheet of paper or chapbook to the stage to read off of their phone(s).
6. The poem may NOT include sexist, racist, homophobic, or transphobic comments. Basically, use your common sense and don’t be a jerk, and leave your hate at the gate.  However anger, upset and frustration are totally legit emotions to express in your poem, just be creative in how you go about doing it.
7. The poet receives scores out of 10 from five randomly-selected judges. The high and low scores are dropped and the middle three are added together, giving the poet a total score out of 30. In the event that five suitable judges cannot be found, a group of three judges will be selected. In this case, all three scores given will be counted.

NOTE: For those who are interested, a much more detailed breakdown of props/costumes and/or penalty violations is given at the bottom of this page.

Hullabaloo-Specific Slam Rules

No Repeats

1. Once a poem has been performed during a bout at Hullabaloo, it cannot be repeated during a subsequent bout at that Hullabaloo. This applies to all solo or group poems.
2. This rule does not apply to a poem performed in a cypher, open mic or other setting at Hullabaloo outside of competition. Similarly, a poem performed in a previous iteration of Hullabaloo can be used in subsequent iterations of Hullabaloo (but we encourage you to bring new poems!)

Solo Poem Requirements

1. Every individual member of a team must perform a minimum of one solo poem during the solo poem rounds of the preliminary slams.
2. No individual may perform more than one solo poem during any one slam.
3. A poet who is physically unable to read their poem onstage owing to a permanent or temporary impairment may have a substitute reader perform the poem so long as A) the primary author is in the space and positioned where they are clearly visible to the audience and B) the reader delivers the poem without significant affectation that draws attention away from the author.

NOTE: We recognize that being on stage can be terrifying. A poet who experiences extreme anxiety about being on stage or who otherwise requires physical support to be on stage may have a teammate or coach accompanying them on stage, provided that the accompanying support person remains physically neutral on stage and does not engage and does not engage in any way that could be considered to make them a performer.

Group Poems

1. Every team must perform a group poem during the fourth round (or “team piece” round) of each Hullabaloo slam.
2. A group poem is considered any poem with two or more readers in its performance.
3. A reader is considered any performer who delivers a significant portion of the poem’s words. Performers who make exclusively musical contributions (ie. singing/beat-boxing) or physical contributions (ie. creating a backdrop with their bodies) are NOT considered readers.
4. Each group poem must feature the primary author of the poem as a reader. Where poems have been collaboratively written, anyone considered to be a primary author of the poem must be a reader in the performance.

Slam Code of Honour

Recognizing that the intent of the rules is to guide us towards fair play and align all of our actions and intentions with the Golden Rule, we ask that all poets abide by the Slam Code of Honour. You don’t need to make your poets read this allowed with hands over hearts (or whatever), but it can be more fun and helps reinforce the cult-like nature of slam if you do!

Slam Code of Honour:

As a participant in the slam, I swear:

• To revel in an environment in which freedom of speech, self-determination, and pursuit of creative excellence are inalienable rights;
• To participate in all events in a way that encourages, illuminates, and supports established standards of good sportsmanship;
• To refuse to allow the competitive challenge of the game to lead me to violence, interference, or direct threats;
• To allow all participants to pursue their craft peacefully and without censure, regardless of present associations or past personal history;
• To comply with local, provincial and federal laws pertaining to individual civil rights and physical or sexual harassment;
• To abide by competition rules as defined by Hullabaloo to the best of their abilities, knowing that the consequences for breaking the rules exist and are upheld;
• To be a fair poet, one who in competition is fair and generous, one who in any connection has recourse to nothing illegitimate; a poet who in defeat demonstrates grace and in victory magnanimity.

For the Rules Nerds: More on Props/Costumes & Penalization for Rules Violations

Clarifying props/costumes: Props/costumes can be a bit of a grey area: sometimes a poet may appear to have their performance enhanced by an object or article of clothing related to their poem, even if they are not intending to draw attention to it.

Here are some examples of things that could be interpreted as prop/costume violations:

• A poet performs a poem about phone use. They read the poem off of their phone, holding it in plain view of the audience.
  • Recommendation: Place the phone on a music stand, if available, so it can’t be seen. Or better yet, read the poem from a paper or a notebook.
• A poet wears a t-shirt with a slogan prominently displayed on it, and performs a poem that incorporates the slogan.
  • Recommendation: Wear a different t-shirt or put another layer on top of it.
• A poet talks about transformation/change/revelation and underscores the action by removing an outer layer of clothing, such as a hoodie or jacket.
  • Recommendation: Just don’t bring your clothes into it. Let your words do the work.
• A poet reads a poem off a set of three pieces of paper. The poem has nothing to do with the paper, but the poet makes the paper a part of their poem by dramatically discarding each sheet as they’ve finished reading it.
  • Recommendation: Just don’t. Please. We’re begging you!

A simple rule: Chances are, if you have to ask whether or not something might be a prop/costume violation, it’s probably either a violation or uncomfortably close to one.

Key Exceptions: We recognize that there are certain types of clothing or items related to religious faith or communal identity that a poet may choose to write about or mention, and can’t remove before taking the stage. We also recognize there may be certain objects related to ongoing medical conditions/procedures that a poet may choose to write about or mention, and can’t help but bring on stage with them.

In such cases, we respectfully request that a poet do their best to avoid clear and obvious indications that “incorporate” the item into their poem.

For example, a poet with braces can perform a poem about how much they love/hate having braces. We would simply ask that they avoid such choreographed acts as: pointing at their braces; dramatically smiling to display their braces; physically covering their mouth while talking about feeling embarrassed being seen wearing braces, etc.

Penalizing Rules Violations:

Penalties: In the event a penalty violation is identified, the penalty will be determined by the severity of the infraction. Depending on the nature of the infraction, a penalty may be in the form of a partial or total points deduction (typically a minimum deduction of 2 points), up to disqualification of the poet/team.

Determining Rules Violations: An official “bout team” will make rulings on whether or not a violation has occurred. The “bout team” consists of no less than the emcee and the event organizer (or a designated surrogate if they cannot be present), but may include other community members unaffiliated with any teams whose experience and perspective warrants their inclusion (aka. “old heads”).

If a violation is identified, penalties may be retroactively enforced following a slam. A penalty will not be announced on stage during a slam. A member of the “bout team” will directly inform the coach or an equivalent team representative as soon as possible following the slam. If applicable, a member of the “bout team” will then communicate changes to the results of the slam directly to any affected team or teams.

Calling a Violation: A participating poet believes they have identified a violation committed by another poet/team, their coach or a team representative may discreetly bring this to the attention of the emcee and/or event organizer offstage after the poem or competition in which the violation occurred. A violation so-identified must be brought to the attention of the emcee/event organizer no later than 15 minutes after the slam has ended. A participating poet or team representative must NOT disrupt the show to publicly call out the violation from the audience. If a violation is confirmed, the poet/team who called the violation will not be identified.

Challenging a Penalty: A penalized team may request a review of the ruling by the emcee/event organizer, but the results of any review must be accepted as final.

Time Penalties Exception: A time penalty can NOT be challenged. The only source of information used to determine whether or not a time penalty has occurred is the time recorded by an official timekeeper, the emcee or the event organizer.

REMEMBER: We don’t want to penalize anyone. We’re pretty tolerant of grey area violations, especially at Hullabaloo. Penalties exist both to ensure everyone feels they have had as fair a shot as possible at success, but also to curb competitive impulses that may cause poets to act in contradiction to the Golden Rule.