Nitty Gritty Slam #26 at Valentine’s on Tuesday, September 18

We are back at Valentine’s for Nitty Gritty Slam #26 this coming Tuesday, September 18. This is the second slam of our second season and we are expecting big things. Mojavi surprised us all at the last slam by taking off the coach’s whistle and competing… and winning NGS #25. Who will come out of the shadows this time around.

To get us ready for the event, Daniel Nester put together the following poem:

If you’re a poet
an aspiring MC
a storyteller
a comic with three-

minute bits
or an actor who
writes his or her
own monologues

you might be a slam
poet or maybe you prefer
the term a performance
poet. And yes you

might not even
know it. On Tuesday,
September 18
we’re holding

the 26th edition
of the Nitty Gritty
Slam. It’s an
“open slam,” which means

any person off
the street, any
palooka or jabroni
or loser or winner

or saint or sinner
or ham-n-egger or
numbnuts or trampire

or buttface can
sign up to take
part in the slam.
Or if you want to

get your talons
wet, sign up
for the open mic
first, try it out,

and then sign up to
slam. We pick five
judges out from
the crowd, and they

give scores from 0.0
to 10.0. There are cash
prizes as well.
NGS takes place

at Valentine’s (17
New Scotland Ave.) on
the 1st and 3rd
Tuesdays of each

month. Sign up
begins at 7pm. Open
mic starts at
7:30pm. And

the slam starts at 8pm.
Admission is $5.00 ($3.00
with student ID). This is
an 18+ show. That means

if you’re only 18, you
can come, but you can’t
drink adult
beverages. Did we

mention we will also
have door prizes for
all those who come out
to the show, thanks to

Daniel Nester? No.
No we didn’t. Did we
mention this is the most
diverse crowd out of

any event in this
area of ours or that
Thom Francis is the
slam master and Mojavi

is the open mic emcee?
No, no we did not.
In other matters: we’re
having featured poets

visiting as well.
Coming up on October
2 is John Survivor
Blake. On October is

Berne-born and bred
Meg Waldron & Robyn
Bateman. We’re also
having themed slams–

like an inappropriate
slam and a haiku death
match. The full schedule
is here:

https://hvwg.org/nittygrittyslam/schedule.html
We’re sponsored and
presented by Albany
Poets, Urban Guerilla

Theatre, and The Frequency
North Reading Series but
you might know that.
For information on

the rules and format
of the slam go to
http://nittygrittyslam.com/.
You won’t regret doing it.

Daniel will also be giving out books and other prizes throughout the night, so you will not want to miss out.

Albany Poets, Urban Guerilla Theatre, and The Frequency North Reading Series are bringing slam back to Albany with the NITTY GRITTY SLAM.

NGS takes place at Valentine’s (17 New Scotland Ave.) on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday’s of each month.

If you’re not into slam, but want to get on stage and share your work, we have an open mic before the slam.

Sign up begins at 7PM, open mic starts at 7:30, and the slam starts at 8PM.

Admission is $5.00 ($3.00 with student ID). This is an 18+ show.

For information on the rules and format of the Nitty Gritty Slam and to meet the team, go to http://nittygrittyslam.com/