SIX OF THE BEST (Birmingham) advance dates

Last night saw the final open audition night for SIX OF THE BEST, a search across the Midlands for the best poetry and spoken word performers in the region. Starting in April, these top performers will appear at a series of shows held at the Birmingham Library Theatre, demonstrating their skill for fifteen minutes each to a paying audience.

Most of the slots had already been decided, but last night’s auditions were to find the remaining performers for the last event of the series, to be held in September, plus what Dreadlockalien - Birmingham’s Poet Laureate and organiser of SIX OF THE BEST - charmingly calls ‘suicide poets’; i.e. the 3 minute warm-up acts that will kick off each evening performance.

We will also have an excellent ska band accompanying the series, whose name, I think, is PHAT CONTROLLER. Here are some of the band in action last night at the Birmingham Library Theatre.



I don’t have all the names for last night’s winners, I’m afraid, but I can give you the names of the other top Midlands performers to appear in SIX OF THE BEST ... and please note, I’ll be performing on May 3rd, ahem:

APRIL 5TH:
Helen Monks, Moaqapi Selassi, Polar Bear, Peter Wyton, Muna Hussen, Launa Meehan

MAY 3RD:
Sean Kelly, Emma Purshouse, Kokumo, Andy Conner, Sue Brown, Jane Holland

JUNE 7TH:
Spoz, Big Brendan Higgins, Heather Bryson, Jimmy Fantastic, Louis Campbell, Paul Rafferty

JULY 5TH:
Godfrey Salter and his Invisible Ducks, Jah Biggz, Dan Wilson, Leeanne Stoddart, Vince Gould, Yussef Ahmed

AUGUST 2ND:
Matt Nunn, Maggie Doyle, Charlie Jordan, Simon Lee, Jasmine Johnson, plus one tba

SEPTEMBER 6TH:
Slots to be filled by the winners who came through last night’s final audition at the Library Theatre

DETAILS OF TICKET PRICES, PERFORMANCE TIMES etc TO FOLLOW SOON.

AFTERWORD:
Now, the name of the fellow below, who gave us a great performance last night in the final auditions and fully deserves his place in SIX OF THE BEST, is possibly Just B. Or Justin B. Not sure about that, I had my hat on at the time. Anyone who knows for sure, please leave a comment below. But he’s very good. If a little saucy.