Posts tagged: Elliot Levy

November at Milkboy: Going out with a bang!

November 4, 2010, by No comments yet

Thursday, November 11, 7pm the Mad Poets Society will feature Joe Roarty and open mic contest winner Elliot Levy at Milkboy Acoustic Cafe in Bryn Mawr. I’ve been looking forward to this reading all year… and that was based on only having Joe Roarty confirmed. Now that we’ve got our contest winner (Congrats again Elliot!), I’m even more excited.

Joe Roarty has been a regular at Milkboy for about 2 years. I will never forget his first open mic reading: he read a seemingly simple poem about fixing a car, complete with sound effects made by blowing air through his lips and shaking his head (imagine a balloon loosing air & flying through the air). I have to admit, I thought he was quite possibly a little insane. After a few more open mics, I realized he was probably closer to a genius… and most definitely a mad poet. Joe doesn’t read, he performs, usually punctuating his poems with a hand-held drum and other sound effects. But for me, his best instrument is his voice, which rises, falls, whispers, booms, screams, and yowls to blast his poems alive. A performance by Joe Roarty is not something you will soon forget. Don’t believe me? Check it out:

Our open mic winner is one of the few poets out there who can match Joe’s energy.

Elliot Levy, winner of the Milkboy open mic contest

Elliot Levy, winner of the Milkboy open mic contest

Elliot Levy is a young poet — and I mean young — high school young. And very green in poetry — he just started writing last year. But his poems are inspired and powerful. His work shows the strong influence of spoken word poetry and hip hop. His poems use steady, pounding rhythms to carry his significant messages. Elliot took the open mic contest with only three readings, beating out regulars who participated every single month. Clearly, he is a force to be reckoned with.

As always, the reading starts at 7pm with the featured readings followed by an open mic. This is our last reading till 2011, so let’s make it a real party!

… and the winner is

November 4, 2010, by 1 comment

…Elliot Levy, senior at Harriton High School (yes, you read that right: high school), has won the open mic contest at Milkboy Acoustic Cafe in Bryn Mawr.

Elliot Levy, winner of the Milkboy open mic contest

Elliot Levy, winner of the Milkboy open mic contest

Elliot is a senior at Harriton High School.  He has been writing poetry since his Junior year and started performing at open mics during the beginning of this year.  He co-founded the Harriton Poetry Club and hopes to compete in the Brave New Voices national competition this summer.  Besides writing poetry, Elliot plays football and wrestles for his high school team.  He has two supportive parents and a cat named Winston who inspires him daily.

Elliot will be featured in the November reading, next week, alongside Milkboy regular Joe Roarty. In the end, it was a close contest. Our runners up were Betti Kahn and, just one vote behind, Howard Lieberman. I expect we’ll be hearing more from these poets in next years open mics!

Congratulations to Elliot! And thanks to everyone who came out & read in the Milkboy open mic this year. It is because of you that this series is so awesome each and every month. I can’t wait to see everyone next week for our last reading of the year: Thursday November 11, 7pm. Be there!!

Milkboy standings

September 29, 2010, by 1 comment

The September open mic at Milkboy Acoustic Cafe in Bryn Mawr was a close one. The audience was really split & the majority of our readers grabbed the exact same number of votes. Our leader — Linda Fischer — eeked it out, snagging one extra vote with a poem she said was brand new & that she was just trying out. I’d say it’s a keeper, Linda!

This month, we also had an honorable mention: “I don’t think poetry is about competition” also got a vote. Three cheers. Because I double checked and “I don’t think poetry is about competition” wasn’t even on the sign up sheet. I don’t remember hearing him/her read. Perhaps I was in the loo.   …okay, seriously people, get over yourselves. The contest keeps it interesting.

Alright, snark exorcised.

So, while the monthly results keep us on our toes, it’s the final tally that will give us our November reader. And right now, here’s how it stands:

1st: Elliot Levy
2nd: Howard Lieberman
3rd (tie): Betti Kahn & Stephen Delia

If this little voting experiment has taught us anything, it’s that anything can happen. I can’t wait till our next reading, Oct 14th 7pm, when this all gets decided! Not only that, but we’ve got two awesome poets lined up. See you then.

Milkboy Open Mic Summer Summary

September 7, 2010, by No comments yet

Though we took a little blogging hiatus over the summer, the Mad Poets reading action didn’t rest. At least not at Milkboy. Though we encountered some unexpected audio challenges, we powered through them — seriously you people can project & I’m very proud of you — and we’re looking forward to another great mixed-genre reading this week.

Of course we’ve had wonderful & accomplished featured readers at Milkboy, but the real heat this summer was in our Open Mic Contest — which continues to prove that in poetry nothing is predictable!

After 6 months of readings, here’s how it stands:

In 3rd place, with 9 votes a piece, we have a tie between long-time Mad Poets and Milkboy diehards Steve Delia & Betti Kahn.

In 2nd place, with 10 votes, is Howard Lieberman, who was new to this series at the beginning of 2010, but quickly became a devoted regular.

And finally, Elliot “the kid” Levy (as he was affectionately dubbed by one of his fans last month) sits comfortably in 1st place with 15 total votes. Here’s the kicker: Elliot has amassed this substantial lead with only two appearances in our open mic. TWO. That’s it. Both times he stole the show, or at least he stole all the votes. The trouble is I don’t have a slightest idea how to find this prodigy. Not a phone number, not an email. Perhaps there’s a bat signal I can shine into the night sky. But if there is, I don’t know it. So Elliot, if you’re out there googling yourself & you’ve come across this desperate plea, please get in touch because there’s a very good chance you’ll be winning a featured reading.

Then again, as the Elliot story proves, anything can happen with a good poem and a microphone. We’ve still got 2 more months of readings before this thing is locked up. So those of you who still want your shot, persevere. Bring it. We’ll see ya Thursday.