Two poets will slam humor down your throat tonight at Higher Grounds in the SUB.
Local slam poet Tony "The Champ" Santiago and nationally acclaimed poet "Mighty" Mike McGee will perform selections of their poetry this evening for UNM's slam team, Word Revolution.
Santiago has been writing slam poetry for almost five years and is reigning champ of Albuquerque's City Grand Slam Championship. He started his career in poetry as a comedian and a DJ and hosted a poetry show at Insomnia Coffee House before it closed its doors in 2003. Since then he has been reciting original poems, both funny and serious, all over Albuquerque.
Reactions to his poetry vary.
"I've had people fall out of chairs laughing, or spit out their drinks," he said. "I've made people cry, and I've also offended people."
He said even the easily offended will enjoy this evening's event.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
"I can't see anyone going to it not having a good time," he said. "If you like comedy, you'll have fun. If you like poetry, you'll have fun."
Santiago attributes some of this confidence to McGee.
"I consider him the funniest poet, period," he said. "Even funnier than me."
McGee is from Kentucky but grew up in San Jose, Calif.
"What do I enjoy more, seeing people get really sad or seeing people laugh their asses off?" McGee said. "I enjoy seeing people laugh."
Humor is his forte, but he can be serious as well.
"I have quite a bit of serious poetry," he said. "It gets the audience to relate to me. It shows them I'm not just a clown."
Santiago started doing impressions of famous people and various accents almost 20 years ago when his older brother showed him how to get attention from family members. Santiago said he lost his own voice and speaks today with "an amalgam of voices I've enjoyed over the years."
He said his favorite impressions are of Christian Slater and Jack Nicholson.
Santiago said he doesn't get nervous on stage very often, possibly because he isn't very competitive. He said he is an artist and has never really been into sports, so competition is foreign to him.
Santiago doesn't really have a structure when writing his poems.
"I'm not a perfect person, so I want the poem to be imperfect," he said. "I will think of a concept and eventually it just turns into something, or a concept just hits me."
He said he doesn't revise his poems with second drafts, so they are a reflection of life's imperfections.Tonight, McGee said he will likely perform a new piece.
"I have this new thing I'm doing," he said. "It's my homage to every Paulie Shore film."
COMING ATTRACTION
Mike McGee & Tony Santiago
Slam poets
Higher Grounds in the SUB
Tonight at 7:30 p.m.
McGee & Santiago Haiku
Mike McGee
George W. Bush
Now there's a guy I'd love to
Spoon feed my best turd
Tony Santiago
As a slam poet
I've decided to up my
talent, so up yours
