Live from the “Poedown Throwdown” at DV8 11.10.2012

By Michael Arnzen November 11, 20122 CommentsWeblog Exclusive

DV8ReadingLive-Peeler1 — Stephanie Wytovich throws down the “Blackbird”. Photo by Nicole Peeler

DV8ReadingLive-Peeler2 — Arnzen retaliates with “The Stuffed Black Cat” and others. Photo by Nicole Peeler.

I had a wonderful time reading poetry alongside Stephanie Wytovich (who read a battery of amazing “psycho ward” poetry) at DV8 Espresso Cafe & Gallery in Downtown Greensburg, PA, this past weekend. It was standing room only, there were a lot of laughs, and weirdness was definitely in high abundance. Among other things, I got to share my current Mutterverse experiment, which featured a slideshow of strange images…until the power went out on the projector, that is. But I just continued reading in the darkness, which was perfect.

Perhaps the highlight of the night was a “Poedown Throwdown” slam poetry challenge between Stephanie and I, where we tasked one another to write a new poem inspired by an Edgar Allan Poe story and then read it live at the event. She did “The Raven” and I took on “The Black Cat.” Here are the results. I cheated a little by reading three pieces. But ultimately, she may have won. You be the judge!

Poedown with Michael Arnzen and Stephanie Wytovich, Live at DV8 Greensburg (8 mins.):
includes: “Blackbird” by Stephanie Wytovich &
“The Stuffed Black Cat,” “Burning the Witch” and “Poe’s Growth” by Michael Arnzen

[audio:Poedown%20with%20Arnzen%20and%20Wytovich%20-%20Live%20at%20DV8%20-%2011.2012.mp3]
Download (12.2 mb)

And I just HAVE to also share the following clip from one of my favorite parts of the night: a reading of “The Seven-Headed Beast” (from my book, 100 Jolts)…that includes creepy audience accompaniment! [Those readers who know my CD, Audiovile, will likely find this “unplugged” version even more disturbing than the original! I know I do….]

“The Seven-Headed Beast” Live at DV8 Cafe, Greensburg PA 11/10/2012
by Michael A. Arnzen (2.32 mins)

[audio:Michael%20A.%20Arnzen%20-%20The%20Seven-Headed%20Beast%20-%20Live%20at%20DV8%20-%2011.2012.mp3]
DOWNLOAD .mp3 (3.8 mb)

p.s. You can find other audio streams here on gorelets.com, via the “audio” tag. Or check out my cd, Audiovile, available on iTunes, CD Baby, or direct from Raw Dog Screaming Press.