Avid poetry fans gathered around the Fireplace Lounge in the HUB on Friday, February 23 to listen to a nationwide champion slam poet, Mighty Mike McGee. He is known as an international spoken word artist, writer, performer, speaker, slam poet and comic. McGee was the International World Poetry Slam champion in 2006, beating 70 of the world’s best ranked slam poets.
When he began his performance at 8 P.M. there was a decent crowd, filling up all the seats and couches in the lounge. As people walked by, hearing his screams and rants, they were intrigued and soon there was not even enough standing room.
He started his show off with a “slammed” poem about the microphone and how he is nothing without it and it is nothing without him. Most of the poetry McGee performed was already written and memorized but he “slammed” a couple of poems on the spot. Most of the poems were about love and he mentioned multiple times that he is a “girly man that really likes girls.” He mentioned growing up with two sisters and his mother so he had plenty of female influences to encourage his “girly” attitude.
McGee was thrilled to be at Plymouth State, telling his audience how much he loves performing for an audience and how good of an audience Plymouth State students really are. If applause is any indication, the audience had the same admiration for the performer as he had for them. The laughter from the crowd could be heard throughout the HUB. They were a lively crowd and cheered him on throughout his performance, then gave him a standing ovation when he finished. More than half the audience went up to him to chat before he had to leave to perform in Manchester.
Those who missed this event can check Mighty Mike McGee out at Mikemcgee.net and on Myspace. Check out other PACE events and performances at Paceevents.org.