On a night that Buddy Wakefield compared to David Lynch’s “Eraserhead,” the slam poet hit the right marks to keep Tuesday’s audience at the Fireplace Lounge tense, laughing, and most definitely entertained.
The Poets and Writers along with six other student organizations joined forces to bring the renowned slam poet to PSU in order to jump into Poetry Month and dive into innovative outlets of expression. Wakefield’s spoken word poetry has been featured on NPR, the BBC, and HBO’s Def Poetry Jam and has gained notoriety amongst the slam poet community for his ability to display a range of emotions in a captivating manner. This prowess earned Wakefield the top nod in the Individual World Poetry Slam Championship for two consecutive years. Wakefield showcased his rapid paced spoken word poetry for the nearly fifty students in attendance and displayed his style that is bound by his grasp of cadence and alliteration.
Wakefield made PSU one of his last stops after touring the nation for nearly ten years. Wakefield’s creativity on stage shows his experience from his life on the road. The process he goes through in order to create these poems can be taxing. After the show, he described staying up for three day’s straight on one poem; pacing back and forth while reciting each part of the poem to check for imperfections.
“There’s no such thing as writer’s block – there’s only laziness,” said Wakefield. He offered this advice for PSU’s young writers after his impressive and at times humorous night of slam poetry.
“I work the piece out like I work myself out,” Wakefield said while putting away his little table of merchandise. Some of Wakefield’s favorite writers and poets that he draws from are Andrea Gibson, Derek Brown, Amber Tamblyn, and Malcolm Gladwell. Up on stage he briefly told the audience about his experience with music and his writing, citing one particular song, “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks” by The National, as being especially important to him.
The event kicked off with stand-up student comedian Billy Barth, who warmed up the audience with a routine filled with wit and gusto. After Billy was done, Buddy stepped up to the microphone and shared his collection of poems. Each poem revolved around a different theme and tone, with some pieces being humorous and others he described as “extremely vulnerable.”
Despite the variance in moods, humorous vibes were spread to everyone in attendance. Before each of his poems, he opened with a story about his experiences and continued to poke fun at everyone around him. He often remarked that the Fireplace Lounge and its “cage like arena” was reminiscent of David Lynch movies and specifically recalled scenes from Eraserhead after the show. But then again, much of all poetry is contingent on the idea of exposing oneself to vulnerability, and Wakefield visibly embraced this sense while performing his poems.
Buddy Wakefield distanced himself at times from this seriousness with humorous “short” poems that reverberated with laughter throughout the audience. His demeanor throughout the show remained candid, polarizing, and humorous at times.
Buddy Wakefield offered a unique addition to the line up of events that the Poets and Writers organization has planned for this Poetry Month, such as the Centripetal release party of this year’s literary magazine on April 21, Alumni Slam Poetry Night, and Poetry for Peace.