Uncomfortable Laughter in the Fireplace Lounge

"I abandoned my daughter," is the first line of Wil "One L" Gibson's slam poem, "Too little too late."

October 8th was the night when three poets returned to the Fireplace Lounge for another amazing performance of Uncomfortable Laughter. October 7th was the first performance of the trio consisting of Beau Williams, Wil "One L" Gibson, and returning alumni Ryan Mclellan. 

Beau was the first to take the spotlight, opening with a handful of poems. Beau is a rising poet who conveys his thoughts in a humorous and somewhat dark manner. 

When asked where he gets his inspiration, he talked at length about going to poetry readings. And when he started performing his own, "I live for this stuff… the click, that eye contact when you really connect with someone." 

Haley Sciola, the co-president of Poets and Writers, put it in her own words: "Beau is always smiling, I just want to cuddle with his poems."

Ryan was the next up to the mic. Clad in a flannel jacket, rocker t-shirt and a self explanatory tattoo, "POEM," running up his right arm. 

This is where the uncomfortable part comes in. Ryan's musings were much darker, focusing on the war in Iraq and politics that still seem taboo today. 

Plymouth State University's alumni came out with one of the most striking performance of the night, "Mad Scientist". Ryan slowly put the mic off to the side, out of arms' length. Without any amplification aside from his own voice, Ryan bellowed the intense slam poem. At one point, Ryan came right out into the audience. The front row sat back in their seats in utter amazement. This poem made Magnum XL seem pious. 

The standout of the evening was Wil Gibson. Wil, a recovered drug addict, summarizes his art as "Whipping my nuts out on stage." 

"GRACE," the tattoo sliced across Wil's neck, symbolized his poetry. "Grace was a girl I wronged, and every time I look in the mirror I will be reminded of that." Wil titles it, "tangible confession" poetry.

The pinnacle of the night by far was Wil's poem, "Too Little Too Late." The poem is a scathing look at Wil abandoning his daughter.

 "By the end of the poem I was almost crying." Says Kat Manchester, a student at PSU that came to both performances. Kat added, "I hope they come back again, they were brilliant." 

The artists gathered at the end of the performance, talking to the audience and dolling out hugs and discussing their next visit to PSU.