Paul South launches new gig, Alakazam! in a magic shop

Alakazam! featuring Amy Bodossian and Robert Drummond
Wednesday, April 1 @ 8pm / Dane Certificate’s Magic Tricks, Gags and Theatre, 859a Sydney Road, Brunswick / $3 / Open Mic

Poet Paul South has launched a new monthly spoken word gig and open mic in a magic shop, Dane Certificate’s Magic Tricks, Gags and Theatre. The new gig, run on the first Wednesday of the month, is called Alakazam! and launches next Wednesday, April 1, with feature poets Amy Bodossian and Robert Drummond.

Host Paul South said, about why he started a gig in this little magic shop on Sydney Road after launching his book Little Book of Birds there in February, “As my Dad said after the launch, the venue reminded him of Jazz clubs from the early sixties. If you ask me, it’s a jazz club designed by Dr Seuss! I was having a cider and talking to Amanda after the gig that night, and she said it was a crime that there wasn’t a regular poetry gig there. Later that night, mentioned the idea to Dane, and he said that I should host it.”

South hopes to inject something different in the space that’s sure to enrich the landscape of live poetry in Melbourne. “The gig should be spoken word in it’s broadest sense. There will be two features per gig, and we’ll try to contrast their styles as much as we can. Comedians will feature alongside poets and storytellers of all descriptions. There will be an open mic section. Dane is happy to sprinkle some of his magic throughout the night too. I’ve always complained about the lack of variety in the spoken word scene. Now I have the task of trying to do something fresh and interesting. It’s kind of scary, but it’s also very exciting.”

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Annie Solah

Annie Solah is a writer, poet, spoken word artist, activist and the Director of Melbourne Spoken Word. She grew up in Western Sydney before calling Melbourne home in 2008, where she's performed since 2010 around Melbourne's regular spoken word and poetry nights including Passionate Tongues, The Dan Poets, Voices in the Attic and House of Bricks as well as the NGV and White Night. She's released a chapbook, broken bodies, and two spoken word albums, Duel Power with Santo Cazzati and The World Doesn't Make Sense EP.