Spring Break
Word Funk at Hot Corner a place to hear music, poetry, stories
Contributed by Kelly Skinner
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About 25 people filled the low-lit Quiet Room of Hot Corner Coffee.
Onstage, a young woman's passionate lyrics and soulful crooning transfixed audience members.
Every Tuesday since May the coffee shop has held Word Funk - a free event consisting of music, poetry readings and storytelling.
Jonathan Post, a sophomore sociology student from Roswell, read his poetry at Hot Corner for the first time Jan. 10.
"I was pretty nervous at first, but after a while I got into it," he said. "It's safe to say I'll be coming back."
Performers don't need to go through an interview process, according to event coordinator Katie Collins, a master's student from Griffin who started the project.
They have to must sign up by 9 p.m. Tuesday and keep their routines fewer than eight minutes.
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Collins said she attends almost every performance.
"There have been a few performances that stood out to me," she said.
She said she remembers a man named Zeke, who performed a well-liked piece on booty call etiquette.
She also said a man named Bugg and his friend performed a song to the tune of Queen's "We Will Rock You" about a woman who had STDs.
Collins said she enjoys a regular poet, Bellah, who performs short, slam pieces.
Collins plays host to the majority of the performances and keeps the environment friendly and calm.
"I don't censor the performances, so they can be pretty raunchy at times, but it's all in good fun," Collins said.
She often talks between performances and gives the audience a quote or an opportunity to talk or tell a joke while musicians set up on stage.
There typically are between 10 and 12 performers with three of those involving music and others involving poetry, storytelling and improvisation.
Daniel Shank, a graduate student in artificial intelligence from Memphis, Tenn., said he has been to a lot of poetry readings.
"I was the host of an open mic night at a coffee shop in Memphis, and this is the first place in Athens I have found that caters to the poetry crowd," he said. "Most other open mic night advertisements I've seen downtown have been music only."
Shank said this venue was different from others he had seen before due to its structure.
"When you perform (there), you sign up for a time, and that's when you go," he said. "It's good in that you can know exactly how long it is until you perform. It prevents people from running on too long but is bad in that you have to go at the time that you are assigned whether you are ready or not."
