Monday, April 11, 2011

Open Mic Bingo









Since April is National Poetry Month, even non-poets may find themselves attending a reading or two. While many events include only featured readers, some events also include, or consist entirely of, an open mic segment in which all comers can sign up and perform for a certain length of time or text.


Like other gatherings, the open mic includes a variety of features and rituals. For the edification of newcomers, and for a variety of uses by experienced attendees, I present above a card for Open Mic Bingo (click to enlarge). Prompted by a conversation with my wife, this card also has antecedents in Meeting Bingo and the recent AWP Bingo card by Daniel Nester. Others may have done this previously and/or better, but this is the first attempt I know of. If I can observe enough by watching, to paraphrase Yogi Berra, I hope eventually to provide a second card for the ambitious or experienced player.


For now, game on!




2 comments:

Sue Guiney said...

This is hysterical. I may have to steal it from you :-)
Thanks.

J.D. Smith said...

Thank you very much, Sue.

Feel free to share and take to readings.

And feel free to come up with a version of your own. I'm sure there are UK-specific features that I have missed.

I have already received suggestions that may go into a second, co-authored card.