Hendrick's Horseless Carriage of Curiosities parked up in Jubilee Square last Friday and is leaving on Monday, so there's still a chance to get a free shot of gin. And if you write a very short story or a short poem you'll get a free gin cocktail in the bar, but you have to read it out to the barmen and barmaids!Last weekend I took part in two slams in the above mentioned carriage as part of Brighton Fringe Festival. On the Saturday Damian Barr hosted a flash fiction slam, and me and 13 other people entered the stage to read or perform a story in less than three minutes. Not everyone agreed with the judges (Stuart Evers, Vanessa Gebbie & Niven Govinden) but it was good fun, even though the theme was somewhat depressing: "The End." My story was about a woman who wanted a divorce from her doormat husband, but the divorce couldn't go through unless the doormat exploded, and therefore my story had no end ... (Thanks to everyone on Facebook who took part in the debate whether such an expression as "exploding doormat" exists or not ...)
On the Sunday Chris Parkinson hosted a lively poetry slam. The poets had five minutes to convince the judges (Damian Barr, James Burt & Kate Shields)that their poem or poems were the best. Alison Brunette (?) became the champion after having performed a parody of the "When I'm an old woman I shall wear purple"- poem and another one about preferring sex to chocolate. At other poetry slams I've been to the audience are often asked to be the judges, so it was a bit different to have a panel of judges that kept their scores secret. I did my poem dedicated to an ex-landlord which went down well. I'm happy with both my performances and really enjoyed being on stage in Hendrick's Horseless Carriage of Curiosities!
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