Jazz Verse Jukebox @Ronnie Scott's

This Sunday night I'm back at Jazz Verse Jukebox, live at the legendary Ronnie Scott's, upstairs. Had a blast last year, there's a tasty house band and Jumoke Fashola is a top host and performer. It's gonna be large, tickets are £8 squid on the door. Banging line up;

 Dorothea Smartt

Toni Stuart

HorseDreamer (Roger Robinson & Piers Faccini

Maya Blu

 

This Friday 27th NOv plus new stuff on the Soundcloud

This Friday I'm dropping half an hour's worth of new stuff at

7 Minute Itch, all in aid of the new show I've been banging about which now has a working title of: (Drumroll...)

The C/D Borderline.

Also stepping up on the night with new stuff are Michelle Madson (who set the thing up) Bridgette Minamore (We go way back, Rubix and all that!) Imogen Butley-Cole (who I've not seen before but I'm told is very good) and the legend Gary From Leeds (becoming a bit of a thing this, me and him on the same bill dropping new stuff!)

It's FREE entry - but you need a ticket which you can get HERE 

Elssewhere this week, in my limited, clustered headspace and Soundcloud page, I uploaded another track from The 90 Sick E.P, produced by Elian Gray, I present, None To Run. Enjoy. Hopefully.

 

New material @ Scratch That Hackney

Evening. This Thursday I'm gonna be trying out some new material at Scratch That Hackney in yes, you guessed it, Morden. No, not really, it's in Hackney, in the picturehouse up in the attic. It's pretty  banging in there, I did a spot back in May just before I dropped The 90 Sick E.P it's a really good way to try out stuff on a audience.

Either way, here's the Faceache link for the event details, I'm gonna be doing some stuff form this show I'm working on, which is an extension of the Sick E.P I mentioned abaove. It's a really good line-up, including Gary From Leeds who's also working ona new show. Should be a laugh!

What's happening / what's happened / what might happen

Yea. Summer's alright is'nt it? Who cares about the rain. I don't like getting wet but I like the rain. Any chance to look out of the window and not do anything other than watch the drops dribble down the glass, know what I mean?

I hope it does'nt rain this weekend though, becuase I'm off to SHAMBALA FESTIVAL and tents are one thing, tents and wellies are another thing, tents, wellies and mud can fuck right off. Tents, wellies, mud, and drunk/drugged up hedonstic kids can...anyway I'm looking foreward to it, belive it or not. It's my second year and I'll be performng on Friday and Sunday night with the NATURAL BORN STORY TELLERS. I like these lot, it's a whole different circle to the normal spoken word type gigs that I do, it's just stright real life stories, some of the guys on their rosta are brilliant. Check this video of Martha McBrier, met her last year, she's wicked.

 Yesterday, I was back down at my parents house sorting through some old stuff, making excuses to keep things that I probabaly have no use for, when I got a tweet through from Sabotage Reviews with a link to their review of the 90 Sick E.P launch back at Roundhouse in May. I was pretty chuffed with it, big up Lettie McKie. Have a look HERE. They gave me 4 stars, which I'm chuffed about, even though I don't really understand the whole stars system. 

'Paul has written an articulate series of personal stories that are very easy to relate to. The poems are nostalgic, laughing at but also relishing the silliness of being young, showing great affection for the characters who are struggling against inexperience and a tide of insecurities'

Listen/purchase the EP HERE

Back at the end of July I lead a week long series of workshops as part of the UNICORN THEATRE'S URBAN ARTS WEEK - looking at spoken word and rap (with a bit of singing and beatboxing). I was blessed to have a great group, really talented and indiviudally all really interesting, and as a whole, sick. As with all the other courses in that week, they all came togethor on the Friday and performed in a showcase. I've said this many times before, and I mean it, I actually prefer watching these youth showcases, more often than not, I think they're better, more engagaing and enjoyable to watch than their professional adult equivialnts. Here's a video of Darcy, Cee Cee and Jamal perfomring SOUTH SIDE, which they wrote themselvs during one of the sessions. (and which stayed in my head for days after!)

In other news, had a bit of time over the last few weeks to take stock of things, hence all of the old peoms I've been putting up. These last 2 / 3 years I've certianly learnt a lot and I'm hopefully going to be putting some of that into practise. Think I know where I want to go over the next few months, writing wise, don't want to say too much now but I'm pretty excited..

Have a banging last few weeks of summer.

Outspoken - Tues 28th July

Really excited for this one.Not been before but I hear it's a great night, great venue and looks like a banging line up too, and hosted by Berkavitch!

TICKETS

FACEBOOK PAGE 

 

The 90 Sick E.P Launch

The 90 Sick E.P Launch show 

30th May @ Roundhouse

1 P.M £7.50 

 TICKETS HERE

Me @ Keystone Monday 6th Guilford

TONIGHT, TONIGHT, TONGIHT!!!

Lyrix Organix @ Freeway Poets Bournemouth

Roll up roll up: Fresh from doing the Bedsit show again I'm off down to sunny Bournemouth with the Lyrix Organix crew, should be fun...

https://www.facebook.com/events/271490836380335/

Bang Said The Gun 18th Sep

Been a wee while since I've stepped on the Bang stage, legendary it is! Liz Bentley, me and all the usal Bang crew tomorrow night,. should be a blast

Misc Stuff, like the Poejazzi app and some gigs and that

Hello

It's a Monday and I'm reflecting. Last week was a good week, so I'm going to do a little roundup.

Poejazzi App

Those nice people over at Poejazzi have produced this sweet little poetry app, which has recorded audio, text, illustration and a whole host of banging poets. They are featuring one in each week and it was my turn last, (well actually it was the week before..). The piece I did is called Highland Blues, which I wrote probably about 2 years ago and is about growing up and seeing my father in myself, and that kind of thing. So far to feature has been Gareth Lewis, Molly Naylor, James Massiah, Rachel Rose Reid, Hollie McNish, Alex Gwyther, Catherine Martindale, Sean Mahoney, Anna Lee with more to come. You can download it for free from Itunes Google Play Samsung Apps

Gigs

I'm pretty fortunate to be on a really good run of gigs at the moment, the best one I've had in a long time, possibly ever. Over the last month I've featured at BoxedIn, Hector Hears, Streetfest, Come Rhyme With Me Crawley, but this Thursday I'm going to be heading up to Birmingham for the first time to feature at Hit The Ode  a night which is run by a great poet called Bohdan Piasecki  and Apples &Snakes. Then the friday after is the Brighton leg of Come Rhyme With Me.

Other Stuff

Last Thursday I was invited down to Christ's Hospital school in West Sussex to run a workshop. This came off the back of a Poetry From The Heart completion, where I met 2 of their students, Kobby Adi (who won the competition that night) and Leeza Awojobi. They told me about a Spoken Word club they run at their School and after a few emails from Leeza, I eventually went down there and met the group, who are all aged between 13 and 18 and have around 25 people that turn up each week to thier sessions. It's hard not be impressed by the school itself, which is a collection of huge old buildings set in the Sussex countryside, where they still preserve the old traditions of the school, like the tudor uniforms, however, what impressed me most was the group themselves. They run it all off their own backs and host their own events within the school.  There was a lot of talented people within the group, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of them start appearing on the spoken word radar in the near future.  I had a very nice time!

Come Rhyme With Me

Happy Friday and all that!

Tonight, I start a nice little 3-legged gig run with Come Rhyme With Me starting in Crawley today, then Brighton on May 16th (feat Sabrina Mahfouz and Kendel Hippolyte) and finishing May 30th in London (feat Moona Moon and Jay Bernard). 

Crawley is a town where I did a lot of my growing up and still have a lot of fond memories so I'm pretty excited, my parents are coming! It's part of the annual Crawley Wordfest which is a jam packed schedule of decent events happening around the town. The line up for Crawley features heavyweights Hollie McNish, Sabrina Mahfouz, and of course Dean Atta and Deanna Rodger who run the event. Come and reach!

Up-Coming Gigs

Hey

So I'm back out of the theatre and into doing spoken word gigs again, and a few people have been kind enough to book me! I have been working on new pieces so I'm looking forward to getting gigging again, here's what's coming up...

Hector Hears, April 24th

It's a new night, mixed line up, just how I like it, it's in South London too! It's a pretty tasty line up, have a butchers

CATE FERRIS
Captivating songstress on guitar, keys, drums & loopstation (Dizraeli & Small Gods)
http://www.cateferris.com/

K ANDERSON
Enchanting soul/folk singer-songwriter #Soulkulele
http://www.iam-kanderson.com/

PAUL CREE
Outstanding spoken word artist/writer; critically-acclaimed solo show Tales From The Bedsit (Roundhouse, BAC)
http://www.paulcreewrites.com/

PIERRE DA SILVA
Future acoustic soul star rising quickly through Lyrix Organix's ranks
http://youtu.be/aFUG_ms1Mco

Streetfest, May 4th 

Again, I've performed at this before, it's a whole day, which some big acts so should be fun, I'm on the un-signed stage, I think...

Come Rhyme With Me (Crawley WordFest)

oi oi back in the manor!!!!! Crawley is where I did a lot of my growing up, I lived next door in Horley but always went to school in Crawley, lots of my mates lived there, so I'm excited for this. Come Rhyme With Me is one of the best nights in london, and also Brighton, and their bringing it to Crawley! Sick line up too, Dean Atta, Deanna Rodger and guests, Hollie McNish, Sabrina Mafouz and me! There's a whole bunch of events going on for Crawley Wordfest too so worth checking out...I'm also performing at the Come Rhyme With Me events in Brighton on May 16th, and London on May 30th

Come Into The Garden, May 10th

Curated by the wonderful Lettie McKie, I think this one is an alfresco afair in the lovley surroundings of Duclich Village, yes I'm going in the word, good line up

Free
To celebrate Dulwich Artists Open House Lettie Mckie hosts a poetry open mic night with a difference. Surrounded by art of all shapes, sizes and genres (including Street Art), sip on our pink vodka cocktails, soothed by ambient jazz piano before settling in for an inspiring evening of spoken word and open mic. 
Our line up
// Sh’Maya
Sh’maya is a spoken word artist who will carry you away with his lyricism and unique performance style. His slick verbal riffs and incredible imagery will have you spellbound. http://www.shmaya.co.uk/
// Paul Cree
Hot off the press from performing his one man show a Tale from the Bedsit at Roundhouse and Battersea Arts Centre Paul is a calmly confident poet, his words understated and compelling.
http://www.paulcreewrites.com/
// Talia Randall
A founding member of Roundhouse’s first poetry collective Rubix Talia weaves insightful storytelling with thought provoking imagery drawn from her teenage years. http://www.taliarandall.com/

If you want a slot on the open mic just click 'attending' and write a request on the event page. Turn up early on the night to confirm your slot!

Why do I do all of this stuff?

Sometimes  

 I get asked, or have to try and explain, mainly in workshops and educational settings, why it is I choose to write and perform. There is a few different answers I often give, most of them are in the list below, but I think this is the first time I've ever sat down and tried to list them all togethor. I felt a bit wary doing this as there is a part of me that thinks it's a bit wanky and insincere, and I'm almost pretty sure if I did this next week, some of the answers would be different. Alas. here it is, hopefully my asnwers in future will be a little consisent.

 Why?

:    I enjoy the craft of creating something.

:    I think a lot, probably too much. Writing helps me organise my thoughts.

:    It helps me figure out my relationship with the environment around me

:    I can express my thoughts and feelings in a creative and constructive way.

:    If I'm writing something, I can take my time, cross out lines, change words and eventually work out what I want to say and how I want to say it. (I rarely ever won arguments whilst growing up, I still don't, it's much better for me this way.)

:    I enjoy the life-cycle of developing a piece of work, writing, editing, learning it, then practising it, practising some more, extra practising, then finally performing (with some last minute frantic practising). All of that, gives me a sense of achievement and a feeling of self-worth.

:    Performing allows me to connect with other people, which helps me further in understanding my relationship with the world around me and where I fit in. I've met some great people this way.

:    Sometimes, I get to perform in places I would probably never have gone to and meet new people I probably never would have met.

:    Though I'm often very nervous before I perform, I enjoy the crazy mixture of feelings I get from going on, being on and coming off stage.

:    I enjoy the camaraderie with other writers and performers, especially at festivals, they're always a good laugh.

:    Water, beer, juice and fizzy drinks all seem to taste nicer after a gig.

:    Everytime I come off stage, not knowing what the outcome would be when I stepped on the stage, and having done everything that my nerves, fears, worries, self-doubt and paranoia are telling me not to do, I feel like I've achieved something. It's these little victories which make me want to     overcome more of life's hurdles.

The Little People Return

  Autumn is here. So is October. I guess those two together are like Millwall and the bottom half of the Championship (and possibly League 1 if they don't stop letting goals in!) I'm drinking a lot of tea, but then again, I always do. Alas, it is not all doom and gloom for me...

This half term, 30th October till the 3rd November, I'll be once again, for the 4th time, be donning the white lab coat and comedy glasses in my role as Executive for The Great Escape (A Borrowers Tale). It's almost 2 years since we did the first run at Battersea Arts Center, it's since been to Chat's Palace, The Southbank Center (Imagaine Children's Festival), and now returns to Battersea Arts again. As ever, I'm looking forward to it, it's a lot of fun and really engages children's imaginations as we lead them on on interactive adventure around the building. It's a really good team to work with, I've learned a lot from these doing shows and I'm looking forward to seeing them all again!

 In other news I confirmed a gig this week for The Wordhouse which be will next month on the 16th November at the Blueberry Bar  near Old street.The main acts that night are none other than Polabear and Indigo Willmas I've never done this gig before, but it's celebrating it's 2nd birthday and has a really good reputation. Amy Stratton, who runs it, I met a few years ago and she's really passionate about the whole spoken word thing and seems to be putting on some really good nights. 

I took this quote form the facebook event page but you get my point .. "It has become an East End institution” God is in the TV magazine

Forthcoming EP and wee up date!

Hello!

It's Monday and I've just got back from Latitude festival yesterday, had a great time. I was performing as part of the 90's BPM show and apart from a 7 hour journey to get there from London, due to a man on the roof of Ipswich station with pants on his head (if you don't believe me read HERE) it was a whole heap of fun.

There's been a quite a few gigs of late, Purely festival, Brockley Jack Scratch to name a few, most with Conrad Murray who I work with regularly, we both had a lot fun. But on the 7th July I was invited to perfrom at the Cabaret Lounge, which is a night run by a singer and artist called Airlie Scott. I took Conrad with me and we did a full 25 minute set so I was able to mix it up with straight spoken word and music, which I don't get to do very often, I even played the snare drum for one of Conrad's solo tracks. It was a wicked night and we were well looked after. It was a different sort of gig to what I'm used to but I really enjoyed it. It's set in a restaurant called Toulouse Lautrec and is very well set up for small gigs, there's even a camera over the piano keys so the audience can see what the pianist is doing! Anyway, I was able to perfrom 2 tracks from the EP myself and Conrad are working on called The Dice That Rolled A 3, and luckily we had it filmed and recorded, so below is a one of those tracks, called No Frills. 

From next week, I go into the final development phase for my first solo show A Tale From The Bedsit so I'll keep you all posted. 

Enjoy

Paul

Lates@Flat Planet Thursday 2nd May

Hello!

I did this gig last year for Lates@FlatPlanet (the picture on the right hand side of the web was from there) and it was a special night, in fact the only place I've ever been asked to do an encore. It's a very intimate spot in the basement of Flatplanet just off Oxford Street and luckily enough they have asked me again for a slot.

It was a lot of fun last time and the spelt flatbreads are banging!

Hope to see you there!!

 Paul

The line up is as follows:

On Storytelling- Mr Steve Keyworth

On Performance-  Patrizia Paolini

On Songs- All The Queens Ravens with Laura Hillman

Poems - Paul Cree

Hosted by Lewis Barfoot
Light up magically by Nao Nao

Doors open 7.45pm
Show Starts 8pm
5 quid on the door

 

Come Rhyme With Me 2012

Happy New Year and all that. Have a wee look at the fresh E-Flyers for CMWM, which is a wicked event run by fellow Rubix members Deanna Rodger and Dean Atta. They theme the night around a menu and there is also the option of having a Caribbean meal. The night started back in July 2010 and I was lucky enough to be "The Starer" on the menu, it was also the day I left my old job, so fond memories. Since then, theve now expanded into Brighton, and this year I will be performing at both events in March, on the 15th (Brighton) and 29th (London). They line-ups are always top notch and the food is wicked too!

One Taste!

Tomorrow (Sunday 10th November) I'll be dong a set at the One Taste Festival in the Bedord in Balham. I'm pretty excited about it, there's sqillionsof acts on the day, music, theatre and of course spoken word. My dad played a gig there many years ago and so has my older brother.

Peep the line up:

Checking In

Greetings


It's been a wee while since I posted an update, the last few months have been nuts, to say the least!


Since the last update, just before The Crawley Wordfest, I went straight into intensive rehearsals for the now finished outdoor show Babel. It ran for 2 weeks in May and was easily one of the most amazing and challenging experiences I've ever had. There were many many people involved, there was rain, long days, rain, coldness, rain but a lot of fun which really pushed me in terms of being a performer and who I was lucky enough to be working with, and the fact that I got to go up in front of, on some nights over a 1000 people, who very much got into the spirit of things! 

An amazing on going project I'm currently working on, running since March, is the Apples & Sankes: Shake The Dust as a shadow poet at a school in the South East region. The Regional Final is at The Nuffield Theatre is on the 25th June, which I'm looking forward too.

After finishing Babel I went straight into rehearsals for a play by Boston Murray called Sex, Drugs and on the Dole in which I play a stoner called Fab. The last show is this Sunday which is also my birthday.

I'm also working on the BAC Homegrown programme which, as ever, provides excellent opportunities for 14-25 years old in the performing arts, it's a pleasure to be back there.

Well, that pretty much completes the round up!

Paul