The Newcomers Rock at "Rock n' Roll" Slam, Sept 17

The Newcomers Rock at "Rock n' Roll" Slam, Sept 17
by Cheryl Hamilton

Slam Winners: Pat Healy, Theresa Okokon, Darlene White

So, I am feeling like a bad Massmouth blogger. I agreed to review the opening slam at Club Passim this season and then I deliver my assignment a week late. The theme for the night was “Rock n’ Roll” and any editor at Rolling Stone would have fired me five days ago. [Editor's note: Nah girl!  You rock!]

My only consolation is that it wasn’t like I was sitting around in Arlington, getting high on grass laced with ‘angel dust’ like Marty Levin in his story about leaping into the arms of the police at a rock concert; I was actually in Los Angeles, where slam host Scott Schultz spent nearly a decade working in comedy (watch him tell his 'sacrificial' story) and where I mingled with a few stars myself at a fundraiser for refugees this week. For the record, I never thought I would meet Weird Al Yankovich in real life. 

Scott, looking so official.

Despite my tardiness, leaving for L.A. on the heals of another great slam was the perfect departure. As usual, the tellers impressed and Scott kept us all entertained throughout the night with his serial story of a friend’s police chase down Hollywood Boulevard (where I drove on Thursday). In fact, several of the stories throughout the night involved adventures in cars, including Susan Seidman’s spring break trip in a VW bus. She may have missed Woodstock but she will never forget the life lesson to “just get on the damn bus.”  

First time teller Darlene White also shared her road trip to an Elvis concert, which she didn’t actually want to attend - if for no other reason than her mother loved Elvis and Darlene didn’t like her mother: a woman who subscribed to the National Enquirer and insulted her daughter for pursuing college beneath a “pancake of smoke.” Squeezed into the backseat between fans with Elvis belt buckles the size of license-plates, Darlene discovered just how much her degree in literature flamed her disdain for the King’s lyrics. In her words, “In the ghetto, yeah, REAL deep….” In the end, Darlene impressed the audience much like how Elvis inevitably impressed her and she earned the audience choice award for the night.(Watch it here!)

David Briola was sure Elvis meant the end of the world...

Elvis was in the house more than once last Monday. David Briola recalled “Elvis the Pelvis” in his story and how he really believed the King would “destroy all the good in the world” when he was young, before his musical appreciation evolved and hormones began to rage. Michael Anderson approached the night’s theme similarly. Following a cutting question from his 12 year old son about whether Michael was ‘cool’ when he was young, the father defended three decades of musical choices from his Sex Pistol craze to Mission of Burma and Bob Marley concerts.

Tori Piskin couldn’t tell a concert story because she couldn’t actually get into concerts at 19 without using a fake ID, which she eventually had to steal back from the bouncer to avoid further trouble from her friend’s sister. Meanwhile, another new teller, Robbie Hill couldn’t go to concerts in Vermont without organizing them himself. Stuck in Burlington with a car, job, and a condo, life got boring pretty quick for the former party animal from the big city. Fortunately, he found salvation in organic popcorn and hopefully a dust buster for the kernels underneath the couch cushions.

"Sales-force sucks..."

Hai Jung Kim reminded us that rock n’ roll doesn’t always have be found in music. Sometimes it is enough to defiantly declare that “sales-force sucks” to our boss or to deliver a sandwich to someone who is hungry and seeking human kindness.

Overall, Theresa Okokon from Wisconsin took second place at the slam. Yet another first time teller, Theresa surprised the audience with her opening line about unintentionally coming out as a lesbian on Facebook and continued to rock the rest of her story about being stood up at an Ani DeFranco concert by a friend who was behaving like she was at Woodstock and how we don’t always draw the boundaries with friends we should. (Watch it here!)

Finally, the last newbie of the night, Pat Healy placed first for his self-deprecating story about his “Roots Rocks Radio” show in high school and his unusual dedication to the caller who requested a song “he could “bang his f*&*#* head on the desk to…”

Pat Healy fields an angry call from "Carlos"...

Although we may never know how the caller reacted when, “Babe I love you” by the Styxx started playing over the airways, the image of Pat’s mother rescuing him from the station just in case 'Carlos' did come looking for the high school freshman with a baseball bat was priceless.

After attending only two slams this season, I am already looking forward to the encore performances at the semi-finals in the spring. Until then, see you at the next slam – this Saturday at Rosebud Bar in Davis Square. The theme is 'Labels' - like records but different.


To learn more about what Cheryl was doing in L.A. visit http://www.refugepoint.org/ !

All photos courtesy of Paula Junn. http://www.paulajunn.com/

[Editor's note:  Thanks again to all our incredible volunteers: judges, photographer, videographer, and all others who make these slams possible.  We couldn't do this without you.]
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Cheryl Hamilton recently moved to Arlington from Maine and is a guest blogger for massmouth.com. When she is not performing her one woman show, Cheryl works for the Cambridge-based international non-profit RefugePoint, which provides lasting solutions for the most vulnerable refugees in Africa.

www.cherylhamilton.com