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Vancouver poet Andrew Warner coming to the Nanaimo Bar

Andrew Warner kicks off 15 Minutes of Infamy spoken word season
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Photo courtesy Sophia Auza Vancouver poet Andrew Warner is performing at the Nanaimo Bar on Wednesday (Sept. 20) as 15 Minutes of Infamy begins its fall season.

Nanaimo’s 15 Minutes of Infamy spoken-word venue is kicking off its fall season with a performance by Vancouver-based poet Andrew Warner.

The slam poetry champion will be reading material from his latest collection, 2017’s Not for Everyone, But for Someone. Warner describes his performances as “like stand-up but with spoken-word poetry throughout.”

“My latest book that I wrote is a collection of, I’d say, half sad, half funny, silly poetry because I think there really needs to be a celebration and a partnership between the good and bad of life,” he said. “I don’t think that anybody’s life is either comedy or drama, so I think all art should be a little ‘dramedy,’ if I may. I know some people hate that word.”

He said one of his pieces is a “love poem” from a pile of garbage to a raccoon, while another poem states that holding in a declaration of love is as unhealthy as holding in urine.

Warner said that while some spoken word artists may prefer to memorize and recite their work word-for-word, he likes to incorporate improvisation and banter into his shows.

He said connecting with the audience is “the first aspect of the art.” It’s a lesson he learned from a weekend clowning workshop he attended at a nude hot yoga studio near a chicken processing plant in East Vancouver.

“We were a little out of our comfort zones, but they talked a lot about the philosophy behind clowning as an art form. They said it’s basically just getting people to express more raw emotions. To have more connection with the audience,” he said.

Warner said humour helps make that connection and makes it easier to discuss otherwise “uncomfortable” topics like sexuality, mental illness and politics, which appear in his work.

“I think what a lot of people are missing nowadays are those raw and honest types of storytelling that can be a little shocking at times. But I think where stand-up is changing today, now a lot of things are less shocking and less like, ‘That’s so inappropriate,’ and now they’re more like, ‘You’d share that about yourself?’” he said.

“My book also talks about having O.C.D. and I do have a lot of irrational thoughts or some, I guess, eccentric neuroses to me but those I think are fun to share. They’re fun for people to talk about and what’s really great is when I do connect with my audience on certain subjects or certain material, it’s always nice to have conversations afterwards. Then you get to see who’s opinion changed in the 30 minutes that you were performing.”

Also attending the 15 Minutes of Infamy season opener are musicians Jeffery Randall and Kevin Parker, poets John Beaton, Pat Smekal and Hillary Peach, as well as writer Susan Pederson.

WHAT’S ON … Vancouver-based spoken word artist Andrew Warner performs at the Nanaimo Bar on Wednesday (Sept. 20) at 7 p.m. Admission is $5.

arts@nanaimobulletin.com