Monday the 1st December saw the return of Loughborough’s outstanding performance poetry event, Speech Bubble. Attila the Stockbroker, the main headline act for the evening, stated, both verbally and on his T-shirt, that poetry is not boring, and indeed it wasn’t.
The night began by showcasing Loughborough’s own talents, giving students a platform to express their work with an open-mic session. There was a wide array of topics, including Stephen Thomas’ inventive and witty poem about making sacrifices in relationships, where he likens himself to Christ, complaining of his ‘shampoo destiny’. Serena Gainda also gave a poignant performance, reciting a poem called ‘Non Recyclable’, in which she talks about failure and the inability to overcome it. The talent continued with Miffy depicting the horrors of cleaning in a grimy hotel, to one of Speech Bubble’s own organisers, Charlie Staunton, with his comic poem about getting out of bed in the morning. The talent demonstrated from all the performers was incredible, and a true testament to the poetic skill of students at Loughborough. Indeed, Rupert Ibbotson, a first time performer at Speech Bubble stated: I thought it was a really good event. After watching both last year, I wanted to participate for once and yeah, I loved the diversity and range of material on offer. I was terrified about the reaction to it but I appreciated how supportive Charlie and Sophie were beforehand and on the day and yeah, I think they should do them more regularly now. Furthermore, as organisers Sophie-Louise Hyde and Charlie Staunton commented: ‘to see the range of wonderful open-mics and so many students trying performance poetry for the first time, as well as packed out room, made the whole organisation process totally worth it. Zia Ahmed and Attila the Stockbroker’s performances were the icing on top of a very large cake!’
Zia and Attila really did demonstrate true talent, treating us to a plethora of poems. Zia’s poems predominately focused on topical race-related issues, such as a lack of individuality due to the colour of one’s skin, or the prejudice that immigrants are subject to. However, amidst the serious issues, Zia managed to inject a sense of humour into his poems, incorporating his own versions of famous pop songs and jokes. Particular favourites were ‘I whip my beard back and forth’ and ‘Doctor, Doctor, I feel like a pair of curtains.’
The audience was also treated to the amazing Attila the Stockbroker’s, a ‘loud, lover of words’ and a ‘ranting, rebel MC’, who has been a professional poet for over thirty years. His topics on Monday Night ranged from the 1980s Miner’s strike, to the emotional difficulties of having a Mum with Alzheimer’s, which left everyone with a tear in their eye. He is evidently left-wing orientated, as demonstrated by his comic poem, named the ‘UK Gin Dependence Party’; a satirical piece in which he criticises the upper-middle class, the Daily Mail, and Farage. All of Attila’s poems were bold, brave and unique, and made wonderful listening.
To conclude with a closing statement from our co-ordinators: ‘organising Speech Bubble this year has been a great experience. It’s a lot of hard work but an absolute blast at the same time. The students involved in our Marketing Team have been a fantastic addition to the process and the fresh design of Chris Sharples’ poster means that we can already begin organising March’s event.’ See you all in March, for a night that promises to be as good as the first.
