Rob Stamford is a local performance poet. He comes from t'other side o'Pennines, but he is the archetypal Northern poet: a beer, pie and chips-loving leftie, who brings his own personality out in his humourful and satirical poems.
I'm not entirely sure why there were only three people in the audience (myself and two of his friends), but there had been talk of the show being cancelled, and this is, afterall, a Fringe Festival, and so these things can (and do) happen.
I'm not entirely sure why there were only three people in the audience (myself and two of his friends), but there had been talk of the show being cancelled, and this is, afterall, a Fringe Festival, and so these things can (and do) happen.
Stamford started his set with his self-penned Chipping Forecast, and we were asked to count the number of times he mentioned 'chips' throughout his performance, the winner being given a copy of his latest book of poetry. I lost count at about 60, but he never came back to this at the end in any case -perhaps due to there being only three of us!
I can see Stamford gaining popularity as a performance poet in the back rooms of pubs being given a 'spot' in a local 'slam'; however, listening to him reading his poems for a full hour as part of a Fringe Theatre Festival was, especially due to the lack of audience, a little awkward and repetitive.
His poetry could also be considered quite inflamatory and contentious. He made no bones about showing his political colours, his likes and dislikes, with thinly-veiled commentary on racism, the ecology and vegetarianism etc. - and I lost count of the number of times he used the word 'wazzock' in both his commentary and his poems.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
His poetry could also be considered quite inflamatory and contentious. He made no bones about showing his political colours, his likes and dislikes, with thinly-veiled commentary on racism, the ecology and vegetarianism etc. - and I lost count of the number of times he used the word 'wazzock' in both his commentary and his poems.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 19.9.21
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