Slam Rules

Sign-Up:

Sign-up is an open sign-up and is first-come-first-served. If you have performed before, you may be added to a waiting list and will be included in the evening’s slam if there are no new slammers.

Scoring:

​The judges will score each performance on a scale from 0.0 to 10.0. If we have a full set of five judges, the highest and lowest scores are dropped and the three scores in the middle are added together. The sum of the middle three scores is your score for the round.

Judges:

Your poem and performance will be judged by five randomly selected audience judges. Judges are not required or expected to have any experience with poetry or slams. Every effort is made to select a diverse group of judges that preferably do not have any connections to any of the competing poets. If a poet has a problem with any of the judges selected, they should notify the host before the competition begins.

Team Pieces:

Team pieces are allowed at Urban Legends in the first round! This means that you can perform a collaborative poem with one other poet in round one. Both poets will receive the same score, but will compete as separate competitors in round two. Note that team-pieces are not allowed for qualifier slams!

Original Work:

Poets must perform original work. No covers.

Length:

You have three minutes to perform one poem in each round, unless otherwise informed of a special time limit. Poems written in parts (i.e., eight haikus about winter) are allowed if they are performed as one piece. For certain competitions, the time limit may be different; this will be communicated in advance.

Time Penalties:

A half-point is deducted from your overall score for every ten seconds you go over time, starting at 3:10 (in a standard three-minute round). For example: if your performance is 3:09:59, you are in the clear. If it is 3:10, 0.5 points will be subtracted from your score, if it reaches 3:20, 1 point will be subtracted, and so on.

Props & Costumes:

You cannot use props, costumes, or musical accompaniment. Any item that you do not require to perform is considered a prop. Wear whatever clothes you choose, but if they are obviously tied to your piece (e.g., wearing a TARDIS onesie for a poem about how much you love Doctor Who), or if you reference them in your piece (e.g., saying “I love these glasses” or pointing at your t-shirt while mentioning it), that will be considered a prop violation. Any accessibility devices such as Augmentative and Alternative Communication devices are allowed. HOWEVER, anything on the stage which is accessible to ALL performers is fair game and will not be considered a prop violation (e.g., using the microphone wire as a jump rope or making a dramatic entrance from behind the theatre curtains).

Musical Accompaniment:

You cannot use any musical instruments or recorded music for your performance. Feel free to incorporate any sounds that you can make with your body alone. You can beat box, make arm pit noises, whistle, or sing. You cannot break out the kazoo or bring a beat loop. Any accessibility devices such as Augmentative and Alternative Communication devices are allowed.

Nudity:

No Nudity. (Sorry)