New Ideas for Live Entertainment Shows

For the past several years, I have attended the Uptown Poetry Slam at the Green Mill in Chicago.  I like this sort of thing because you have various people come up on stage and entertain people by reciting poetry.  I have made it a performance outlet for myself, because I enjoy writing and performing rap.  This seems to go over well with the audience, and I feel good about that.

What I would like to see is another type of show similar to the poetry slam, except that the participants all perform rap.  Years ago, I got an email advertising a "rap battle" show that was supposed to be "just like 8 Mile."  I didn't get a chance to attend the show because it was at a distant location, but I wonder if such a show exists anywhere.  If it is anything like 8 Mile, you would have a DJ bring up a rap beat on his DJ equipment, and you get 45 seconds to do a rap.  Of course, I wouldn't be doing a true "battle" where you have to throw insults at someone in the form of rap lyrics, and they do it back to you, but it would still be fun to get up there and do a rap along with other people who rap about various topics.

There is another concept I have for a show, and I don't think I have ever seen it done anywhere.  I call it a "parody show."  In this day and age, if you write your own lyrics to a song, you can perform it very easily by finding a karaoke track on YouTube for the background music and singing over that with your original lyrics.  It would be cool if this idea were turned into a live show where everybody comes up on stage and performs a parody.  You check in with the DJ, telling him what karaoke track you need, and possibly giving the title of your parody.  Then when your name is called, the DJ pulls up your track on YouTube, and you rock the mic with your parody lyrics.  For example, I wrote my own lyrics to the Billy Joel song "A Matter Of Trust."  I would tell the DJ to bring up that Billy Joel karaoke track and sing my own lyrics to a parody I wrote called "Give Other Guys A Try."

If a "parody show" really existed, it could include a "featured act" like the Uptown Poetry Slam does.  The show could have someone like the Great Luke Ski perform his famous parodies.

So, perhaps if the Green Mill has an off night, we can establish a rap battle show or a parody show, and get a crowd there.  Let's go for it!