How to go
What: George Watsky
When: 8 p.m. April 30
Where: Fitton Center, 101 S. Monument Ave. Hamilton
Cost: $15 members, $17 nonmembers. Call (513) 863-8873
HAMILTON — It is not at all unusual for speakers to come to the Fitton Center, but it is a bit unusual speaking to be classified as “entertainment.”
Nevertheless, that’s what’s happening this Saturday, when George Watsky appears at Fitton as part of the EntertainmentPLUS series — and he doesn’t sing or play a note.
Watsky is the Brave New Voices International Poetry Slam Champion, a veteran of HBO Def Poetry, the NAACP Image Awards on Fox, and a recipient of Robert Redford’s Sundance Summit award for his poetry on climate change.
Jodi Fritsch, Fitton’s marketing director, said she saw Watsky at a conference a few years ago and thought he would be a unique attraction to Fitton.
“We’ve never had a spoken-word artist before,” Fritsch said.
What Watsky is not, exactly, is a stand-up comedian. He will stand up and may deliver a joke or two, but his talk won’t be a series of gags.
“It’s about an hour of work, with pretty broad topics covered. It’s like storytelling in poetry,” Watsky said.
That includes poems about the likes of wanting to grow up to be a robot, for instance.
“It’s not punchline storytelling. It’s very much crafted and very different from stand-up comedy,” Watsky said.
He especially likes being able to turn the tone very quickly.
“You can be funny at any given moment, but then you can turn on a dime and be serious. It’s kind of an intersection of all my interests,” Watsky said.
Asked how people respond to his work, Watsky said, “Well, I’ve been able to make my living at it since I graduated from college. ... I’d like (audiences) to feel inspired to pursue what they’re passionate about.”
The cost for the event is $15 for members and $17 for non-members.
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ontact this reporter at (513)
705-2836
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