Audible to be Accessible (Audio link)

Last week I performed at a North-London spoken word event called 'Verses' mainly for the sake of getting a new poem out that I've been dying to share. I have had an abundance of new poems go from pen to paper or finger to computer in recent months and I'm loving it. This one is basically a letter of complaint slash bitter love letter to one of my former favourite brands where snacks and guilty pleasures are concerned. I wrote it with conviction, sincerity and humour knowing that many other fans of the brand especially long-time fans, would relate. It made the crowd happy with laughter and I got my point across, even more so I intentionally tweeted it to the company in hope that they pay attention to customer feedback regardless of the form in which it is expressed.

Now although this performance was filmed by the organisers, on this occasion I wanted to record my myself for a specific purpose. In recent years I have seen a dramatic increase of disabled people of various disabilities and of all ages, however I've noticed an increase in young (up to 30yrs old) disabled people, well in London anyway. Blind people stand out to me a great deal and tend to gravitate towards me in general especially at train stations for some reason.

Anyway, I have come to be in awe of how some blind people make the best of their lives despite lacking sight. Knowing of Ray Charles and seeing Stevie Wonder achieve so and do so much, regardless of not being able to see the piano they were actually playing on always blew my mind. Only a month ago I learned about the astounding career Opera Singer Andrea Bocelli who lost his sight at age 12. Even Blind Fury who I saw on BET's 106 & Park freestyle rap battle (which was one of the best segments of that show by the way), blew me away at how he completely held his own.

I actually began writing a poem about a visually impaired young woman I saw walking with her rollerball white cane, semi-confidently on a hazardous, pot-holed, scaffold infested busy high street. Every pedestrian and driver stared at her in shock as did I, although I was thinking less of judgement and more of her safety. In comparison to watching the men on TV, I'd say that watching and observing this lady in person left the greatest impression on me with regard to empathy.

I have become more mindful with the acknowledgement that other than road crossings, free parking, certain door entries, discounts, some public toilets and some technologies; still many daily life things do not consider the blind, deaf or physically disabled (e.g. Wheelchairs). In recent years I have simply grown a large appreciation and a whole lot of respect for people living with disabilities, blindness in particular and have started to be more considerate of their needs in regards to my own business activities.

With that said I know that there is always braille however, reading poetry or seeing a spoken word performance in all its glory is not going to be fully received by blind people. Yet that does not mean they they can't be entertained by it in another form i.e. Audibly. So I want to reach out to blind audiences more by voice recording my performances for them. This will also give me good reason to be more active with my Soundcloud page that I do not update often. I'd love to have my poetry be more accessible to a wider audience this way or similar. I much prefer to do voice recordings as opposed to video ones anyway for both the ease and comfort, although this audience was my sole motivation, as it is for me to do audible versions of future books and the recent idea to upload readings of my food blog posts.

Verses was a fun night that fully made up for the crap night I had earlier in the week at a show that invited me down just to waste my time. It was all positive vibes, good poetry and friendly people. My stage experience was funny for me not even due to the content of what I was saying, it was due to a dog running up to me in the middle of my performance, my dry eyes watering like crazy ironically effecting my vision and my hay fever provoking that further.

To say I was multi-tasking and keeping my cool was an understatement. Watery eyes and interrupting animals aside, I pushed through my performance being the pro that I am. I'm just pre-warning you for some moments on the recording that may throw you off. Take a listen, share with any blind poetry lovers and enjoy!


@LK_ReelDeevah

I'm Hysterical- Take 2

A couple of years ago, time flies so fast, I had a great time performing at a spoken word event called You're Hysterical. On my last appearance I performed a throwback poem of mine from nearly a decade ago appropriately titled 'Short Cummings,' that both cracks up and pisses off the crowd depending on who has experienced that dilemma. Along with another throwback comical poem and one more from my book. With this upcoming appearance I will be performing all new poems that I can't wait to share.

As I get asked about my book all the time and still want to cater to loyal fans, if you attend this event with poems from my book in mind rest assure that I'll be carrying SIGNED COPIES WITH ME, packaged nicely in promotion of its 4th anniversary.

My performance in question that is taking place next month, is in fact (used to be spelled as one word 'infact' according to the diction I knew growing up in England) being featured in the celebrations of their 2 year anniversary. There is much to celebrate, come on down!

THURS 12th SEPTEMBER 7pm-10pm

@ THE STAR OF KINGS

126 YORK WAY, KINGS CROSS

LONDON N1 0AX

ENTRY FEE: £5

More info on Facebook

I have 2 complimentary tickets available on a first come (be the first to notify me and I'll reserve them for you) first serve basis, so contact me asap to snatch those up ;-)

I'm Present During My Absence

Long-time no blog. I apologise for those that have been on the lookout for any 2019 updates only to not receive any unless you of course check out my Twitter page. Although I'm not the biggest fan of social media I have come to appreciate Twitter and LinkedIn (that I haven't been able to log onto since last year funnily enough) but you really should follow me via @LK_ReelDeevah if regularity on updates, activity and connectivity is what you seek from a professionally friendly stand point.

The past 7 months have been interesting, difficult, confusing, enlightening, somewhat exciting and all other adjectives that left me in deep thought with the need to distance myself. In many ways I have been on my own island, in a much needed reclusive state of mind to indeed exercise my mindfulness. This just means that as a consequence of many events and reflection, I have been making firmer choices to focus on myself more in a healthier holistic way.

However, despite my noticeable absence and sporadic appearances in regard to self-promotion, online activity and social circles. I have in many ways still been very present. My eye is not off the ball, it's just that my interests and priorities have changed- for the better. It goes without saying that I have still been working all this time, developing my projects and what have you. Furthermore my greeting cards continue to push the bar and celebratory emotions. Some of my recent creations have been very 'wordy' pun intended.

 

These are two designs in particular that I have had in mind for a couple of years and have only just had the right opportunity to be unleashed. I just didn't expect them to be made around the same time however I can't control the costumers needs- that I'm happy to meet. Outside of the orders I receive, I am making a few more cards that will be featured in something that I am working on.

What I have really been excelling at though, excelling as far as baby steps go, is cake decorating! You don't understand, this means the world to me as I have been wanting this forever, before wanting to pursue film, publishing and even before I went to culinary school. It all felt so far out of reach that I would only bake and cake decorate vicariously through television shows like Cake Boss and Cupcake Wars. I began pushing my love for cake decorating with my dessert table designs via my events company. I was just testing the waters as making dessert tables was the best excuse for that creative side of me to finally go into action.

 

My designs completely outdid my baking I must say, although it was the perfect opportunity to improve on my cake decorating skills regardless of how minimal. To learn to bake properly and make delightful glorious cakes and pastries has long and I mean like 25yrs long, been a dream of mine. I will make that happen dammit. More of that and my foodie experiences can be seen on my beloved  Deevah's Cravings blog. My food writing hasn't been on hiatus during this time, as food is another kind of joy that will demand attention and dedication from me more so. On that blog you'll find food stories and food porn to salivate over.

The best thing that I've been doing this year and what I've been most excited about is my reignited writing of poetry FOR ME. For the past five years, I have had off and on writing blocks when it came to writing or completing poems spontaneously or just for the fun of it. This also goes for writing stories, my food novel and old incomplete scripts that were and are of great importance to me. In turn, without fully realising it at the time I have dedicated that passion and motivation to writing for others and completing other written projects under commission.

This in some ways was good because it brought in business nonetheless and made customers happy which made me happy, but the huge problem that followed was the inevitable pile up of missed out opportunities and unfinished, un-started things that I wanted to achieve personally! That was driving me mad. My sh*t kept falling into the back burner for more new sh*t that meant less to me. Although I managed to get the odd thing done on that list, the reality is that years were going by of unmet goals or unmet needs of personal creative expression. This can devastate an Artist or any type of creative individual who just wants to create any and everything that comes to mind, especially when you're passionate about it.

I am glad to say that, that self-imposed dilemma is becoming no more and it feels wonderful. Dec-Jan in particular I wrote 3 new poems out of the blue AND TO COMPLETION! That meant everything to me. One of them I performed at She Grrrowls. I have noticed a little pattern in my recent poems; Dec-Jun although they are all different there's a theme they share between them being that of lifestyle, loss, desires, children, opinions and mother-daughter relationships. The content has been quite vulnerable whether I'm speaking my truth or that of someone else's. The ones involving parenting and family dynamic banter isn't even from my perspective, such as many things that I have come to write they simply came from a source of observation and passiveness.

My poems are also getting increasingly longer which I didn't even think was possible as I am known to have long poems anyway (not the longest ever heard but I am known to write in excess). It hurts my hands while doing so but while I'm writing or typing I'm saying to myself "I just need to get this sh*t out!" That is also one of the many benefits of getting back to writing for the sake of saying what I want to say even if it's just for my eyes and ears only, is that I do not need to concern myself with cutting it down to make it shorter or more comfortable for others. I can just do me and lessen the anxiety of people-pleasing, which again feels wonderful.

This week I wrote a poem about falling out of love with Haribo sweets, for those that know me they know that one hits home as also seen on my food blog. The loss is real, quite a humorous yet relatable piece. I look forward to performing that one and two more out of the 7-8 poems written so far in the near future. As a Poet it is natural for me to write with a performance in mind or the thought of it being read by someone, however such as with this blog entry that has been a bit of an obstacle to complete, I have to bear in mind my friend's wise words "Not everything needs to be shared." With that said, I know to keep some things to myself in both regard to what I could add to this post and what I have written in my new poems. At the end of the day I wrote those for me for therapeutic reasons and therefore consider them to be private diary entries. What I will share will be intriguing nevertheless don't get it twisted ;-)

Until then, wish me baking progress and more continued success with my mindfulness journey. I wish everyone, even more so my loyal supporters and anyone going through heavy things that are making you anxious or unhappy, more and more brighter days.


@LK_ReelDeevah

Highlights of 2018

In less than 24hrs we will be entering the year of 2019. There has been plenty exciting, conflicting, turbulent, goosebump raising things that have come from the past 12 months for me. There have been many personal life changing events, milestone celebrations that included the 3rd year anniversary of my book release, the 10 year anniversary of my events business Infiniti Promotions which really had me in deep thought about everything that I have put into that venture since my university days of a struggling film student turned events entrepreneur. The ups and downs of the past decade in that regard has put a lot of things into perspective for me. I have grown a lot of which has given me much to reflect upon, and reflecting on my achievements and lessons learned are where my celebrations went as opposed to having a party as one may have expected.

2018 brought me plenty opportunities such as fun and memorable performances throughout the year, plenty business offers, unexpected sponsorship, press, as well as the ongoing pleasure of book sales and making new readers happy as seen in my growing online reviews.

 

  

There was also the 'stepping up my game' creativity of my card designs for my customers this year.

There was of course my stage play and the fortune of good reviews. Work-wise the majority of the year was based around the play considering all the pre-prduction and marketing that goes into just a 60min one-off show. It sounds ridiculous but from working in film and knowing that it takes months to years to complete just one 3min-120min production (of any kind), as well as observing my Music Producer friends take forever just to make a 3-4min track, with all that said it makes sense. Audiences just have no idea most of the time, it takes a lot of work and my word was it overwhelming being my first-time (under-staffed) and all.

The entire show including the meet 'n' greet at the end went so fast, it does make you as the Performer and Producer think to yourself "Really!" But it was fun and a "butterflying" experience despite the fact that I am used to performing all the time, the butterflies were still there. I was breaking into theatre and introducing myself into the world of Fringe so there was much to learn and absorb. The feedback was tremendous I must say, I am extremely grateful for it all :-)

Production photography by Irinia Chira.

I had the privilege of having great interviews leading up to the play between LondonTheatre1, Love Camden and Conscious Radio.

This year had a lot going on and a lot going in general, I am glad that it has come to an end so that I can embrace my new lifestyle, mindset, thus the changes that is to come of next year. As usual I am full of goals and active planning however, unlike in the past specifically referring to my twenties, I am going to take things slower in my thirties in order to have more enjoyment, better judgement and less anxiousness.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year ;-)

She Grrrowls (Performance)

Next week I'm performing at the well known Poetry Café in London. There will be an all female line-up hence the title I suppose, and depending on my level of satisfaction after completing this new piece I'm writing....I will share it with the audience. Everyone loves an exclusive. For some strange reason I have not been able to finish a poem for myself this year, or I'd finish one but wouldn't feel comfortable sharing it so lately it's a big deal if I actually do complete and share!

My performance will be the sh*t either way don't get it twisted ;-)

SHE GRROWLS

Fri 7th Dec 7pm

@ The Poetry Café

22 Betterton Street

Convent Garden

WC2H 9BX

TICKETS: £2-5.00

More info on Facebook and Eventbrite.

Long Lives the Queen of Soul, Gospel and Swag

I've been up all night distracted from my much needed sleep with the infatuation of Aretha Franklin's funeral. It is really sad that celebrity deaths have become so frequent and expected now that I fear we are becoming impervious towards it per se. I just can't believe that within five years we've lost such huge icons being the likes of Whitey Houston, Bowie, Prince, Muhammad Ali and the list sadly goes on.

However now with the likes of Aretha Franklin, yes she was of age, yes she died of the ever common, ever devastating widespread disease of cancer, so with that said we saw this coming but nevertheless it is still a great heart dropping loss to those who grew up on her music and to the music industry on a whole. I can't stand to be left with less and less, meaningful music legends as we won't have much after left them truth be told. That statement is me reiterating the lack of quality as opposed to the obvious lack of quantity.

From all the footage that I have seen and read about Aretha these past couple weeks, most of which I already knew, it is great to be acknowledged of how powerful she really was up till her dying day and not just in her 'heyday'. Did you know that she owned most of her publishing!? That's practically unheard of especially for an Artist of her time. Her business of her entire estate was on point which I suppose explains why she persevered so well throughout the decades. As debatable as it may be, I only know of Cher and Barbara Streisand to have ongoing profitable and high in demand careers that have surpassed each decade from as far back as the 60's. That's amazing.

Her estate is estimated to be worth near a billion dollars- and I should hope so if Jessica Simpson's and Kylie Jenner's brands are of that amount (according to Forbes) within such a short space of time and to a smaller audience. Most people would only think of Michael Jackson and The Beatles when it comes to that kind of money for a Musicians catalogue of work, understandably.

I never knew she could play the piano up till now either. I have found that many other Singers have that hidden talent but show it less such as Toni Braxton and Mary J Blige, George Michael could play the piano too.

The songs I will always remember Aretha for is R.E.S.P.E.C.T, Natural Woman of course and A Rose Is Still A Rose which I think is written by Lauryn Hill well she featured on the track anyway. The message behind the song and music video (when music videos had more integrity) stood out to me so much when I was coming of age, and no doubt contributed to my attitude towards males at the time and assisted with abstinence quite well. It is a story and rule that all women have been told but that video is one I paid great attention to. That was her targetting a younger audience quite adequately at the time I might add.

Only now did I realise that R.E.S.P.E.C.T was more of a Black pride anthem than a feminist anthem. I always saw how the message crosses over because many people (mostly Black women I recall) used that specific chorus as a reference in regard to both race and gender relations but overall, as a child listening to it I just saw it as a female empowering song. Through all the archives coming to surface I have been so elated to see her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement, it reminds me of Nina Simone and other courageous and righteous Black celebrities who overlooked their 'Hollywood' likability to fight for equality.

I love all the pictures of her with her afro and African inspired clothing, very much of the time and statement making. For her in particular I mean, as I know that this particular look is also increasingly popular today, contemporary in many ways in many locations and African fashion can be found anywhere any day without it having to be a political statement.

All the love and out-pour between eulogies and memories have me weeping. Smokey Robinson's eulogy touched me the most because his was so personal. Aretha meant so much to so many and was in a complete league of her own. I don't know anyone else who so effortlessly crossed between Gospel, Soul, R'n'B, Pop, Jazz and Opera! I hated that it took forever for people (news outlets) to mention when she stepped in for Pavarotti as that performance was huge!!

Many Artists have broken through Gospel to do the Blues then consequently Soul as that was the 'movement' or should I say 'reoccurring struggle' at the time e.g. Ray Charles and Al Green, but to do it, do well and go beyond while being believable is a whole 'nother ball game and she achieved that. Aretha succeeded in crossing over while sticking to her roots and continuously bringing it back to Gospel. I love that Aretha made the album Amazing Grace in 1972 and that it did not break or deter her career but in fact became the biggest selling Gospel album to date at the time of its release!!! C'mon!

Typical of my generation I didn't realise just how sampled her music was. I knew she re-recorded fellow Artists records herself but I did not quite realise how much of her music has also been used particularly in modern day R'n'B and Hip Hop, no doubt some Pop songs too. En Vogue's Something He Can feel stands out to me the most as my mother is a huge En Vogue fan, thus making me a fan and I remember singing that song aloud at their concert as a child which I had no business singing at that age but I knew the lyrics word for word and loved their voices and glamour.

Aretha Franklin's career, ongoing work ethic and swag leaves me in awe. There's a great video clip, kind of like a meme that I saw on Twitter the day the news broke of her death, where she walks onto a stage with a fur coat on making her presence felt with each strutted step and she shrugs her luxurious (sorry PETA) fur off her shoulders and onto the floor as she grabs the microphone- like a BOSS. That clip was so swaggerlicious it's not funny.

Rest In Power Queen of Soul.

Press, Play

1 week until my theatre debut, it's crunch time!

Time flies so fast, as we all know. I planned on posting an update about 4 weeks ago but I got busy and when I did dedicate a few hours to do so (yes it always takes hours to blog), technical issues reared its ugly head and had me cussing to the extent that I just thought "F*ck it" and that was that to put it bluntly.

There's been so much going on between script development, rehearsals, photoshoots, set design, wardrobe, administration, promotion including; performances, advertising, meet and greets, radio interviews and general PR. Google it and see all that comes up within the first 3 pages, which is obviously more fun to do for me than it would be for you as it's personal to me. It's my hard work, my investment and my excitement goes into seeing the ball rolling! By the way, if and when you do have the patience to look it up via any random search engine, in the unlikely case that porn or anything heinous and non-related comes up with the same title IT IS NOT MINE! Just putting that out there as I have seen mishaps happen and it's funny but not funny. Also I cannot believe how many Lauren Kaye's there are out there- Authors too WTF!

The press and PR includes an interview I did with London Theatre 1, Love Camden- Close Ups and a return appearance on Conscious Radio to name a few. As well as listings on various theatre, event, culture and community websites such as UK Theatre Web, Off West End, Afridiziak, Remote Goat etc. The performances include a lovely return to the newly relocated Dial Up at Improv Theatre, of where my play could've initially taken place regarding the offers I received during the Camden Fringe application process. That show was a particularly fun experience- tears and all, you'd have to of been there to understand. Similarly, another highlight performance was my return to the newly relocated FLO Vortex at Hideaway Jazz Club by Floacist which was a great night. The enthusiasm from the audience, post-show even, was so tremendous that I went home smiling.

It's been long, semi-exhausting but all still thrilling nonetheless, I'm getting butterflies. I write and perform poetry all the time so to perform to an audience, especially a dedicated audience of mine, isn't what's got me all over the place. It's the Producer and Director roles that I miss dearly but now have to channel in a new direction (theatre as opposed to film/video), that's got me like this. As well as the fact that is it literally a one woman show, 'control freak' and 'one-woman-army' is an under-statement here but it's all good.

Life is so funny, you make one plan and it makes another for you. I swear I said this recently? Anyway, not even in addition to your original plan but sometimes just erasing your plans altogether to be like "No! This is what you're going to do..." And you just have to role with it. This has been a very challenging year for me in many different ways but this project, specifically the finale (the exhibition of it) is going to be my 2018 highlight- a climax of a highlight for me.

I don't want to have bags under my eyes on the night but judging how the actual show is set to play out, I suppose it'll be convenient if the dark under eyes stay for the sake of performance, as unattractive as they'll look between the time. It's all good. That's my motto for now.

Here's some behind the scenes footage and promo pics for ya.

I'm in awe at the realisation that it has been 3yrs since I self-published I'm All In and that I still have 5 STAR RATINGS ON AMAZON!!! As well as continuous 5* verbal ratings from people who come up to me when I do book readings or perform at shows! Nothing can top that in respect of my expectations during the making of that little gem. Now I am finally adapting it into a play as desired, well not quite as desired but a taster of what I have in mind theatrically........."Pinch me"....actually don't because I'll most likely slap you.

Thank you so very much for all the love and support that I have been getting. Each of your moments of kindness, encouragement and joy for my personal/professional joy has melted my heart and kept me going.


See you there,

@LK_ReelDeevah