It's ironic because although I knew that these were great opportunities that I would benefit from, these two shows were also the upcoming appearances that I dreaded the most due to the circumstance. Being that they were both outside my main concern was my hay fever. Hay fever sufferers know exactly what I am talking about as being outside is not a joy sometimes, when you are trying to cope with watery eyes, itchiness and excess sneezing or what have you. My allergies have been quite manageable up till a couple years ago and now I have to take extreme measures to keep it intact which is most annoying and so not cute when you're trying to perform!
Especially if you are performing something serious or even comedy actually. In fact, the organisers at Crystal Palace asked me to perform my infamous Pest Control monologue that people seem to really love and remember me most for in regard to my online videos, but as that is such an 'in character' role that cannot be broken in order to remain effective, I simply could not take the risk on this occasion. However, I will always deliver, and that I did with my performance of other crowd favourite comedic pieces of mine that went without a hitch (just sweat lol) as I read my poetry.
My performance at Well Street Market's live stage was a half hour set to a warm, hyper and loving crowd. A good supportive, ready to be entertained and 'cheer you on' audience makes all the difference let me tell you. I am used to doing a good show don't get me wrong but a great crowd makes for a much better experience. This crowd was beautiful whereas I was prepared to perform to an audience that may not have cared much for poetry, considering that I was the only poetic act and the act before me was a DJ having everyone dancing so it was a dramatic change of pace but all was well.
My poems were received well, fell on attentive listening ears, great interaction and plenty compliments afterwards which was lovely. More than one person said that I made them emotional with my words and two people called me "Amazing." I had reasons to get big headed but as usual I just got "stupidly modest" as a friendly stranger described. I just loved the energy of the people at Well Street Market including the stall holders that had some very interesting and attractive crafts. A Dressmaker/Jewellery-maker (Freedom Country GH) really caught my attention as well as a fellow Greeting Card-maker (Sweet Design Studio) I met, who also happened to be attending the greeting card industry tradeshow that I was attending the following week. Everyone was so creative and so nice! Book sales, praise and a happy, entertained pleasant group of people is what I left with. That and the lovely sunshine that followed tanning my legs nicely, led to a wonderful evening where I met some more great people with my food blogging interviews later at a change of location.
The Crystal Palace Overground Festival was bigger than I thought it would be, the crowds were quite large across all areas of the park between food stands, stages and craft stalls. I am sure the heatwave had much to do with that, the hot sunny weather always brings out numbers and smiles I love it! I hadn't been to Crystal Palace in well over 10 years so it was fun for me with that in mind. There were positive vibes all round and the food stands (always my area of expertise) had more to offer than I anticipated as can be seen on my food blog.
I was the closer of the 'Up and Coming' set from the Spoken Word Tent, which was unplanned but worked out nicely, sweating profusely (it was a hectic morning) I verbally strutted my stuff and composed myself. It was quite the moment for me but a lot of fun nonetheless. It was also nice to see some familiar faces including my family who came down to support me and the Presenter/Producer from Poet's Anonymous radio show (via my Croydon Radio interview that can be heard on my new Soundcloud page). It was all love and the feedback was wonderful.
Until next time,
@LK_ReelDeevah
