Ted Hughes believed in poetry as a doorway to inner wisdom - an idea inherited from Bronze Age Celtic orators, the Bards. And an evening absorbing the runes of today's rhapsodists was a reminder that human voices transcend boundaries, particularly if the performers are generous in their telling of their own experiences - as was the case with award-winning slam poets, Scott Tyrrell and Kate Fox. Both are members of touring group, The Poetry Vandals. Saga louts
 | | The slam was part of a Radio 4 competition |
Among the evening's offerings were visiting American, David Morgan, whose explorations of larger issues confirmed what the global community is thinking. MC for the night was poet Jeff Price, who, for a light breather told of the new wave of 'Saga Louts' - folk upward of 60 something, living life with conviction and pulling the ladder up behind them as they go. Fox opened the show with a gathering of statistics, humbling us into a communism of intellect. We don't really need to take ourselves so seriously, despite any troubles we might have encountered along the way. And it was this notion which set the tone for my scoring system. (Jeff Price had persuaded me to be one of the judges for the night, advising me that the "best policy is to hide behind a cloud of alcohol".) Unwittingly I'd been steered into charlatan territory for the event. So, my only defence was to judge on what seemed to work. To that end, the performers can rest assured I didn't heed Jeff's advice. Philosophical and gracious | "MC for the night was poet Jeff Price, who, for a light breather told of the new wave of 'Saga Louts'. " | | Joanne Nicholson |
From belly-aching, laugh-out-loud observational wit to choking honesty and portrayals of real-life adverse experiences, each of the performers evoked emotion in the steeliest of audience members. My audience neighbour, Cathy, whispered to me after Scott Devon's piece on young soldiers ducking bombs in his World War beach landings: "I think they need to lighten it up a bit. It's all got a bit depressing." The night's winner, Scott Tyrrell raised the bar with an interpretation of Rudyard Kipling's If, using text speak - proving that some things are so engrained that even when you change the words, you still just get it. Fox didn't lose her head, though. Her re-union with the father she hadn't seen for 17 years would have shamed even Nelson Mandela's lightness of being into abandoning any thoughts of bitterness. She's a very philosophical and gracious young lady. Tyrrell told, in his lap of honour, Coitus Interruptus, an erotic tale of a Sunday morning intimee with his wife, gate-crashed by his 8-year-old step-daughter, bringing laughter back into the room, and a few red faces. And so after some reverent glances among the pro's, it was decided. Scott Tyrrell and David Morgan will carry the erudite torch onto the Radio 4 semi-final in Manchester on July 13. Kate Fox may go instead if either drops out. | 
