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Rant farm >> Regie Cabico on the delicate art of venting one's spleen by MITSIKO MILLER
Aside from being New York Poetry Slam champ and appearing on MTV, Cabico gives workshops in NYC at the Asian American Writers Workshop, to teach spoken-word artists how to tonguelash without the trash. He spoke to the Mirror about the pleasures of ranting... without whining. Mirror: What is a good rant? Regie Cabico: Basically, it's about being a servant to the word. That means to have courage to stand up in front of an audience and to say, "This is what I am." The poets risk something about themselves by being honest and personal. Something people can relate to. M: What does "ranting without whining" mean? RC: Ranting means saying "I am Superman," but ranting without whining means saying, "I am Superman, but I am vulnerable, I am not perfect and I can I admit it." M: You give a workshop down in NYC called "Ranting Without Whining." Is that what you teach your students? RC: One of the exercises I do is, first class, I ask them what would they never tell their mother! It tells me how confessional and personal they want to get in their poetry. And that is one way of exercising humility. You're gonna have to be vulnerable and humble to write. M: What if the poem sucks? RC: Granted, it could suck, but ultimately I believe that people can improve. As a curator, I like to develop talent, I like to hear people's stories. I think everyone deserves to have five minutes. M: How do you write and perform a really heavy-duty piece and get away with it? RC: All humour comes from tragedy and I find that humour is basically tragedy but in an accelerated mode. I have the ability of a standup comedian and I like to interject poetry and comedy. I like to make you laugh and then punch in something dark at the end... M: So, basically, vulnerability and humility helps you perform and write a good rant? RC: Yes. Superman is only powerful when he is weak. When he faces kryptonite and we see him struggling... that's what we're attracted to. Cabico performs as part of Devil's Voice this Friday, March 20, 8:30pm, at Bistro 4
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Are you fed up with ranty, angst-driven poets wheezing their fury on stage? It's a ball-busting experience to endure and frankly, I just don't get the point of it all. Is a rant all about whimpering and griping for the heck of it? I asked acclaimed New York spoken-word artist Regie Cabico to enlighten me on the subject. And did he ever. This New York poet doesn't like to toy around with words. What spurts out of his mouth is far from being self-indulgent, although his writing mostly describes his story, as he puts it. He's gay, he's Asian, he's different and he likes to talk about it, with humour. That's what makes Cabico such an interesting writer and performer. And boy, can he ever rant!