Big Poppa E

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Big Poppa E

Poetry slam artist Big Poppa E
Born May 11, 1967 (1967-05-11) (age 42)
Bakersfield, CA, USA
Occupation Slam Poet, Writer
Nationality USA
Literary movement Slam Poetry
Notable work(s) The Wussy Boy Manifesto
Official website

Big Poppa E is a performer of slam poetry. His live performances combine poetry, stand-up comedy, and dramatic monologue in high-energy rants about relationships, pop culture, and hot button issues of the day.

Big Poppa E's work often covers areas of gender, sexuality, and masculinity with a playful irreverence, and this focus has led to a growing following amongst high school and college students, especially those active in speech and debate competitions (where his work is frequently performed by students.) He actively tours across the United States and performs at universities and high schools during the school year.

He has appeared on three seasons of HBO's Def Poetry series and is a National Poetry Slam Champion (San Francisco Team '99). Although largely retired from active competition, Big Poppa E has developed a solid reputation as a strong poetry slam host and organizer for events at the National Poetry Slam (NPS), Individual World Poetry Slam (IWPS), and other similar events at universities and high school across the United States.

Big Poppa E qualified for the 2009 Austin Poetry Slam Team and will be representing Austin at the 2009 National Poetry Slam in West Palm Beach August 4-8.

His best known work is the performance poem The Wussy Boy Manifesto, a humorous rant championing sensitive men that elevates such cultural icons as Duckie from Pretty in Pink and Lloyd Dobler from Say Anything to role models. [1] Debuting in 1999, The Wussy Boy Manifesto garnered widespread attention, prompting Ms. Magazine to name Big Poppa E "an icon for effeminate males" [2] and The Los Angeles Times to proclaim him the "leader of a new men's movement." [3]

Big Poppa E has toured the United States extensively since 2000, when he did 65 gigs across 27 states in just under four months. In the summer of 2003 alone, he logged over 21,000 miles on his ‘99 Ford Windstar mini-van, which has since been retired after 200,000 miles. He has headlined at more than 80 universities and colleges and performed 150+ poetry slam features in 41 states (including Hawaii and Alaska).

Along the way, his tours have generated numerous stories in newspapers and magazines in the US, Canada, England, and Australia, including such publications as: The New York Times; The Washington Post; The Ottawa Citizen; The London Daily Express; The Sydney Morning Herald; Bust Magazine; Poets and Writers; and The Utne Reader.

In addition to making a living as a touring slam poet, Big Poppa E often works with the human rights organization Amnesty International, and has hosted numerous politically-themed poetry slam events and workshops at regional and national Amnesty International conferences across the U.S. He has also been featured at events championing women's issues and sexual assault awareness. [4]

Contents

[edit] Biography

Big Poppa E was born Eric Ott in Bakersfield, CA, while his father was working aboard an aircraft carrier for the Navy off the coast of Vietnam. His family would move frequently throughout his father's two stints in the military, living in port towns along the West Coast such as San Diego and Alameda in California, and Bremerton, WA. They finally settled back in Bakersfield just as he was starting the sixth grade.

Eric would eventually change his name to the Norwegian spelling of Eirik at 17, just as he himself joined the Navy as an Aviation Electronics Technician aboard the USS Saratoga (CV-60). He spent six years in the service before being honorably discharged and moving back to his hometown of Bakersfield.

He took classes at California State University, Bakersfield, and quickly became a part of the burgeoning youth movement of the early '90s that had erupted. Ott became Arts & Entertainment editor of the student newspaper, The Runner, and frequently wrote about the local band scene. Eventually, he enlisted the help of several friends to begin a music fanzine called Fencepost and organize rock shows featuring local Bakersfield bands (such as Spike 1000, Videodrone, and Sexart). Out of this vibrant music scene would come one of the most popular and influential bands of the mid-90s, Korn (featuring former Sexart singer Jonathon Davis).

After transferring to Chico State University in Northern California in 1994 to concentrate on a degree in Journalism [5] -- also becoming a staff writer on the student-run newspaper The Orion. Ott became involved in the poetry slam scene in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1997. He qualified for the San Francisco Poetry Slam Team in 1999 and adopted the stage name Big Poppa E after an audience member shouted it during the performance of a hip-hop inspired poem called Jesus Moshpit. The name stuck, and he has been slamming under that name ever since.

Just one semester shy of graduation, Big Poppa E was offered a position as the Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor of the Reno Gazette-Journal. He worked in that capacity for the summer of 1999, but then his San Francisco Poetry Slam Team tied for first place at the National Poetry Slam in Chicago, besting 48 teams. Upon returning to his job, he quit, dropped out of school, and began touring full-time as a slam poet, launching a national tour that visited 27 states in 4 months.

He briefly stayed in Seattle, WA, after his first tour, but relocated to Austin, Texas, in 2002, where he remains a resident between tours. As a result, you can often catch Eirik performing at the Austin Poetry Slam.

Although he occasionally writes freelance articles for newspapers and magazines (such as Bust Magazine and Poets & Writers) and frequently takes day jobs, Big Poppa E primarily makes his living by writing and performing his poetry for high schools and colleges across the United States.

[edit] Tours

  • Couches Across America (July 2000).
  • SlamAmerica Bus Tour (July - August 2000).
  • Couches Across America 2 (August - October 2000).
  • EI-EI-OH The Humanity (December 2000): with Daphne Gottlieb, Eitan Kadosh, and Eirean Bradley.
  • Couches Across America 3 (February - March 2001).
  • Word Core (September - December 2001): with Buddy Wakefield, Eitan Kadosh, Gregory Hischak, and Walida Imarisha.
  • Word Core 2 (March - May 2002): with Buddy Wakefield, Eitan Kadosh, Gregory Hischak, Karen Finneyfrock, and Nandi Crosby.
  • Broken Word (September 2002 - May 2003): with Matthew John Conley and Hilary Thomas.
  • Going to the Trouble (July - October 2003): with Hilary Thomas and Matthew John Conley.
  • SlamBush (Summer 2004)
  • Cubicle Workers Unite! (Fall 2007): with Erin Livingston.
  • Looking For a Noun (Fall 2008)

[edit] Apple Computer

Big Poppa E's viral video Why I Got Fired From Apple Computer received well over a million hits on YouTube, Google Video, and MySpace. The clip detailed the uproar over the poem Oh! Canadian FedEx Lady! after it was performed at an Apple Computer employee talent show in 2005, two days after which Big Poppa was fired for undisclosed reasons. [6]

The poem was a comedic rant about a male worker in the Apple Computer call center who flirts over the phone with a female Canadian FedEx employee while keeping "rude, mean American customers" on hold.

The story of his firing was picked up in various news sources across the Internet and was used as an example of increased scrutiny of employee blogging and vlogging by companies that has led to firings. [7]

[edit] O. Henry Pun-Off

In addition to the National Poetry Slam community, Big Poppa E has made a name for himself at the annual O. Henry Pun-Off in Austin, Texas. Every year, fans of wordplay gather for competitive rounds of pun slinging that are judged by a panel of experts. Big Poppa E was named "Punniest of Show" in 2006 and "Most Valuable Punster" in 2007, much to the chagrin of some judges who deemed his work "devastating." His performance piece Illegal File Sharing at the 2008 O. Henry Pun-Off caused an uproar that subsequently led to a reevaluation of what constitutes a legitimate pun.

World Championship Pun Off is a short documentary segment that covers the 2008 O. Henry Pun-Off, including the controversy surrounding Big Poppa E's work. (A video clip of the Illegal File Sharing piece can be found on YouTube.)

[edit] Publications

[edit] CD Releases

[edit] Career Highlights

  • Featured on HBO's Def Poetry showcase three times (2001, 2006, 2007).
  • Featured on BET's The Way We Do It comedy / variety show.
  • Appeared on CBS's 60 Minutes.
  • Member of the 1999 San Francisco Poetry Slam Team, co-champions of the 1999 National Poetry Slam in Chicago.
  • Also member of slam teams from Chico, Austin (see Austin Poetry Slam), and San Antonio.
  • Headlined at more than 200 showcases in 41 states, including more than 80 major universities.
  • Featured performer at the Bumbershoot Festival (Seattle), South By Southwest (Austin, TX), and FronteraFest (Austin, TX).

[edit] References

  1. ^ Jones, Monika (23 May 2002). "Big Poppa E's slam poetry rocks the HUB". The Daily (University of Washington). http://dailyuw.com/2002/5/23/big-poppa-es-slam-poetry-rocks-the-hub/. 
  2. ^ Smith, Patricia (August / September 2001). "Slammed". Ms. Magazine: p. 94. 
  3. ^ Hanania, Joseph (27 August 2000). "Poet’s Mantra: I Am Wussy Boy, Hear Me Roar!". The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA): p. E1. http://articles.latimes.com/2000/aug/27/news/cl-11091. 
  4. ^ McOwen, Mary Anna (7 April 2008). "Sexual Assault Awareness Week to examine media’s portrayal of sex". DU Today (University of Denver). http://www.du.edu/today/stories/2008/04/2008-04-07-sexualass.html. 
  5. ^ Kayser, Annie (22 November 2002). "Broken Word is Bond". Western Courier (Western Illinois University). http://www.westerncourier.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=ae6f6adb-4563-427c-980a-e5c0e9affc18. 
  6. ^ Singer, Michael (24 February 2007). "Ex-Apple Employee's Firing Makes For Great YouTube Video". Information Week's Digital Life Weblog. http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/02/exapple_employe.html. 
  7. ^ Cornell, Christopher (29 March 2006). "Internet Complicates HR Decisions". Human Resource Executive Online. http://www.hrexecutive.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=4790111. 

[edit] External links

[edit] Additional Articles

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