Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival: Famous Last Words

Tickets

Cost: Free
Find tickets: here

A spoken word comedy show with a puppet poetry round, a unicorn interpretive dance, and much more. Come in costume, let’s have fun! Free chocolate!

Famous Last Words is a spoken word comedy show that involves poets participating in six rounds of a faux competition where they ‘compete' in a series of poetry related events that are in turn, 'judged' by our host (with input from Uni the Unicorn and our audience).

These games include poems written in unusual forms (haiku, sonnet, limericks, etc.) or on silly themes (love poems directed to someone in the room) or with funny addendums (poems must be written from the perspective of a puppet and must be read with said puppet). There are 25 potential games that can occur during any episode of Famous Last Words thus no two shows are exactly the same.

Recurring characters at every show like Uni or the Dr. Dru or the Professor add silliness to the show and we hand out free chocolate to everyone that attends. We also tend to loan our unicorn bubble guns and give our free sticker/pins to members of the audience. It’s been called a kids show for adults or spoken word that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Bios:

Grace Kwan is a Malaysian-born sociologist and writer raised in “Vancouver,” the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations. A Pushcart Prize and Best New Poets nominee, their first full-length book THE SACRED HEART MOTEL was published by Metonymy Press in November 2024. Find them at grckwn.com or at @sleepyfacegrace on Instagram.

Marlo Browne is a Barbadian poet, author and filmmaker who who has self-published four books and one short film. His work spans several topics such as social injustice, mental well-being, love, race, health disorders and many more. Marlo has also performed at events across BC and has featured at the Verses Festival, The ACCESS Festival, Da Luv Jones Poetry Showcase and Death Rides a Unicorn events. His business, A Pint of Knowledge, was also nominated in the best solopreneur category at the Black Excellence Awards in 2023 and he is a member of several literary associations including the Delta Literary Arts Society, The League of Canadian Poets and the Federation of BC Writers.

RC Weslowski is a multi talented performer who loves to walk between worlds to see what the ghost dragged in. RC wears many masks including poet, clown, storyteller, playwright, broadcaster, voice actor, coach and educator. Over the past 15 years he has toured North America, The United Kingdom and other parts of Europe including many spoken word, poetry and music festivals. RC wants to give you your emotional damage deposit back.

Sean McGarragle is a poet, storyteller, teacher, performer and event producer from the republic of East Vancouver. He is the founder of Death Rides a Unicorn, The Vancouver Story Slam, The Canadian Individual Poetry Slam and the Vancouver International Poetry Festival (now entitled Verses). He has performed and read his work from Dublin to Denver, from Moose Jaw Saskatchewan to Madison Wisconsin. He is super excited to host this show and to showcase these great talented poets.

SJ Valiquette (she/ they) is a poet, photographer, actor, arts administrator, and apiratist from Treaty 7 Territory. They have been a member of the spoken word community for over a decade competing at CIPS and the Bigfoot Regional Slam. She has studied at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, The Banff Centre for the Arts, the University of Victoria, and the Honeybee Centre. Their next collection knick-knacks/ things no one is saying came out in 2024 with Nightingale and Sparrow. She will absolutely help you set up beehives in your backyard.

Spillious the Ridiculous One aka Trevana Spilchen is a Trans feminine settler parent, musician, spoken word artist and educator of Ukrainian and Irish decent. They are 2024 recipient of the Zacheus Jackson Memorial award won the 2017 Grand Slam Championship of the Vancouver Poetry slam and finished 6th at the 2018 Canadian Individual Poetry Slam.

They have toured as a featured poet all throughout Canada and the US. Spillious has released 3 chapbooks of poetry and the last, Tales of Trans-formation sold 200 copies. From Sept 2021-23 they shepherded the return of poetry slam in Vancouver as the Slam Coordinator for Vancouver Poetry House and the Tournament Director for the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam Championships. Most importantly, Spillious is a parent to 4 kids ranging in age from 5 yrs to 23 yrs old and 4 cats named Cola, Orange Crush, Dr. Pepper & Rootbeer!

Uni the Unicorn is the antithesis of Death. Uni is joy and love, buoyant and distracting. Most of the time, Uni has chocolate and bubbles to share. The role of Uni for is played by the wonderful and talented Andrew Sutherland. He does not wish to be formally recognized for all the work he does but I included him in this promotional material anyway.

This event would nto be possible without the amazing support of Event Magazine, Simon Fraser University fantabulous English Department, The Simon Fraser University Writers' Studio, The League of Community Poets, Tri-City Poetry and of course, The Heart of the City Festival. We have very lucky to have such good friends who support our creative bouts of the carnivalesque.
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