Get on Stage and Perfect Your Performance Have you ever enjoyed a slam or two and thought, "I could do this," but felt apprehensive staring at that empty mic—or worse, you climbed up on stage and struggled? Let Marc Kelly Smith, the founder of Slam Poetry, teach you everything you need to be a confident performer, from writing a powerful poem, to stage techniques, to going on tour (if that's where your muse leads you). Take the Mic is filled with insider tips, backstage advice, and tons of examples of slam poems that wake up an audience. With this book, you'll also be able to link to the PoetrySpeaks.com community to listen to samples, meet poets, and unearth inspirations for your next performance. The Ultimate Guide to Writing and Performing with Power Take the Mic is an essential guide for lifting your poetry from the page to the stage. Marc Kelly Smith (So What!), grand founder of the Slam movement, serves as you personal coach, showing you how to craft stage-worthy verse and deliver a poetry performance that shakes the rafters and sparks thunderous applause. In Take the Mic, you discover how to... Pen poetry that's conducive to on-stage performance Overcome stage fright Practice powerful performance techniques Rehearse like a pro Shape a loose collection of poems into a killer set Connect with your audience — heart and soul Master the art of self-promotion Schedule your own slam poetry tour Transform your hobby into paying gigs Act professional to establish a solid reputation in the Slam community Take the Mic is packed with practical exercises you can do alone or in class to hone your skills and transform your body, mind, voice, verse, and spirit into an engaging stage presence. You'll also find a brief history of slam, the rules and regulations that govern official slam competitions, and a list of PSI (Poetry Slam, Inc.) Certified Slams, so no matter where you are, you always have a place to Take the Mic!

A young adult anthology featuring fictional stories of everyday resistance. You might be the kind of person who stands up to online trolls.Or who marches to protest injustice.Perhaps you are #DisabledAndCute and dancing around your living room, alive and proud.Or perhaps you are the trans mentor that you wish you had when you were younger.Maybe you call out false allies, or stand up to loved ones. Maybe you speak your truth and drop the mic, or maybe you take it with you when you leave.This anthology features fictional stories--in poems, prose, and art--that reflect a slice of the varied and limitless ways that readers like you resist every day. Take the Mic's powerful collection of stories features work by literary luminaries and emerging talent alike, including Newbery-winner Jason Reynolds, New York Times bestseller Samira Ahmed, anthologist and contributor Bethany C. Morrow, Darcie Little Badger, Keah Brown, Laura Silverman, L.D. Lewis, Sofia Quintero, Ray Stoeve, Yamile Mendez, and Connie Sun, with cover and interior art by Richie Pope.

What is it to be a stand-up comedian? To be funny, solo? You have no character-role, no double-act partner, and nowhere to look but out into the darkness, with just a microphone, an audience and your imagination. This is a job without an annual appraisal; a job where you are publicly appraised every ten seconds. The results are harsh and obvious: if the audience isn't laughing, you 'died'; if they can't stop, you 'killed'. Deborah Frances-White and Marsha Shandur unpack the inner-workings of the minds of comics, sharing their secrets, insecurities and successes; their bêtes noires and their biggest fears. Featuring interviews with a host of comedians including Eddie Izzard, Moshe Kasher, Sarah Millican, Jim Jeffries, Stewart Lee, Lewis Black, Jenny Eclair, Todd Barry, Richard Herring, Marc Maron, Stephen K Amos, Rich Hall, Zoe Lyons, Marcus Brigstocke, Phill Jupitus, Gary Delaney, Mark Watson, Greg Davies and many more, this excellent book lets you in to the hearts and minds of celebrated comedians, away from the stage and off the mic.

The daughter of chart-topping pop star Holla Jones, stylish and sensitive Hudson Jones is on the brink of her own musical debut. Hudson has inherited her mother's talent, but she hasn't yet embraced Holla's love of the megawatt spotlight. Can Hudson find a way to perform that reflects her own low-key style? Or will Holla see to it that her only daughter becomes a pop music sensation? Go behind the music in this third novel in Joanna Philbin's stylish and heartfelt Daughters series.

Compose amazing presentations that are meaningful, memorable, and motivational. To deliver truly captivating presentations, you do not need to be a born performer, a gifted artist, or a natural comedian. Before you think about working on any of these presentation skills, you need to learn how to write impactful presentations. It’s all about the work that needs to happen before the mic. Glenn Gibson—who has delivered thousands of presentations and trained hundreds of executives and sales professionals in public speaking—shares practical guidance, helpful templates, and easy-to-use tools in this engaging, must-read guide. He explains the 3 Ms of his “aMMMazing presentations” concept, showing you how to be • Meaningful by narrowing down your content to the most impactful information; • Memorable by applying techniques such as analogies, the rule of three, and mnemonics; • Motivational by knowing how to finish with flair, on time, and stir your audience to action! Whether you are nervous or a natural in front of an audience, Before the Mic will help you add substance to your style. When delivering virtual presentations or keynotes to a packed room, this book will put you on a certain path to composing highly effective, captivating presentations.

Capture great sound in the first place, and spend less time "fixing it in the mix" with Ian Corbett’s Mic It! Microphones, Microphone Techniques, and Their Impact on the Final Mix. With his expert guidance, you’ll quickly understand essential audio concepts as they relate to microphones and mic techniques, and learn how to apply them to your recording situation. Whether you only ever buy one microphone, are equipping a studio on a budget, or have a vast selection of great mics to use, you’ll learn to better use whatever tools you have. Mic It! gives you the background to design and discover your own solutions to record the best sound possible. The information in these pages will help you record great source tracks that can be easily developed into anything from ultra-clean mixes to huge, organic soundscapes. Beginning with essential audio theory, then discussing the desirable characteristics of good sound and the elements of a good stereo recording, the book covers microphones, mono and stereo mic techniques, the effect of the recording space or room, and large classical and jazz ensemble recording. A variety of mic techniques for vocals and instruments (both individual and groups) are presented, ranging from vital knowledge that no novice should be without, to advanced techniques that more experienced engineers can explore to benefit and vary the sound of their recordings. Corbett explains large room vs. layer-by-layer small-room recording situations, presents the best techniques for each, and shares typical production challenges and their resolutions. The book provides in depth information on how different mic techniques can be used, modified and fine-tuned to capture not only the best sound, but the best sound for the mix, as well as how to approach and set up the recording session, mixing, and avoid common recording and mixing mistakes.

Sound for Film and Television, Third Edition provides a thorough introduction to the fascinating field of recording, editing, mixing, and exhibiting film and television sound. It strikes a fine balance between aesthetic and technical content, combining theory and practice to approach sound as both an art and a science. This new edition has been completely updated to reflect the latest advances in HD technology, new hardware and software systems, new distribution methods, wireless sound capture, and more. Also, analog-related content has been reduced and transferred to the chapters covering historical techniques. Sections on troubleshooting and FAQs have been added to help you avoid common pitfalls in sound production. Written by one of Hollywood's leading sound experts, Sound for Film and Television provides a solid grounding in all aspects of the sound process. Basic principles are presented with illustrations demonstrating how they affect the day-to-day activities on a film or television set, in the editing room, and in the mix room. The accompanying audio DVD contains more than 50 tracks that demonstrate practical, real-world examples of key concepts presented in the book. A companion Web site provides further resources and information: http://booksite.focalpress.com/companion/Holman/SoundforFilmandTelevision/ Please use the access code located in the beginning of the book to register for access to the Web site.

(Berklee Methods). With the explosion of project studio gear available, it's easier than ever to create pro-quality music at home. This book is the only reference you'll ever need to start producing and engineering your music or other artists' music in your very own home studio. You don't have a home studio yet, but have some basic equipment? This essential guide will help you set up your studio, begin producing projects, develop your engineering skills and manage your projects. Stop dreaming and start producing!

Comedy is a global multibillion dollar industry and it is also one of the easiest ones to get into. Performing Live Comedy is for anyone who has ever thought about getting up onstage and being funny or for those who have already started. It offers a breakdown of the process of live comedy and provides a basic toolbox for the student and aspirant comedian, covering all aspects of live comedy such as stand-up, music, double acts, ventriloquists and magicians. Gender, sexuality, ethnicity and disability are also covered in this book as well as ethical considerations on what we should or should not joke about. The book breaks down the entire process of live comedy from writing a simple one-liner to creating a complete act, from organising an open spot at the local comedy club to getting into the Edinburgh Festival and running your own venue. Performing Live Comedy is full of advice and original interviews with comedians and writers currently involved in the comedy industry such as Rob Grant (Red Dwarf), Shazia Merza, Henning Wehn, Ed Aczel, Paul Zerdin and Lucy Greaves.

Not Good Yet is a roller coaster ride of laughs, emotional struggles, and go-to insightful information from an aspiring comedian who attempted the impossible. To get good at comedy in just six months. He gets on stage as much as possible. He organizes comedy shows. He checks out comedy in New York and Los Angeles. He reads, listens and breathes all things comedy. And in the end, (spoiler alert) he fails to get consistently good. But there are glimmers of hope. The lessons he learns along the way will make you laugh, cry, and shake your head. Interviews with a comedy transplant, an open mic veteran of nearly a decade, and a comedy club owner complement his stories of accomplishment and defeat. Mark Masters is even surer now than when he started, that calling himself a comedian is a stretch. In spite of that, he is definitely available to perform at your showcase, work event, or dog’s birthday party. He has performed stand-up comedy in six of the United States, including stage time in New York City and Los Angeles. Which sounds more impressive now than it will after you read this book. You can ask him anything by dropping a note at his website, markmasters.co (like Colorado, where he is based).