Sacramento Magazine
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Is poetry undergoing a renaissance? It sure feels like it. In the first two months of 2021 alone, National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman reawakened us to the power of poetry through back-to-back performances at the Biden inauguration and the Super Bowl. And just last year, Stockton-based spoken-word poet Brandon Leake won the 15
th season of television’s “America’s Got Talent,” suggesting poetry is reaching the masses in a fresh new way.
It’s a national trend, but also a local one. Sacramento has its own thriving poetry scene, and plenty to brag about. In January, one of our city’s two Youth Poets Laureate, Alexandra Huynh, was named one of four finalists in the National Youth Poet Laureate competition. (The winner will be announced May 22.)
‘America’s Got Talent’ Winners Are Promised A $1 Million Prize
So far, 15 people have been awarded the show’s hefty grand prize. Brandon Leake, whose poems about the Black Lives Matter movement touched viewers around the world, was
AGT’s most recent winner. In addition to the cash prize, he scored a headlining slot in a Las Vegas show. His win was also the first by a spoken-word poet. “This is a huge win for the spoken-word community,” Leake said of his big win. “For an art form that has not been on the mainstream ever to have a chance to win
Anne Schrager April 13, 2021Updated: April 14, 2021, 7:19 am
Comedian DeRay Davis is scheduled to perform at Tommy T’s in Pleasanton from April 29-May 2. Photo: Tommy T s
Even before the pandemic hit, comedy show producers were among the real workhorses of the live entertainment industry. Take for example San Francisco comedian Lisa Geduldig, whose annual Kung Pao Kosher comedy show is set to celebrate its 29th year in 2021. She has kept the humor flowing all year long with a virtual pivot to monthly “Lockdown Comedy broadcasts (the next one set for Thursday, April 15) live from Florida, where she’s been spending quarantine with her mother, and featuring other guest comedians.
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The past year has been unlike anything anyone could have imagined, a year of isolation, economic hardship and an unfathomable loss of life. Last week marked a somber moment for San Joaquin County: the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic, the “greatest collective challenge of our generation.” “It really makes me think of all the lives affected by those losses,” public health officer Dr. Maggie Park told the Board of Supervisors as they looked back on a year that changed the world, possibly forever.
And he’s looking for actors to bring his vision to the screen.
“We re doing a short film that we’re going to be filming here in Stockton,” says Leake, 27, the first spoken-word poet to ever be featured on the popular TV talent competition. “Stockton (has a) long, long history of filmmaking here in town. … I’m hoping to be a part of the resurgence of bringing film and the film industry back here and into the forefront. So, yeah, I m excited for that.”
Leake, who has taken his past as “a young kid from Southside Stockton” and woven it into compelling and poignant storytelling, plans to film in late May or late June. He’s putting out a call for actors, “anybody with acting experience who would like to be able to see about getting their shot to be in a short film that will hopefully win an Oscar or something like that.”