Alex Dang and Clementine Von Radics fill BBT

The Black Box Theater (BBT) hosted a full house on Saturday for the performance of experienced slam poets Alex Dang and Clementine Von Radics. Dang is a two-time National Poetry Slam competitor, and Von Radics’ newly released book “Mouthful of Forevers” currently holds the spot as the number one release by a female poet on Amazon. Hailing from Portland, the two have been on the road for their “Love & Whiskey Tour” since January 9 and made a special stop at New College to perform, as well as host a writing workshop.

Dang and Von Radics opened the show by performing a poem together and then took turns taking the stage for the rest of the night. Their poetry spanned topics of race, gender, class and love, and was crafted with the perfect mixture of humor and poignancy.

At the beginning of the night Dang asked the audience to participate by snapping or stomping whenever a line specifically spoke to them, and throughout the performance the audience echoed back with snaps, claps and stomps.
“It was a really supportive audience,” Von Radics said at the end of the show. “Yeah, it’s been a really wonderful experience performing here,” Dang added.

When asked about being on tour for so long Von Radics said, “It’s exhausting, but you can’t complain about it. We’re getting paid to travel the country and read poems. It’s such a gift.”

“It’s been great! I eat like a monster and so this has been like a junk food tour for me,” Dang said.

After the show Dang and Von Radics stuck around to sell their books and talk with students. Dang’s book is titled “You Can Do Better” after a Drake lyric. “I’m one of those people who love Drake un-ironically,” Dang said during the show before performing a poem about his love of hip-hop.

After signing books and spending time talking to students, Dang and Von Radics led a writing workshop in the BBT.

Dang and Von Radics were brought to New College by second-year Allya Yourish. “Alex and Clementine were absolutely incredible. It was so gratifying to see New College show up and enjoy their poetry,” Yourish said, “A large, engaged audience is literally the best thing I could’ve asked for, and I can’t wait to see who else will perform for us in the future!”

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