Pong Jam at McCabes hosted by Marc Smith
Reviewed by David Gecic

Originally published in Letter eX (August/September 1993)

"Are you ready poets. The band is warming up. Strap yourself in," says Marc Smith, as the band begins to play. Is it the Green Mill? Is it Fitzgeralds? No its the Pong Jam at McCabes. The Pong Jam is the latest brainchild of Marc Smith, host of The Green Mill's Sunday night poetry reading and founder of the internationally acclaimed Poetry Slam. Recently Marc closed his West Side Poetry Slam at Fitzgeralds, which continues presenting poetry minus Marc every Tuesday with the Rhythm and Rhyme Revue. Marc then opened the Pong Jam, which is presented every Thursday night at 9 p.m. at McCabes, 2770 N. Elston.

On the night I attended, there is a good crowd with a few people who were obviously regulars. The band (consisting of Steve Hasimoto on bass, Bob Long on keyboards, Heath Chappell on drums, and Chino on conga drums) began to play. Steve and Heath have been with Marc's group Pong Unit One. Marc began the show with one of the Pong Unit standards, a "pong" about riding the el train.

Wait. What is a "pong?" A pong is a word coined by Marc Smith to denote a combination of a poem and a song, hence pong. When a performer goes up on stage at the Pong Jam he requests the band to play a certain type of music. The performer then performs poetry to that music.

The first performer is Allen McNair, he asked the band to play "fishing music." He reads a poem about fishing while the band played the theme music from "The Andy Griffith Show." It actually worked. Then he asked the band for honest and forthright music, as he read an entertaining poem about body parts. Lawrence Tyler, another poet, asked for Vincent Van Gogh music and read a poem about Van Gogh criticizing his modern fans.

The band, especially Hasimoto and Long are very good at improvising music which matches the style of the poem. The most effective pongs appeared to use a known song with a slightly different rhythm. It also requires a bit of flexibility on the part of the poet to perform at the Pong Jam.

The best piece of the evening was by Ava Mecic. She read a poem called "Mrs. Endigoss" to the accompaniment of haunting music primarily from the keyboardist, Bob Long. The match between the mood of the poetry and the mood of the music was perfect. She used strong metaphors to describe an abused woman.

In the spirit of a Japanese Keroake bar, the owner Kwan Huan did a version of Danny Boy in Japanese, which brought cheers from the audience. I do not know if this is a regular occurrence, but if it is it is almost worth the price of admission.

Marc Smith performed a Pong Unit piece called "Super-Nova" which is about the insanity and dangers which surround stardom. For this pong he asked the audience to participate; when he screamed the word "fans" the audience cheers. In the middle of this piece he had the Pong Jam. During the Pong Jam poets are invited on stage to say a few lines accompanied by the band. During this time the band changes their style very quickly to match the poet's style and rhythm.

Another excellent performance was given by Rick Almader. Rick asked the band to play "super comic book hero music" and explained to us (giving examples of) his self-help philosophy. He presented this piece in the style of a infomercial TV program.

The last poet of the night, Leonard D'Montbrun, performed two poems, including a poem describing the sad faces he sees at public aid. These got a very good reception from the audience.

Just before the end of the show there was a poetic duet improvisation. The audience selects the theme of this and also the type of music which is used. They chose the subject of morning and taxes and they chose frantic satirical cha cha for the music. Marc ended the show with the Pong Jam version of an e. e. cummings poem.

Throughout the entire show Marc hovers around the stage, subtly guiding the band. It is almost as much fun watching Marc as it is watching the performer on stage. His intensity on and off the stage and his involvement with each performance is greater than it has been at any of his other venues.

I remember when Marc would torture his audiences with his trumpet playing. It is considerably better than it used to be. There were several pieces in which Marc joined in with the band.

There were a total of eleven poets who performed that night, plus a harmonica and a flute player. Everyone who wanted to had a chance to read. The band was a little too loud, especially the drums, and at times it was a little difficult to follow what a performer was saying because of the volume.

The Pong Jam happens on Thursday nights at 9:00 PM at McCabes 2770 N. Elston, near the intersection of Elston, Western, and Diversey.