Set the Mic On Fire & All Mixed Up - Variety Shows in Hartford

Don't drink and blog, people.

Actually, that's not true. The internet would not thrive if not for a thought driven by a glass of wine. I guess I should say, leave edits to sobriety. On Saturday evening I came to my blog on my iPhone, simply to edit the title of this entry. Easy enough...when you haven't had a shot and a beer. The touch screen was not liking what I was doing and was giving me problems all along. Rather than just leave it alone til I was back on my laptop, my stubborn ass decided to force it to do what I wanted. All seemed well and good, but the result was seeing all that I'd typed completely erased on Sunday afternoon. Lesson learned.

So after taking a few days to curse and shake a fist at the screen, I've decided that I MUST get this post up again because the public needs to know what my drunken mistakes deprived them of.

This Sunday, Brighter Than Before Entertainment is bringing us a night of fun and laughter. On April 1st, Shish Lounge in West Hartford will be the home of Set the Mic on Fire. Though they've billed it as "a unique blend of comedy and poetry", you can trust these talented ladies to give you so much more than that. You may recognize most of the members of Brighter Than Before from the Greater Hartford/Springfield poetry scene or perhaps from their success putting on The Thick Chronicles this past winter. Whatever the case, you and I both know that they don't half-ass it when it comes to entertainment. The evening will be hosted by Shireal Renee and Big Chewy, and will feature the poetry of local favorites Alison McMeans, Brenda's Child, Crystal Senter Brown, Face, Hawk The Poet, Milton Jackson, Midnight and Mind.Evolution. Our comedians for the evening will be Jandayi Ms. Makinyoulaff and Veejay Wright and Evelyn Dillon will provide a tribute to the legendary Whitney Houston. Tickets are $15 if purchased in advance and $20 if you buy at the door. The festivities start at 7pm.

Then on Friday, April 13th MaPeach Productions is putting on All Mixed Up: A Comedy & Poetry Mesh. Darlene "Peaches" Brandon, Owner and Founder of MaPeach Productions, should be another familiar face to you as well. You can find her twice a month hosting The Love Jones Experience down at the Russell on Monday nights, as well as acting and performing her own poetry about town. She even directed two very successful productions of For Colored Girls... which I reviewed right here two years ago. This time, Darlene will take a step away from the scripts and host a show to bust your gut and soothe your soul. All Mixed Up will feature the poetry of NuNuu, M.I.D.N.I.G.H.T and Peaches herself. Three comedians who have graced the stages of places like Comic View on BET, HBO and prestigious comedy clubs nationwide will also be bringing down the house; Artie Rob, Solo and Hartford native Marshall Brandon. The beautifully talented, Grammy-award winning, TBPDIH-writer loving Charmagne Tripp will also be gracing us with some songs and to wrap up the evening, Big Jus is coming with his hot dance crew! All Mixed Up will be held at Vibz Uptown and the show starts at 8:30. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door and call (860) 986-4483 to buy.