CLASSIFICATION
Swallow ID:
1461
Partner Institution:
Concordia University
Source Collection Label:
Lee Gotham collection
Series:
Lee Gotham collection
Sub Series:
Lee Gotham collection
ITEM DESCRIPTION
Title:
Enough Said 1995-02-27, Skarstedt and Suderman
Title Source:
Asset
Title Note:
Ephemera accompanying asset, corroborated by Lee Gotham, who introduces the two event headliners.
Language:
English
Production Context:
Documentary recording
Genre:
Performance: Spoken Word Poetry
Identifiers:
[]
Rights
Notes:
Rights status in process. We may wish to seek permission from individual artists and Drew Duncan, the videographer.
CREATORS
Name:
Gotham, Lee
Dates:
1962-
Role:
"Series organizer",
"Producer"
Notes:
Lee Gotham was also the MC of this event.
Name:
Skarstedt, Sonja A.
Dates:
1960-2009
Role:
"Performer"
Notes:
Headliner.
Name:
Suderman, Lynn
Role:
"Performer"
Notes:
Headliner.
CONTRIBUTORS
Name:
Duncan, Drew
Role:
"Recordist"
Notes:
Videographer.
Name:
McGrail, Justin
Dates:
1968-
Role:
"Performer"
Notes:
Open-mic performer.
Name:
Salah, Patrick
Dates:
1968-
Role:
"Performer"
Notes:
Open-mic Performer. See also: Salah, Trish (https://viaf.org/viaf/56303860).
Name:
Edgar, Stephen
Role:
"Performer"
Notes:
Open-mic performer.
Name:
Jeppesen, Sandra
Role:
"Performer"
Notes:
Open-mic performer.
Name:
Grundland, Mark
Role:
"Performer"
Notes:
Open-mic performer.
Name:
Williams, Alexander
Role:
"Performer"
Notes:
Open-mic performer.
Name:
Miller, Mitsiko
Dates:
1971-
Role:
"Performer"
Notes:
Open-mic performer.
Name:
Ingrid?
Role:
"Performer"
Notes:
Open-mic performer. Identified as Unknown_Reader1 in the transcription.
Name:
Jacob Landesman?
Role:
"Performer"
Notes:
Open-mic performer. Identified as Unknown_Reader2 in the transcription.
Name:
Juliane? duo
Notes:
Open-mic performing duo. Identified as Unknown_Reader3 (Juliane?) and Unknown_Reader4 in the transcription.
MATERIAL DESCRIPTION
Image:
Recording Type:
Analogue
AV Type:
Video
Material Designation:
VHS
Physical Composition:
Magnetic Tape
Storage Capacity:
120 minutes
Playback Mode:
Mono
Tape Brand:
TDK EHG
Sound Quality:
Good
Other Physical Description:
VHS #3 asset. Contains recordings of multiple events.
DIGITAL FILE DESCRIPTION
Duration:
01:50:17
Size:
3.11 GB on disk
Bitrate:
2304Kbps (original); 256Kbps (master)
Encoding:
MPEG-4 movie
Content:
This is file 1 of 1 containing an AV recording of the event featuring Sonja A. Skarstedt and Lynn Suderman as part of the Enough Said series, organized by Lee Gotham, with extra open-mic performances by Justin McGrail, Patrick Salah, Sandra Jeppesen, Stephen Edgar, Mark Grundland, Alexander Williams, Mitsiko Miller, and others.
Notes:
Dimensions: 640 × 480.
Content Type:
Video Recording
Dates
Date:
1995-02-27
Type:
Performance Date
Source:
Asset
LOCATION
Address:
4040 St. Laurent, Montréal, QC, H2W 1Y8, Canada
Venue:
Bistro 4
Latitude:
45.5169628
Longitude:
-73.5796147
Notes:
Bistro 4 (pronounced Bistro Quatre), no longer in existence.
CONTENT
Contents:
[Bistro 4 stage]
00:00:01
Video Description: Colour video, medium closeup of the stage at Bistro 4 (Quatre) (4040 St. Laurent, Montréal, QC, H2W 1Y8, Canada). A single mic stand. The stage, slightly below street level, is set against a full-wall window looking out onto the St. Laurent Blvd. traffic—with both pedestrians and vehicles regularly passing by. On the windows, the words “enough said.” When the camera zooms out, other decals become visible, with words from the menu such as “DEJEUNER,” “CAPPUCCINO,” and “TISANE.”
Lee Gotham
00:00:11
(?) Twenty-seventh of February, the last edition of Enough Said for the second month of the year. Nothing auspicious in that, but in the performers being presented this evening I have nothing but unbounded enthusiasm and pleasure in presenting both our lead-off readers, Sonja Skarstedt, the author of Mythographies (Empyreal Press, 1990), a volume of her poetry put out [Gotham hiccups] not only through sheer will and talent and ingenuity on her own small press Empyreal, but this evening reading to us from a collection of short stories in the works—and we will all anticipate that publication in the nearest possible futures. Sonja will lead off, as I say. We have a second feature performer in Lynn Suderman, whom I will describe, I hope, with some articulation, a little bit later. But, as we will have the open-mic segment most likely deferred to the end of the evening, perhaps one segment in-between the two performers if that list grows any longer. Yeah, I’ll just encourage everybody to get themselves comfortable and keep themselves refreshed. A little bit out of every coffee and beer sold goes to keeping this little series running. And… jee!… enjoy the evening’s offerings. Sonja Skarstedt, can you kick us off please? | Video Description: Extreme closeup of Lee Gotham on stage, then zoom out, with the camera alternating between a medium shot and various degrees of closeup. Gotham makes introductory remarks, often scratching his right eye. Beard, black turtleneck, stud earrings on the left lobe, hair tied under a black skullcap with a folded visor.
Sonja Skarstedt
00:02:03
[Tests mic, thanks Gotham, and reads the short story “Heaven and Hell” (later published as part of the the play “Saint Francis of Esplanade,” Empyreal Press, 2001).] | Video Description: Medium closeup, then zoom in and out, oscillating between extreme closeup and medium shot. Lee Gotham adjusts the mic as Sonja Skarstedt walks onto the stage. Blond hair with a mullet haircut, dangle earrings, sweater with an eight-point-star pattern. Skarstedt reads from a manuscript.
Sonja Skarstedt
00:18:58
[Exclaims “Poor Lord!” and the audience laughs.] | Video Description: Medium closeup. Sonja Skarstedt reads.
Sonja Skarstedt
00:19:02
[Resumes reading of “Heaven and Hell” after audience laughter. Applause.] | Video Description: Alternating medium closeup and closeup. Skarstedt continues reading. At the end, walks off stage amid applause as the camera zooms out to a medium long shot.
[CUT]
00:35:10
Video Description: Black screen for 15 seconds.
Lee Gotham
00:35:25
What can we say? One of the first women of spoken-word in Montréal, Lynn Suderman is going to regale us with the part two of an ongoing saga of spoken word… we won’t say madness, well, I guess we said it—spoken word with a vengeance. Please welcome to the microphone Lynn Suderman. [Applause.] | Video Description: Extreme closeup then medium closeup of Lee Gotham introducing the next performer.
Lynn Suderman
00:35:54
My friend Mary brought me a Bible for this [Laughter]. [Tells a story about her first tattoo and people asking the same two questions about it: does it hurt, and is it permanent? Then presents these questions as a motto for our times, applicable to government budgets, haircuts, and wakes.] So, this is my wake, for February and for the fact that I quit smoking and February is the worst month to quit smoking and I’m not doing very well. | Video Description: Medium shot as Lee Gotham leaves and Lynn Suderman walks onto the stage. Short black hair tucked behind ears and black long-sleeved blouse. Suderman drinks from a glass and holds a Bible and a pack of pages. After setting the glass down, tells a story, brandishes the Bible and settles it down to read.
Lynn Suderman
00:37:35
[Reads “Wake up,” beginning with the line, “I went on a long drive one summer’s day.” Occasional unscripted interruptions to interact with the audience. Frequent bursts of laughter.] | Video Description: Alternating closeup and medium closeup. Lynn Suderman reads and interacts with the audience.
Lynn Suderman
00:44:50
[Interrupts the reading to ask her friend Mary to help search for a Bible passage. Starts reciting from memory when Mary finds the passage] | Video Description: Closeup then medium closeup of Lynn Suderman on stage. Suderman interrupts the reading and walks to the audience to ask her friend to search for a Bible passage. Starts performing from memory when the friend hands the open Bible back.]
Lynn Suderman
00:45:26
[Continues performing “Wake Up.” Makes one more unscripted interruption, causing a burst of laughter among the audience. Applause] | Video Description: Alternating medium and extreme closeups. Lynn Suderman reads. Zoom out to a medium shot as Suderman leaves the stage.
Lee Gotham
00:46:26
Excellent. Excellent? (?) Jeez, I almost feel like short shrift, no encores I guess, right? No… Lynn Suderman, readily available on… [Laughter] cassette tape as part of the Wired on Words recording series, radiating from the depths of CKUT [FM radio] and through the joint efforts of many of the participants of this series. Also part of the Oralpalooza (ga press, c1994) chapbook collection of performances this past summer on the Word Up stage during that festival. Wow, what can I say? We’re gonna take just the shortest of breaks once again, and then we’re going to give our nine open-mic participants their hour or so in the sun… in the halogen sunlight of Bistro 4. Please make yourselves comfortable, refresh yourselves, and we’ll be back very shortly. Thanks once again [applause]. | Video Description: Medium shot of Lee Gotham entering the stage, clapping and smoking. Zoom into an extreme closeup then out to a closeup as Gotham makes remarks and announces a break.
Unknown_Reader1 (Ingrid?)
00:47:40
[Cut to off-stage voice, probably from a recording, reciting a piece beginning with the line, “My mother was banging pots in the kitchen.” CW: sexual content, alcohol abuse, sexual abuse. Applause.] | Video Description: Cut to medium shot of lone mic, with the performer audible but off-camera during the whole piece. Mid-performance, a person passes a few times times in front of the camera.
Lee Gotham
00:55:43
Wow, thank you very much, Ingrid, for overcoming all technical difficulties. This was an exception. I don’t want to encourage anyone else who may merely be faint of heart to bring a new (recording?) but I think that was well worth a listen. Ok, next on the roster, Justin McGrail, can you make your way up, please? Justin, one of the good contingent of Fluffy Pagan People here this evening. Go to it, my friend.] | Video Description: Medium shot of Lee Gotham entering the stage applauding. Zoom into an extreme closeup. Gotham makes remarks and introduces the next performer.
Justin McGrail
00:56:27
[Announces a show on Wednesday at Phoenix Café with Lee Gotham as the headliner. Performs “Leave a forwarding address.” Applause.] | Video Description: Medium shot of Lee Gotham adjusting the mic. Justin McGrail enters the stage. Short black hair, very short goatee and moustache, plaid brown-and-red shirt with rolled-up sleeves, bracelets and wrist watch. Performs a piece from memory, gesticulating.
Lee Gotham
01:01:42
[Thanks Justin McGrail and introduces the next open-mic performer, Patrick Salah, mentioning that Salah has just returned from the Big Apple.] | Video Description: Medium shot of Lee Gotham entering the stage. Zoom into an extreme closeup then out to a medium closeup. Gotham announces the next performer, often scratching his right eye.
Patrick Salah
01:02:35
[Announces two pieces and reads the first, titled “Like a boy” (later published in Wanting in Arabic, TSAR, 2002). Applause.] | Video Description: Medium closeup of Salah entering the stage. Black hair combed back, dangle cross earring on the right lobe, black sweater over a white button-down shirt with the collar visible. Alternating closeup and medium shot as Salah performs.
Patrick Salah
01:03:31
[Reads “Where skin breaks” (later published in Wanting in Arabic, TSAR, 2002). Applause.] | Video Description: Various degrees of closeup as Salah reads.
Lee Gotham
01:07:08
[Thanks Salah and introduces the next open-mic performer, Sandra Jeppesen] | Video Description: Medium shot of Lee Gotham entering the stage. Zoom into an extreme closeup as Gotham adjusts the mic and announces the next performer.
Sandra Jeppesen
01:07:36
[Shares “an insecurity”—her “ugly boots”—explaining that it doesn’t snow in Toronto as it does in Montréal. Reads the short story “Bohunk.” Applause.] | Video Description: Extreme closeup as Sandra Jeppesen enters the stage. Long blond hair, glasses, black sweater over a white shirt. Medium and extreme closeups as Jeppesen reads.
Lee Gotham
01:12:15
[Remarks on the time constraints of the open-mic and announces the next performer.] | Video Description: Extreme closeup as Lee Gotham enters the stage, adjusts the mic, and announces the next performer.
Stephen Edgar
01:12:56
[Explains he is back from London, Ontario, and displays a magazine he edits (One X?), saying there are enough copies for all to buy, $1 only. Reads “Going going gone.” Scattered laughter at the end.] | Video Description: Medium shot as Stephen Edgar enters the stage. Short light hair, round thin glasses, dangle earring on the right lobe and stud on the left; black pants, long unbuttoned button-down brown shirt atop a white shirt and ochre V-neck sweater. Medium closeup as Edgar holds a magazine for the audience to see. He briefly leaves the stage to set the magazines down then returns to read; the camera zooms out to a medium shot.
Stephen Edgar
01:14:38
[Reads “Please don’t honk your horn, please.”] | Video Description: Medium shot as Stephen Edgar reads.
Stephen Edgar
01:15:05
[Reads “Sex Ed, 16/27, 1995,” dedicating it to his little brother. Frequent audience laughter. Applause.] | Video Description: Medium shot as Stephen Edgar reads, placing his left hand inside his pants pocket.
Lee Gotham
01:19:21
[States he can make out only part of the name of the next open-mic performer and announces (Jacob Landesman?), unsure of how to pronounce it.] | Video Description: Medium shot as Lee Gotham enters the stage holding a cigarette, adjusts the mic and announces the next performer, straining to read their name on the board.
Unknown_Reader2 (Jacob Landesman?)
01:19:48
[Explains this is their first time performing in an open-mic. Reads a piece beginning with the line “Sophia descends the white-cotton corridor,” after dedicating it to “Lisa, my saving grace.” Applause] | Video Description: Extreme closeup as Unknown_Reader2 enters the stage and tests the mic. Red bandana and grey long-sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Various degrees of closeup as the performer recites, mostly from memory, with eyes closed.
Lee Gotham
01:27:31
[Thanks Jacob and announces the next open-mic performer, Mark Grundland.] | Video Description: Medium shot as Lee Gotham enters the stage holding a glass and a cigarette. Adjusts the mic and announces the next performer.
Mark Grundland
01:27:47
[Reads “The flycatcher,” with an epigraph by Robert Frost. Applause.] | Video Description: Zoom out to a medium shot as Mark Grundland enters the stage. Shoulder-length black wavy hair, white t-shirt with a round grey maze. Various degrees of closeup as Grundland reads.
Mitsiko Miller
01:35:58
[Ambient sounds, voices, applause.] | Video Description: Medium shot of the lone mic as Mitsiko Miller crosses the stage and the video skips ahead.
Lee Gotham
01:36:01
[Announces the next open-mic performer, (Juliane?). A voice near the camera, likely the videographer, asks Gotham to reposition the mic cable so it doesn’t stand in the way of the recording.] | Video Description: Medium shot of Lee Gotham at the stage. Fast zoom into an extreme closeup as he announces the next performer. Gotham walks towards the camera to talk to the videographer, then repositions the mic cable and leaves the stage.
Unknown_Reader3 and Unknown_Reader4 (Juliane?)
01:36:43
[Read “Who’s in charge”. Applause.] | Video Description: Medium shot. Two readers enter the stage holding loose pieces of paper. Unknown_Reader3 has neck-length light hair and black sweater with white details around the collar and a small pendant. Unknown_Reader4 has short light hair, a black long-sleeve blouse, and two pendants. Alternating medium shot and medium closeup as the duo reads.
Mitsiko Miller
01:41:42
[Ambient sounds, voices, applause.] | Video Description: Medium shot of the lone mic as Mitsiko Miller crosses the stage one more time.
Lee Gotham
01:41:47
[Announces the next open-mic performer, Alexander Williams.] | Video Description: Medium shot as Lee Gotham enters the stage. Closeup and medium closeup as he announces the next performer.
Alexander Williams
01:42:08
[Reads a piece beginning with “As you spoke, I built a shelf on my bedroom wall, for all the hurtful things you said.” Applause.] | Video Description: Medium closeup as Alexander Williams enters the stage. Ear-length brown hair, polkadot button-down shirt. Closeup as Williams reads.
Alexander Williams
01:43:19
[Reads a piece beginning with the line, “I can hear you breathe.” Applause.] | Video Description: Closeup then extreme closeup as Williams reads.
Lee Gotham
01:44:17
[Gotham announces the last performer of the evening, Mitsiko Miller.] | Video Description: Medium shot of Lee Gotham entering the stage smoking and clapping. Gotham adjusts the mic and announces the last performer.
Mitsiko Miller
01:44:40
[Asks if everybody understands French. Applause. Reads “Christ existe (en?) ciel,” opening with the line “Passé simple, passé composé.” Applause.] | Video Description: Medium shot then extreme closeup as Mitsiko Miller enters the stage. Short blond hair, hoop and stud earrings, leather jacket. Extreme closeup as Miller performs while chewing gum.
Mitsiko Miller
01:46:10
[States she is Francophone and that her English is very slangy. Explains she does not call her pieces “poems.” Reads “Why because,” opening with the line “Can you feel it?” Applause.] | Video Description: Closeup of Mitsiko Miller performing, still chewing gum.
Mitsiko Miller
01:48:10
Wait, let me get rid of this. [Laughter.] | Video Description: Closeup of Mitsiko Miller, interrupting the reading to throw away her bubble gum.
Mitsiko Miller
01:48:17
[Resumes the reading of “Why because.” Applause.] | Video Description: Closeup of Mitsiko Miller performing.
Lee Gotham
01:48:54
[Thanks Miller. Displaying (One X?), the magazine Stephen Edgar edits, and Pawn, edited by Gotham. Announces upcoming events featuring Steve Godin and Adeena Karasick.] | Video Description: Medium closeup of Lee Gotham. Enters the stage smoking then makes final remarks. A the end, zoom out to a medium shot.
END
01:50:16
Notes:
Event recording starts at 03:04:23:36 of VHS #3 asset, which contains multiple events.
NOTES
Type:
General
Note:
VHS #3 asset. Contains recordings of multiple events: (1) Enough Said 1995-02-13, Benefit Part 2; (2) Enough Said 1995-02-20, Backo and Groupe de Poésie Moderne; (3) Enough Said 1995-02-27, Skarstedt and Suderman; and (4) Enough Said 1995-03-06, Phineas Flower Trio and Godin Part 1. The asset was digitized, generating both uncompressed and compressed video files; the compressed files were then split into events to facilitate the transcription work. Metadata entries based on events.
Type:
Cataloguer
Note:
Carlos A. Pittella
RELATED WORKS
Citation:
Skarstedt, Sonja A. Mythographies. Empyreal Press, 1990.
Citation:
Skarstedt, Sonja A. Saint Francis of Esplanade: a play. Montréal: Empyreal Press, 2001. [Later version of short story “Heaven and Hell”]
Citation:
Anderson, Fortner (Ed.). Oralpalooza 94 Montreal. ga press, c1994, https://archive.org/details/oralpalooza_1994.
Citation:
Salah, Trish. Wanting in Arabic. TSAR, 2002.
Citation:
Skarstedt, Sonja A. "Zymergy: From the Neo-Ephemeral to the Odd Imbroglio." In Language Acts: Anglo-Québec Poetry, 1976 to the 21st Century, edited by Jason Camlot and Todd Swift, 179–93, 404–06. Montréal: Véhicule Press, 2007.