By Joy McKay.
I was invited to attend a new show by local poets Rich Lansley and Jackson Davies recently (15/5). I’d seen Rich perform before and so had some idea of what was in store for the evening and took along a friend who had no idea and, honestly, is not a poetry fan.
The event took place at Hunter Gatherer in Southsea, a charming vegan coffee shop offering delicious lunches and cake alongside hot and cold drinks including wine and beers. Beyond the noise and bustle of the Gaggia machine the coffee shop surprisingly opens up into a larger performance area and it was here people piled in filling up tables, benches, and even the stairs to hear the performers.
The evening was hosted by Ripper, a familiar face to many, often MCing and performing around the Solent. As always, he delighted the audience with his tales of frogs, cider and marmalade. His enthusiastic delivery and tendency towards whimsy turning my friend slightly poetry curious. Thoroughly warmed by Ripper’s tales the room welcomed Jackson Davies to the stage.
Jackson Davies was chaos in sunglasses and quickly had our full attention, laughing with him as we learned how he is bad at making tea and equally bad at The Chase. His material slowly became more serious as he covered subjects from marriage to unions, before moving on to the unlikely comedic topics of fascism and oblivion. A mixture of laughing at the absurdity of existence, and righteous anger at the same. His entire set was a slow crescendo, skilfully curated and performed. But most importantly, perhaps, really enjoyed by the audience.
Rich Lansley’s set was a complete change of pace and mood, performing his show “A Hundred Small Things”. He spoke to us about many (maybe a hundred?) wonderful small things including oranges, crumbs, moths, waiting, jigsaws and trying. Rich beautifully weaves these small things together until you realise somehow there’s a narrative, a point to the nonsense, a fully formed idea hiding in plain sight, a Big Thing. And it’s beautiful. The audience has changed; no longer are we laughing at the funny man with the long hair making jokes about how much he looks like Jesus. We are still, contemplative, moved (some of us to tears).
The evening was a great experience, even my “poetry hating” friend loved it. People often think they don’t like poetry, but they are imagining things they were forced to read at school or solemn folk earnestly sharing intimate thoughts you don’t want to hear. But it’s like saying you don’t like music. You might not like Beethoven, or Abba or Chappell Roan. But there’s definitely some music out there you enjoy.
So be poetry curious and see these one of the upcoming shows of these great performers, or one of the other many spoken word events around Hampshire.
You can see Jackson Davies at the Battlegrounds Rap Clash on 5th June at The Wedgewood Rooms (wedgewood-rooms.co.uk/events/2025-06-05-battlegrounds-live-rap-battles-the-wedgewood-rooms)
Rich Lansley will be performing “A Hundred Small Things” at The Hideaway (thehideawaysouthsea.co.uk/) in Southsea on Friday 20th June.
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