On Sunday evenings, SO MAD breathes life into Rid dick hall as students in the group showcase their unique talents. For three hours, stu dents present poetry, visual art and music, or just talk about their day in front of a room full of their peers.
SOMAD stands for Spec tacular Open Mic Artist Display and was created by Nick Casale, a sophomore, who said he got his inspira tion from open mic events in Charlotte, his hometown. “I go to the Evening News Open Mics in Charlotte, and I wanted to create a similar community here,” Casale said.
With the help Katie Perry, vice president of SOMAD and a senior in Spanish lit erature and philosophy, the group has become a haven for students who want to ex press themselves. “It’s a place to show us what you think is really cool,” Casale said.
SOMAD is a supportive and loyal community. Reg ulars perform each week, but everyone is welcome to attend and anyone who at tends is welcome to present just about anything. “People perform static art, play mu sic, read poetry, show videos or photography or just talk,” Casale said.
According to Casale and Perry, the only two rules of the club are that perfor mances have to be less than 10 minutes – unless it isn’t a busy night, in which case perform ers can take as long as they need — and that everybody has to showcase something if they come. “Everyone has to perform, but if you don’t have something prepared at least tell us about your day,” Perry said. “We want anyone with passion to come, and people can be shy, too — it’s a really good environment because it’s not too big and we all just become friends.”
Casale and Perry agreed that an important part of the event was that each per former is celebrated — they take pride in encouraging people to be themselves and stress that the event is a judgment-free zone. “Every one claps before and after the acts, and sometimes during,” Casale said.
Therefore, a wide variety of acts are performed each week, and essentially anything is considered acceptable. “Peo ple showcase everything from poetry to game boy chip tune music,” Perry said. “We had one guy sit under a desk for ten minutes and watch our reactions.”
As for Casale and Perry, they participate in the fun every Sunday as well. Ca sale writes songs and poetry and paints. Perry reads short stories, films videos, writes travel stories and reads what she describes as “angsty” po etry. “We appreciate beauty and art, and if you do too, you should come show us what inspires you – beautiful or disgusting,” Perry said.
SOMAD meets every Sun day evening from 6-9 p.m. in Riddick, room 450.
