This anthology dedicated to spoken-word pioneer Jurczok 1001 compiles a wide selection of typed scripts, ranging from his early raps to pieces inspired by concrete poetry. The volume features a text by writer and performance artist Melinda Nadj Abonji.
His lyrics in Swiss German, German, and English run the gamut from love, longing and fate to teenage angst and the suburban train station in Wädenswil. A dog in front of a supermarket becomes a symbol of abandonment; a dream woman is sought in a want ad. Wooing, doubting, languishing and suffering are cloaked in waggish humor and wordplay.
Even after all these years, Jurczok 1001 still uses “scripts” on paper for his spoken-word performances. Spoken Beats contains facsimiles of a wide selection of his typed scripts, ranging from his early raps to pieces inspired by concrete poetry. His abundant use of repetition generates both meaning and humor, whilst exposing patterns of speech and caricaturing cheap political propaganda. Language becomes a play, not only on stage, but also within the text. The lyrics are not ready-for-press poetry, but scripts to work with on stage. And each sheet bears the traces of performances past: the author's deletions, notes on delivery, tempo and intonation bring the language to life for the reader, serving as both template and document. Hieroglyphs and scribbles give added visual form to each sheet of printed and reworked verse. Spoken Beats is the title of Jurczok 1001's book and his spoken-word show. The author's search for new angles and fresh impetus continues. Jurczok 1001 will keep on sticking his scripts in his jacket pocket and holding them in front of the microphone, if only to create the illusion of reciting them verbatim to his audience.
Born Roland Jurczok, Jurczok 1001 (born 1974 in Wädenswil, Zurich, lives and works in Zurich) has been active since 1996 as a poet, MC, singer and pioneer of spoken-word performance. He has appeared solo at various international festivals in German-speaking countries as well as in Lithuania and Almaty, Kazakhstan. He has also given over a hundred performances together with Melinda Nadj Abonji throughout Europe and in Los Angeles.
