Richard Tyrone Jones
‘ringmaster of spoken word’ – Three Weeks
Join Richard’s facebook gigs group:
http://bit.ly/richardtyronejones
Book: richard-tyrone-jones@gmail.com (without hyphens)
Richard Tyrone Jones is not only the Director of ‘Utter!’, but a wide-ranging and versatile host, MisGuided tour guide, poet, writer, writing workshop leader and spoken word event organiser. His work ranges from the amusingly daft, through the witheringly self-deprecating to the multilayered, poignant and formally innovative, always cut through by a strong vein of ironic humour, bold leaps of the imagination, a strident voice and a deft technique.
Publication:
Richard’s first book ‘Germline’, comprising stories, poems and art was published by Vintage Poison Press. He is happy to sign a copy at any of his events, or it is available from Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Germline-Richard-Tyrone-Jones/dp/0955498929 His work and articles have appeared in The Fix, Fuselit, Rising, Brittle Star, Krax, Litro, South Bank Poetry, Trespass, The London Magazine, The Delinquent, art magazine in a bag Irk, Utter! Writing group’s anthology ‘Stop me & Buy One’, in anthologies Tales of the Decongested Vol II and ‘Poems for a Better Future’ (Oxfam 2004), and on metaroar.com and decongested.com. ‘Critical Switch’ was Sept 2009’s poem of the month on Writeoutloud.net.
Spoken word events organisation and hosting:
5 years’ experience, 7 successful Arts Council applications
Director and host of ‘Utter!’ spoken word, Mar 2004 – date,
inc. Edinburgh ’09: ‘a refreshing change from the never ending list of comedians’ – hairline. 22 shows to over 800 audience featuring the likes of John Hegley, Tim Turnbull and Edinburgh comedy award-winner Tim Key. Richard had interviews in the Fix and Three Weeks magazines and with Lauren Laverne on BBC6, where he read from his book.
Richard has run and hosted over 60 events in the ‘Utter!’ spoken word series, presenting poetry, storytelling and music at currently, the Whitechapel Art Gallery and Cross Kings, and previously, for the Hackney Empire, Camden’s Green Note and the Arcola Theatre.
‘Utter!’ breaks new acts in the form of an exciting ‘Ajar’ mic contest alongside guest performers and members of the Utter! writing group. Iain Sinclair, Stewart Home, Roger Robinson, Clare Pollard, Tim Key, Abe Gibson, John Hegley, A.F.Harrold, Tim Turnbull and Zena Edwards have all read. Secured Arts Council funding for 2006-7 and 2008 seasons.
(Mis)Guided Tours, Summers of 2008 & 09
Open air cultural / literary tours of Crouch End, Archway, Stoke Newington, Hackney, Brixton and privately for the Newington Green: Then and Now project, and The Building exploratory. Peppered with poetry, comedy, facts, tall tales and guest appearances from local artists David Floyd, Dzifa Benson, Gareth Lewis, Ernesto Sarezale, Paul Hawkins, James Kettle and… Dick Whittington. the tours were Arts Council funded in 2009 and a critical success. ‘The most fun I’ve ever had in Archway’ according to one punter, tours will be added yearly. Richard can be commissioned to organise and write a tour for your organisation or area from a cost of £600.
‘East Words’, Museum of London in Docklands, Oct 08, April & Oct 09
Free poetry ‘lates’ commissioned by the Museum and co-curated with Chris Horton. Featuring Simon Barraclough, Todd Swift, Chris McCabe, Jay Bernard, Inua Ellams, Retta Bowen, James Byrne, Tim Wells, Stephen Watts, Siddharta Bhose, Katrina Naomi and Tom Chivers.
Co-organiser & publicity for ‘Poetry@theRoom’, Aug 2005 – June 2007
Monthly, Arts Council-funded night at The Room, Tottenham, co-organised with Anthony Howell and Abe Gibson. Acts included John Hegley, Hugo Williams, Roddy Lumsden, Kat Francois, Peter Porter, Zena Edwards, David J, Annie Freud, Alan Jenkins and Clark Coolidge at a packed out US abstract special. www.the-room.org.uk
Co-organiser, Clerkenwell Literary Festival, July 2005
Budgeted, programmed, organised, promoted and secured Arts Council and LA funding for a highly successful week of events, including Clare Pollard’s poetry lunchtimes, The Idler night, Iain Sinclair, Brian Catling and street party with stand-up and novelist Mark Watson. Managed twenty volunteers and hosted reading at Self-Publishing fair. Volunteer on 2004’s festival.
Coordinator, ‘Utter!’ writing group, 2003 - present
Booking authors, poets and group members to run a weekly writing group in Wood Green library. Issuing email updates and promoting the group via facebook, posters & local listings. Monitoring group funds, delegating responsibilities and running many workshops (see above). With group members, compiled, secured funding for and launched anthology ‘Stop Me & Buy One’ (2005).
Workshops:
Richard has six years’ experience running varied workshops, both to encourage new writing and look critically at existing work. Themes include: Epigrams, Poems that boss you about, The Random storyline generator, Sex and Violence, Ridiculous Sci-fi Extrapolatory bits, Sonnets, Impending doom and Misery.
He has worked with Utter! writing group, Word for Word Crouch End, Newington Green: Now and Then project, The Building Exploratory and at Oaklands College, Welwyn Garden City and is pleased to devise or run workshops in any setting and with groups of any age, writing style or ability. He is CRB checked, number 001241986676.
Acting experience:
Town Crier, Newington Green Now & Then project, and Jimmy Saville, Top Of the Pops, Dead Pet’s Society, June 2009. Extra on Alain de Boton’s Philosophy: A Guide To Happiness and ‘Queer as Eighteenth century folk’.
Media:
On BBC Breakfast, Richard talked about anti-ginger discrimination and the photographic exhibition ‘Root Ginger’; on the radio, Richard has read poetry and been interviewed on Lauren Laverne’s BBC6 show, interviewed Dean Friedman and been guest poet on blogtalkradio.com, and appeared on Nathan Penlington and Guy J Jackson’s resonancefm.com show ‘Parlour games’. He has also been the subject of Guy J Jackson’s feature-length youtube film, ‘77 Questions’, http://uk.youtube.com/Guyjjackson and is interviewed and has poetry featured in episodes 65 & 66 of ukpoetrypodcast.com. He was also winner of Bangface TV’s ‘Bangface got talent’ 2009.
Quotes:
“Wonderful compere and poet!” – Daljit Nagra
“Richard researched and delivered an intriguing, entertaining and accessible introduction to the History of Newington Green in the form of both a Powerpoint-aided talk and a local tour. He met the brief, covering the specified theme of ‘dissent’, and was involving, amusing and interesting to both the 13-19 year olds and us adults. We look forward to working with him again!” - Anna Selby, Youth Media Manager, Social Spider
“Often witty, sometimes unsettling and always smart, Jones’s debut literary-cauldron bubbles with a nervy assurance and frenetic energy. Amongst the splurge of profanity and profundity “Rollins” and “Re-match” stand out. A raw and salty collection from a thoughtful and ginger poet.” – Tim Key, Edinburgh comedy award winner 2009
“cult gay poet” – Time Out
“Many know Richard Tyrone Jones as the hardest working man on London’s poetry scene and it’s no surprise that his boundless energy has found its way into his debut. However, this is not to say the poems in Germline do not reward the careful reader, for within them is a deep philosophical vein that explores the Darwinian undertones of our post-millennial niceties and the many contradictory emotions that haunt our daily human contact. Fusing the intense imagery of William Burroughs with the poetic anarchy of Spike Milligan, Jones’s poetry and prose display a merciless wit and an infectious sense of fun that matches his already formidable reputation as a spoken word performer.” - Niall O’ Sullivan, host of The Cellar and Poetry Unplugged at the Poetry Cafe and author of two collections with Flipped Eye.
“…this is the best Roman poem since John Hegley’s one that begins ‘A Roman centurion soldier…’ and it’s also the only poem ever written with the word ‘senescence’ in. Many people on the poetry circuit think that Richard Tyrone Jones is just a big ginger moptop who likes shouting, but this poem reveals another side to him: an altogether more cerebral big ginger moptop. I mean – just look at those nonchalantly self-assured rhymes; and that ‘eagled’/’eager’ thing. In fact, I’d say that RTJ – the host of fun-to-be-at London night Utter! – simply oozes nonchalant self-assurance wherever he goes. And gaudeamus igitur, say I.” – Rachel Pantechnicon, choosing ‘Critical Switch’ as writeoutloud.net’s poem of the month.
“five star performance” - Ham & High.
Other performances:
Richard has appeared, in various guises, at 350+ nights including a monthly residency at ‘Spoonful of Poison’ (also frequent guest host). In Summer 2008 he ran a month of Slams for the Hackney Empire Spice Festival and appeared in Liz Bentley’s Edinburgh Fringe swimming pool show ‘Edinburgh-by-Sea’.
Other appearances at poetry and music venues include Shortfuse, where he won the fourth Poetry Idol contest and was guest host on National Poetry day. At Express Excess, he has supported Francesca Beard and Luke Wright, at Tongue in Chic, John Hegley, and he has hosted for Apples and Snakes and Pete Doherty.
Also: O2 Wireless Festival, ‘The Cellar’ at the Poetry Café, the Chelmsford, Tottenham and Ambient picnic festivals, Wordplay, Bloomsbury Fete, Poetry@TheRoom, Hammer & Tongue, Tales of the Decongested, 14 Hour, Torriano poets, Farrago!, JAMM, Whitechapel Art Gallery, Poetry Shack, London’s premier short film night Short & Sweet, Ik:Toms, Perverse Verse, Brixton Urban Green Fair, Word for Word Crouch End, Tom Chivers’ charity benefit ‘Bah Humbug’, Roddy Lumsden’s Advent Calendar and many more.
Fat Fat Pope, ‘art comedy’ group, 1998 – 2001.
“God’s gift to comedy… astonishingly assured and uncompromisingly intelligent…fantastic, in every sense of the word” – The Observer.
“more talent in their little pinkies than a month of stand-up hacks” – The List.