Sun. April 22

When we were growing up, poetry was a genteel thing. Or so it seemed. Maybe that was just an illusion. Maybe, we just didn't read or see scathing, angry, controversial poetry. We do know there was no such thing as "slam poetry," or in-your-face live competitions that pit one poet against another and let audience judges decide winners. But, really, how prescient? Look at the "American Idol"/"Dancing with the Stars" etc. shows and see how people get hooked on performance - good or bad - and love to see a decision rendered. Hey, maybe even vote themselves through text messaging. Michael Brown brought slam poetry from Chicago to Boston back in 1991 (with then wife, slammer/writer Patricia Smith) and he is again staging "Dr. Brown's Traveling Poetry Show," at Jimmy Tingle's Off Broadway. On Sunday April 22, Douglas Bishop, Jonathan Chink Tom Daley, Melissa Guillet, Valerie Lawson, Ryk McIntyre, Maia Radhakrishnan (and others to be named later) face off at 7:30 p.m. for an hour-long event.  Brown, author of four poetry pooks and a national slam finalist, directs the onslaught. This part of the show is not a contest. The next part is. After a 15 minute break, six local slam poets compete before the audience, some of whom will be chosen to be the random judges. Simone Beaubien, SlamMaster of the Boston Poetry Slam and four-time National Poetry Slam competitor, hosts. This lasts an hour, too. Guarantee: You will be poetried out by the end of this night. Tickets: $15.

255 Elm St., Somerville, 617-591-1616 jtoffbroadway.com