Hee! Hee! Poetry Night

Hee! Hee! Poetry Night takes over Radio Rosewood on Friday, July 31, at 7:30 PM. It's a poetry game show hosted by Sonic the Hedgehog, and the premise is as straightforward as it sounds: poets compete for his heart. If you've ever wanted to see a blue hedgehog judge a poetry slam, this is your chance.

Radio Rosewood is the live-music venue at 1115 E. 11th St., part of the Radio Coffee & Beer chain. If you haven't spent much time there, it helps to know how the whole thing works. Radio Coffee & Beer has been voted Austin's best coffee shop for ten years running, and it operates three locations across the city: Radio Rosewood, Radio South at 4204 Menchaca Road, and Radio East at 3504 Montopolis Dr. Every one of them serves coffee, craft beer, and cocktails, and they all have outdoor patios, so you can grab a drink and hang out before the show starts.

Since the night is a game show, the focus is on the competition rather than a standard reading. Poets step up to the mic and perform, and Sonic the Hedgehog calls the shots. The whole thing is built around that one goal—winning over the host—so the energy should be a bit different from your usual open mic. It's as much about the performance and the reaction as it is about the poems themselves.

It all goes down at Radio Rosewood on Friday, July 31, starting at 7:30 PM. You can find the venue at 1115 E. 11th St. in East Austin, and since it's part of the Radio Coffee & Beer family, you'll have coffee, craft beer, and cocktails on hand throughout the night.