2012 bookings

Ashley Fisher is now bookable for 2012. Email stunnedfish@gmail.com or text/call 07943638939.

A very busy 2011...

January

27th - London. "Outspoken" at The George, The Strand.WC2R 1AP. Entry £5. Start 7.30.

28th - London. "Friday Mic" at The Star and Garter, Greenwich. SE10 9NY. Entry free. Start 8.30.

29th - BBC Radio Humberside, "Saturday Breakfast with Ruth Barcroft and Carl Wheatley".

February

2nd - Hull. "Fresh Ink Open Mic" at Lattitude, Newland Avenue. Free entry, starts 7.30. 

11th - Hull. "Occuparty!" at Staff House, University of Hull. Free, from 7pm.


17th - Hull. "Hull to Scarborough Line" at Fudge. Entry £3, from 8pm.

22nd - Hull. "Fresh Ink Open Mic" at Fruit, Humber Street. Entry £4, doors open 7.30.

March

2nd - Hull. "Fresh Ink Open Mic" at Lattitude, Newland Avenue. Free entry, starts 7.30.

8th - Hull. Open Mic Fundraiser for Women's Services in Hull at Community Enterprise Centre, Cottingham Road. Starts 7pm.

April

6th - Hull. "Fresh Ink Open Mic" at Lattitude, Newland Avenue. Free entry, starts 7.30.

14th - Hull. "Performance Poetry Workshops" at Wyke College, Bricknell Avenue.

20th - Harrogate. "Poems, Prose and Pints" at the Tap and Spile, Tower Street. £2.50 entry, starts 7.30.

24th - Hull. "Paul Burwell Tribute" at The Boathouse, Beresford Park.

29th - Hull. "Alternative Garden Party" at Pearson Park. Free, from noon.

May

4th - Hull. "Fresh Ink Open Mic" at Lattitude, Newland Avenue. Free entry, starts 7.30.

11th. York. "Speakers' Corner" at The Yorkshire Terrier, Stonegate. Entry £1, starts 7.30.

21st. Hull. "Vaudeville @ Merge" at The Ringside, Beverley Road. Entry £4, starts 8pm.

26th - Hull. "Fresh Ink Anthology Launch" at the Johnny Mac Bar, University of Hull. Free entry, starts 7pm.

June

1st - Hull. "Fresh Ink Open Mic" at Lattitude, Newland Avenue. Free entry, starts 7.30.

2nd - Cottingham. "Off The Road Caberet Night" at Duke of Cumberland, Cottingham Green. Entry free. 

3rd - Hull. "Fresh Ink @ Merge 2011" at Fruit, Humber Street. Entry £4, starts 9.00.

5th - Hull. "Off The Road" at Xanders, Newland Avenue. Starts 8.00

7th - Hull. "Wordorama" at The Haworth, Beverley Road. Entry free, doors 7.30.

8th - York. "Speakers' Corner" at the Yorkshire Terrier,  Stonegate. Entry £1, starts 7.30.

9th - Sheffield. "The Shipping Forecast" at The Rude Shipyard, Abbeydale Road. Starts 7.45.

12th - Hull. "Off The Road" at Xanders, Newland Avenue. Free entry, starts 9pm.

15th - Harrogate. Featured artist at "Poetry, Prose and Pints" at Tap and Spile, Tower Street. Entry £2.50, starts 7.30pm.

16th - Hull. "Bloomsday" at Hull Truck Theatre, Ferensway. Starts 5pm.

19th - Hull. "Off The Road" at Xanders, Newland Avenue. Free entry, starts 9pm.

20th - Hull. "Heather's One Night Stanza" at Lattitude, Newland Avenue. Free entry, starts 7.30pm.

23rd - Hull. "Hull to Scarborough Line" at Fudge, Princes Avenue. Entry £3.50 (includes a glass of wine), starts 8pm.

26th - Hull. "Off The Road" at Xanders, Newland Avenue. Free entry, starts 9pm.

July

3rd - Hull. "New Creative Writers From Hull Showcase" at Lattitude, Newland Avenue. Free entry, starts 7.30pm 


3rd - Hull. "Off The Road" at Xanders, Newland Avenue. Free entry, starts 9.30pm.

6th - Hull. "Fresh Ink Open Mic" at Lattitude, Newland Avenue. Free entry, starts 7.30.

10th - Hull. "Off The Road" at Xanders, Newland Avenue. Free entry, starts 9pm.

16th - Sheffield. "Sheffield Pride" at Endcliffe Park, on T'other Stage.

24th - Hull. "Off The Road" at Xanders, Newland Avenue. Free entry, starts 9pm.


29th - Hull. "Wordmill" at The Minerva, Nelson Street. Free entry, starts 8pm.

31st - Hull. "Off The Road" at Xanders, Newland Avenue. Free entry, starts 9pm.



August


3rd - Hull. "Fresh Ink Open Mic" at Lattitude, Newland Avenue. Free entry, starts 7.30

7th - Hull. "Off The Road" at Xanders, Newland Avenue. Free entry, starts 9.00.

8th - Hull. "Musicians' Night" at the New Adelphi, De Grey Street. Free entry, starts 9.00.

14th - Hull. "Off The Road" at Xanders, Newland Avenue. Free entry, starts 9.00.

17th - Hull. "Listen Up!" at Princes Quay. Starts 2.30pm.

24th - Hull. "Off The Road" at Ye Olde Corn Exchange,  North Church Side. Starts 8.30.

28th - Hull. "Off The Road" at Xanders, Newland Avenue. Starts 8.30.

29th - Hull. "Musicians' Night" at the New Adelphi, De Grey Street. Starts 9.00.


September



7th - Hull. "Fresh Ink Open Mic" at Lattitude, Newland Avenue. Free entry, starts 7.30

12th - Bradford. "Beehive Poets" at The New Beehive, Westgate. Starts 8.30.

14th - York. "Speakers' Corner" at The Yorkshire Terrier, Stonegate. Entry £1, starts 7.30.

October

1st - Hull. "Hull Trinity Music Festival" at Hull Trinity Church. Free entry, starts 2pm.

5th - Hull. "Fresh Ink Open Mic" at Lattitude, Newland Avenue. Free entry, starts 7.30pm

6th - BBC Radio Humberside, "The Phil White Show". 3pm.

6th - Hull. "The Hull Connection", Waterstones, Jameson Street. Free entry, 5pm.

6th - Cottingham. "Off The Road" at Duke of Cumberland, Cottingham Green. Free entry, starts 9pm.

8th - Barton upon Humber. "Liberation". The Ropewalk, Maltkiln Road. Entry £3, starts 8pm.

14th - Hull. "Off The Road Presents The Finest Hour". The new Adelphi Club, De Grey Street. Entry £3, starts 8.30pm.

16th - Hull. "Pocketsprung Presents...". Haworth Arms, Beverley Road. Entry £2, starts 8pm

30th - Hull. "Off The Road" at Xanders, Newland Avenue. Free entry, starts 8.30pm.

 31st - Hull. "Poetry and Poe's Open Mic" Johnny Mac Bar, University of Hull. Free entry, starts 7pm.

November


2nd - Hull. "Fresh Ink Open Mic" at Lattitude, Newland Avenue. Free entry, starts 7.30pm

6th - Hull. "Off The Road" at Xanders, Newland Avenue, Hull. Free entry, starts 8.30pm.

9th - Stoke Newington. "Spoonful of Poison" at Stokey Records Bar, Stoke Newington Church Street. Starts 7pm.

11th - London. "Friday Mic" at The Star and Garter, Greenwich. Free entry, starts 8.30pm.

16th - Hull. "New Writing Dundee" at The New Adelphi Club, De Grey Street. Free entry, starts 8pm.

17th - Cambridge. "Upbeat" at The Emperor, Hills Road. Starts  7.30pm.

December

4th - Hull. "Great Bear Hat Trade" at Union Mash-Up, Princes Avenue. Free entry, starts 4pm

7th - Hull. "Festive Fresh Ink" at Staff House, University of Hull. Free entry, starts 7pm.


9th - Hull. "Off The Road Christmas Special" at The Old Corn Exchange, Trinity Square. Free entry. All evening.

Rain, Music and Poetry

It may have been ridiculously wet yesterday, but whatever the elements may throw at it, an evening at the Adelphi never disappoints. It was Musicians' Night last night for open mic, Adelphi-style. And inspite of hideous weather a decent crowd was in attendence. Really friendly staff and audience and some excellent musicians make this a great night which even welcomes the occaisional poet. Great to see both some familiar faces and some performers I haven't seen before doing their thing on the Adelphi stage. Huge thanks to everyone who suggested that going along was a good idea!

Musicians' Night at the Adelphi

Tonight, Ashley's busy Summer continues at Musicians' Night at the Adelphi on De Grey Street, Hull. For those who do not know the place, the Adelphi is an iconic venue having hosted (to name but a few bands) Pulp, The Stone Roses, Radiohead, Green Day and Oasis. This will be Ashley's first appearance at the Adelphi since last year's Larkin25 festival saw Write to Speak and thisisull.com host a night there.

Josip Pesut at Xanders

An exciting evening in store tonight for Off The Road at Xanders on Newland Avenue. In addition to the usual eclectic mix of open micers, Croatian guitarist Josip Pesut will performing. Josip is currently on a mini tour of the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands having achieved some fame in Croatia by reaching the semi-finals of the TV talent show "Supertalent". His first album, "The Life" will be released later this year.

Word Mill, July

Yesterday saw the second installment of Gary Clark's new spoken word open mic night, Word Mill, at the Minerva (Nelson Street, Hull). The night takes place in the intimate theatre (home of the an old micro-brewery, I am reliably informed) in the pub, a great little venue for both performing and watching. Word Mill describes itself as "poetry, 'Ull style" and runs under the banners of Write to Speak and thisisull, champions of the arts in Hull.

Many of the poets performing were from the Write to Speak stable, having participated in their workshops which formed part of the Larkin25 celebrations which took place in the city last year and it was a delight to catch up both the poets and their work.

As both the arts and publicans seem to both be struggling financially at present, Word Mill is one of many open mic nights (some poetry, some music, some mixed) popping up at the moment and promoting good quality art at a grassroots level and I am sure that Word Mill will soon become an established part of the spoken word scene in Yorkshire.

Fisher on facebook

Due to the joys of the twenty-first century (and Ashley finally working out the technology) all those facebookers among you can follow Ashley Fisher on facebook by clicking here and hitting the "Like" button.

Poems, Prose and Pints

Last night I had the pleasure of performing a guest slot at Poems, Prose and Pints at the Tap and Spile in Harrogate. Having been there once previously I knew that they were a very friendly crowd and was really looking forward to the night, especially as the carshare poets were in attendance to do the open micing. Participation in these nights is particular encouraged as you get a 50p discount on entry if you are doing a turn!
The good-sized crowd were really appreciative and welcoming both to myself and the rest of the Hull contingent (Nicky Ellam, Joe Hakim, Jim Higo, Catherine Scott, Rob Swan and Mike Watts all putting in fantastic performances). Friendly hosts, good beers and a welcoming audience, what more could you ask for? Will certainly be returning in future to open mic! Huge thanks to Jim Higo and Trevor Holmes for driving (carshare poets wouldn't go anywhere without the cars!) especially as conditions were horrendous on the way back.

Off The Road @ Xanders

Jayney Wright's Off The Road open mic night at Xanders on Newland Avenue may only be two weeks old, but it is already proving to be a great success. The second installment of this weekly event occurred on Sunday evening and included an eclectic mix of music, poetry, mime and comedy and was very well attended in spite of hideous weather. Every Off The Road night provides a great mix of acts and this seems to be even more the case with Jayney's foray into the world of open mic. For me, the musical highlights (from a very talented selection of musicians!) were Lindsey Simpson, who is an absolutely amazing guitarist, and the four-string maestro Ukulele Bill. It was also great to see support for performance poetry there, as well as myself Eddy Watts, Mike Watts and Joe Hakim all did spoken word turns. All this entertainment with very welcoming organisers and a friendly venue that serves proper beer make these nights thoroughly enjoyable.

The Shipping Forecast

Thursday saw two carloads of Hull poets travel down to Sheffield for The Shipping Forecast at the Rude Shipyard. This fantastic venue is a very friendly cafe-cum-bookshop serving marvellous tea and some very good cake. The event itself, hosted by Stan Skinny, takes place in an upstairs room of the cafe which is small enough for there to be no need for a mic. There was standing room only with a good-sized and fairly lively crowd (including a drunk or two who were ejected half way through the evening after rather a lot of heckling). Some good performances from regular "turns" as well as sets from our own Ruth Dixon, Bob Swan, Julie Corbett, Joe Hakim, Mike Watts and myself. A very enjoyable evening out, huge thanks to Ruth and Peter Dixon for driving down!

Speakers' Corner

Wednesday saw the carshare poets' second outing to the Yorkshire Terrier in York for Speakers' Corner. The cosy upstairs room in the pub was pretty much filled with poetical types enjoying some fine beer and some very good poetry. It was good to catch up with members of the Scarborough Poetry Workshop (hopefully a Hull / Scarborough poetic exchange is in the offing in the near future). The Hull contingent consisted of myself, Catharine Scott (who kindly agreed to drive), Jim Higo and Nicky Ellam and all performances were well-received. I even got to perform in the round due to a lack of space in the venue - something I haven't done for sometime. Great night, will hopefully be going back in the near future!

Wordorama

A busy few days started on Tuesday with Bob Swan's first Wordorama night upstairs at the Haworth in Hull on Tuesday. This was the first night Bob had hosted and he did an exceptionally good job. An excellent turn out of both performers and non-performers ensured that Hull's latest spoken word night started with quite a bang! Wordorama will return on Thursday, July 14th at the Haworth. Take a look at the Wordorama facebook page for details.

Sparkbright

Ashley's poem "Sepulchre" appears in issue six of Sparkbright. You can read the zine by clicking here.

Vaudeville Night at The Ringside

Burlesque dancers, singing, comedy and poetry were on the bill for the Vaudeville Night at The Ringside on Beverley Road as part of the build-up to the Merge Arts Festival at the beginning of next month.

I have to admit to being a little apprehensive about this gig as (having passed The Ringside during the day time) I really wasn't sure how the show would go down. Thankfully, there is an upstairs space in the venue and the enthusiatic and friendly landlady, Anna, seemed sure the all would go well. And she was right.

A friendly audience and an excellent compere (Neil, who later said my set reminded him of early Alexei Sayle) set my mind at rest and really enjoyed doing a slightly longer set than usual. The singers and dancers were fantastic and the comedian was really good and the crowd enjoyed the night.

Set list: Step, Cover Version, Dead Crabs, First Love, Chloe, Reading, Big Sean, Submission, Air Messiah.

Check out the Merge Arts Festival website for more info about what's on and when (including Fresh Ink Open Mic on Friday 3rd June at Fruit).

Next up is the Fresh Ink Raunchy Launch Party at the Johnny Mac which will include readings from the Fresh Ink Anthology, spoken word open mic and some marvellous bands. It all starts at 7pm next Thursday in the Johnny Mac Bar on the University of Hull campus. Entry is free and all are very warmly welcome.

June is looking very busy with two Fresh Ink Open Mic nights, a guest slot at Off The Road at the Duke of Cumberland in Cottingham, a guest slot at Poems, Prose and Pints at the Tap and Spile, Harrogate and a some open mics in Hull (OTR and Wordarama) and around Yorkshire to be confirmed.

Ink, Sweat and Tears

Ashley Fisher is at the beach! Or rather, he was. The poem "Dead Crabs" has been published in Ink, Sweat and Tears. Click here to read.

oldyellownotebook

Ashley's poem "Normal" is featured in the second issue of oldyellownotebook. You can read the issue by clicking here.

Gloom Cupboard

Ashley's poem "Chloe" appears in Gloom Cupboard. You can read the ezine by clicking here.

Poetry, Prose and Pints in Harrogate

I was over in Harrogate yesterday to do an open mic slot at the Poetry, Prose and Pints night at the Tap and Spile which takes place every third Wednesday. The night consists of open mic slots and a featured guest (on this occasion Jem Henderson with a novel extract which worked equally well as a self-contained piece). There was a decent crowd there and some good work was read out. This particular evening was predominantly prose, but I am reliably informed that (as with most open mics) the content varies depending upon who turns up on the night.

Both crowd and hosts were very welcoming and encouraging to all the performers, making it a genuine pleasure do a turn there. £2.50 in (reduced to £2 if you're reading) is decent value for money even though it is in the back room of a pub. The only possible downsides being that the beer is expensive (though this is well beyond the organisers' control and they do real ale) and the performance space is really quite small - not much room to jump around "on stage", if you have a penchant for that sort of thing! - but this does make it a more intimate night.

I am definately hoping to go back at a future date and would recommend it as a good place to watch or perform work. Check out their facebook page here.

The Toucan

Ashley's poem "Natural History" will appear in the Fall issue of The Toucan.

Down in the Dirt

Ashley poem "Body in the Bedsit" is published in Down in the Dirt click here and then on "Ashley Fisher" to read it.

Semolina Pilchard

Ashley's poem "Elvis Impersonator" appears in the first issue of Semolina Pilchard. You can read it by clicking here.

The Camel Saloon

Ashley's poem "Tea in Pontefract" has been published in The Camel Saloon click here to read it.

"Step" on Calliope Nerve

Ashley's poem "Step" is featured on Calliope Nerve. Click here to read it!

March's Fresh Ink Open Mic

Fresh Ink returned to Lattitude last night for the latest installment of what is becoming a regular event at the Newland Avenue venue. Just like the first Fresh Ink Open Mic night, the event was very well attended with a full house being entertained by a great mix of experienced and new performers. It looks like 2011 is going to be a very good year for spoken word in Hull!

OCCUPARTY! at Hull University

Sorry about the late notice: tomorrow I'm going to be up for a turn at the Occuparty! social and open mic in Staff House in the University of Hull in support of the occupation there. Visit their facebook page to show your support or if you are around, come along and show your support!

First Fresh Ink Open Mic Night

The first ever Fresh Ink Open Mic night was held in a packed Lattitude on Newland Avenue last night. Although I knew that there was a demand for spoken word nights in Hull, the size of turn out both surprised and delighted me, as did the quality of the work on offer (well, the latter isn't strictly true, I already knew that there was a lot of great talent out there in Hull). No less than eighteen open mic-ers took to the floor in front of the very friendly crowd, some being old hands, others performing for the first time in public and some returning from a long gap without performing. A huge thank-you to everyone who got up an read - they were, without exception, great.

On the subject of thanking people, I should mention Steve and the team from Lattitude who were absolutely marvellous in helping to put the night together as was Cilla from thisisull.com who lent us the on-stage equipment and offered buckets of encouragement and enthusiasm.

Fresh Ink Open Mic will return to Lattitude on 2nd March starting at 7.30pm, both readers and audience are very warmly welcomed to what is sure to be another great night. In the meantime, we are having a night of featured artists plus open mic at Fruit on Humber Street on 22nd February. We will be featuring performance poets Joe Hakim and Mike Watts, period drama from Allison Neal and Janine Hatter and film from Kirsty Clark. At only £4 entry, it is a night (and a venue) not to be missed!

London Trip

Had a great time down in London. Thursday night I was at Outspoken in The George on the Strand. As well as myself, Simon Lawrence did a great acoustic set and Camila Fiori and Paul Lyalls also performing. It was also great to meet two Turbulence poets, Abol Froushan and Ali Abdolrezaei, in the flesh. Two very nice blokes. All this and prize bingo too, where host Paul Sockett performed admirably in spite of a reluctant bingo machine.

On Friday it was down to the Star and Garter in Greenwich for Friday Mic. The folks at Friday Mic are always fantastic and the hosts, We Should Get A Boat are a band offering 'omni-directional musicomedy', well worth looking up and thoroughly nice people as well! Friday Mic gave me chance to do a slightly odder set than usual requiring edible props in the form of Bermondsey's finest scotch bonnet chillies and my attempts at "singing" a chilli song to a very enthusiastic audience. Anyone wanting a thoroughly entertaining night out in South London should give this night a go. It happens every Friday night at the Star and Garter; We Should Get a Boat are wonderful and some of the musical talent on show is astonishingly good.

After the excitement of Friday, it was radio time on Saturday as I appeared by telephone on BBC Radio Humberside to talk about Fresh Ink Open Mic on the breakfast show. That's on Wednesday at Lattitude on Newland Avenue, the ball starts rolling at seven so get yourself there!

Ashley on BBC Radio Humberside

Ashley appeared on BBC Radio Humberside on Saturday to talk about the forthcoming Fresh Ink Open Mic night, you can listen to it by clicking here (the piece is about 2hrs 20 into the show).

Toad on a Grecian Urn on thisisull.com

Ashley's poem "Toad on a Grecian Urn" has been published on thisisull.com, visit here to read it.

Dead Crabs out now! (Rest of World)

You can now buy Ashley's chapbook Dead Crabs outside the UK for two pounds plus two pounds postage and packaging by clicking on this button!

Dead Crabs (rest of world)

Dead Crabs out now (UK)!

You can now buy Ashley's chapbook, Dead Crabs online (if you live in the UK)for just two pounds plus 50p post and packaging by clicking this button!

"Dead Crabs" chapbook

Ashley's chapbook "Dead Crabs" will be published later this month by Fire Hazard. The chapbook will cost £2 plus postage. Details of how to get a copy will be put on here later this month, but you can have a copy reserved by emailing stunnedfish@animail.net

Fresh Ink Open Mic night

The first Fresh Ink Open Mic night will take place at Lattitude on Newland Avenue on Wednesday 2nd February. The evening starts at 7.30 and will offer a platform for poets and spoken word artists, you can put your name down to perform on the night or you can book a slot via email (stunnedfish@animail.net) or by text (07943638939).

Outspoken in London

Ashley will be a featured poet at Outspoken in London on January 27th. The evening starts at 7.30 at the George pub on The Strand and will include featured writers Camila Fiori, Ashley Fisher and Paul Lyalls, live music, open mic slots and prize bingo. All of this costs just £5 (and only £4 if you ring 07743 407247 to reserve in advance - you still pay on the door).

Venue: The George,213 The Strand, London WC2R 1AP.
Date: 27th January 2011.
Start time: 7.30pm.

Recording of performance at the Star and Garter

Ashley's performance at the Star and Garter, Greenwich can be seen here. Set includes Step, Chloe, Dead Crabs and Air Messiah.

Returning from Dane Garth published in Misjudge Your Limits

The poem Returning from Dane Garth has been published in issue two of Misjudge Your Limits. You can read the zine at their website.

"Lightness" published in A Terrible Beauty

Ashley's short story Lightness has been published in A Terrible Beauty. For details of how to get a copy of the zine visit the TB website.