James Dewar is not a shape-shifting reptile from outer-space but his Hot-Sauced Words is a reading series that is not afraid of shape-shifting – sometimes offering us a night of all female poets, or a poetry book launch, or his anti-Christmas show the series always has something distinct to offer –
On September 15 the series returned from summer hiatus with a juicy, high-energy show by the Toronto Slam Team – each of whom brought their distinctive spoken attack – starting with David Delisca’s sweetly crooning – almost shy set, followed by Cathy Petch’s brash fun sexy & definitely not shy, porn-o-ramic set – after which we took a much need chill out break – Electric Jon – (subbing for LipBalm) gave us a sprawling shark-a-delic workout – ending with Eytan Crouton’s swag-a-licious throw-down – well not quite ending, as he & Jon brought what was left of the roof down with Reptiles – Eytan’s final lizard tongue lashing is sure to please the ladies (& some laddies given the chance).
I haven’t been the the Black Swan for a few months and was dismayed to see that the tables (as usual) hadn’t been wiped from the last show that had been there. Atmosphere is one thing but beer and booze sticky tables make me question the cleanliness of their glassware.
TOpoet 
Hello Duncan! Thanks for covering what was a truly wonderful show.
And yes, I am a shape shifter (but no longer the reptile I once was) because it’s hard to know where to turn when the inspirational poetry comes at us from so many different sources these days. Hot-Sauced Words is a showcase for the best of page and stage and I want to thank you for your patronage over the years!
Best,
James