Dead Poets - Graves Tour

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few years, you will be familiar with the names MC Mixy and Mark Grist. Both Mixy and Grist are big in the battle league, be it as a tag team or holding their own, they smash it every time. Mixy has beaten every opponent he had been dealt apart from one. His only loss was to the now Don't Flop Champion Tony D, pretty impressive to say the least and Grists battle with Blizzard helped the forever growing battle league appeal to more than just it's usual audience.

Battling is not the only thing on Mixy and Grists agenda. Together they are the Spoken Word duo 'Dead Poets'. Grist, an ex English teacher and Mixy, a hip hop artist, an unlikely duo, but it works. Their chemistry on stage, makes what they do so special! Together they help us see that rap and poetry are the same thing, or are they? That's what their first successful Dead Poets tour was all about. Could a poet be accepted into the world of battling in a hip hop dominated sport and could a hip hop artist be accepted by Peterboroughs poetry community. Now back from touring the likes of Shambala and Latitude this summer, Mixy and Grist have returned with some fresh material and a brand new show. We had the pleasure of seeing it at the Key Theatre on Friday 27th September.

The stage setting was simple. Two microphones, two tables and a chair. The audience was a great mixture of all ages from all walks of life, I didn't stick out like a sore thumb wearing my jeans and hooded top. The show starts with Mixy and Grist introducing themselves and giving us an outline of what was to come. We as an audience were given 6 names of actual dead poets and Mixy and Grist delivered either together or separately their interpretations or a piece inspired by said poets. The outcome was determined by the audience as we were asked to pick our two favourite dead poets and they would then go head to head in a rap battle. A rap battle in full costume, including some beautiful wigs! One of the highlights of the night was when Mixy and Grist took it in turns to woo the Queen. They picked a member of the audience to participate and HE played the part brilliantly! The humour element was high throughout the whole show. Mixys cheese jokes were emmental! ;) I actually left the theatre feeling like I had learnt something. You can follow them both on Twitter and Facebook and I would fully recommend grabbing a ticket if they are coming to a city near you. Fully entertaining, highly educational and an overall great night out!

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