Stories of childhood days, hopeful loves and stressful nights told with the soft jams of blues and funk set the tone at the Memorial Union’s Lakefront Café Friday night. In the last Big Mouth Spoken Word event of the semester, 25 students and community members let their thoughts fly in front of many eager onlookers.

Performers were given five minutes on stage, with or without the accompaniment of the house band, Darth Mader and the Space Invaders, which was deemed “really good at matching the mood to the music.”

Big Mouth Spoken Word, which is sponsored by the Wisconsin Union Directorate of Performing Arts, has given students the opportunity to read poetry, sing or freestyle for the last year and a half.

“Poetry is how we express ourselves in the simplest form … it’s a window to somebody’s soul,” sophomore Katy Jensen said, who was a novice to the poetry jamming scene until Friday.

With such poems as “In Praise of Strobe Lights” and “All of Her Dreams Are Lucid,” and with topics that questioned the merits of art and the global role of African-Americans, among other things, audience members indeed got the chance to revel in the many different worlds of those who shared their thoughts.

“The chance for students to get up and express themselves is a very positive thing,” said Brittany Reed, director of the Wisconsin Union Directorate Performing Arts committee. She added that many leave the event inspired and touched by the poets’ words.

Freshman Matt Healy can attest to Reed’s remarks.

“It was the most inspiring school-sponsored event I’ve been to,” he said.

For junior Roberto Rivera, just writing poetry is an inspiring thing in itself.

“If I get to the place of the flow, I’m just alone in a beautiful place, and it becomes clear. I focus and try to get into that place,” he said.

Friday’s jam session was Rivera’s first time partaking in Big Mouth Spoken Word, and he felt it was different from other experiences he has had with the microphone.

“My microphone became a surfboard, and the music they [the band] produced is the wave,” he said.

With the combination of the microphone and band, Jensen had a similar stage experience, noting that the created sounds were a novel concept to her.

“It was a lot of fun with the band … It was a completely different sound,” she said.

Reed said that through word of mouth and reputation, Big Mouth Spoken Word has become an increasingly popular event over time. She noted that Friday’s crowd was probably the biggest group to date.

“It really pleases my heart to see you out there,” she said, commending both the audience and those willing to share their poetry. “I respect anyone who has the courage to come up here,” she added.

Freshman Sarah Brehm likewise admired the openness of the crowd, noting that it gave all the participants an equal chance to show the spectators what they were capable of.

“Regardless of whether you liked what the performer had to say, there was still respect for their ability to say what they wanted to,” she said.

In addition to providing a creative outlet for students, Reed feels that Big Mouth Spoken Word is an alternative to activities that can be destructive.

“It gives people something constructive to do besides irresponsible things,” she said.