Ben Mellor, Apple & Snakes

How do we express our spleen? Whose business do we stick our noses into? When did we start wearing our hearts on our sleeves, and why are we up to our elbows in heels and bums?

BBC R4 Slam Champion Ben Mellor takes you on a stand-up poetry and music fuelled tour around the body, attempting to get the measure of modern life through anatomical analogy. With sounds, beats, beeps and whistles by Dan Steele.

Anthropoetry is inspired by anthropometry, the study of measuring the human body. Informed by science, politics, comedy and hip hop, combined with searingly topical social and political commentary and some personal body and soul searching, Ben presents a set of brand new spoken word poems and stories that get to the heart, or the bottom, of modern life. Presented with Ben’s trademark mix of free-verse poetry, rap, beatbox and a healthy dose of satirical humour, the text is underscored live by Dan’s use of guitar, keys, drumpad and live-looping technology.

The show was premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2012 as part of PBH’s Free Fringe. It received four four-star reviews, including The Scotsman and Broadway Baby, excellent audience feedback, and was featured on Mervyn Stutter’s Pick of the Fringe. It has since gone on to do successful runs at Fringe World, Perth, Adelaide Fringe, and a one-off show in Melbourne. In Perth the show was first runner up in the 720 ABC Performance Award, and in Adelaide received a BankSA Fringe Weekly Award.