February is the month of love, the time when underemployed and neglected poets are asked to extricate, explain and expose the subterranean feelings of the tribe. At Hammer & Tongue Hackney we take this responsibility seriously. To this extent we present to you an online love-themed evening of spoken word. With a feature set from sustainable punk-nihilist and love-expert Jonny Fluffypunk, a poetic online Blind Date and the open mic slam, H&T will find a way to recover the love that has been lost in a uncaring world.

Jonny Fluffypunk
Stand-up poet and no-fi theatremaker Jonny Fluffypunk is an economic refugee from Stamford Hill who has been dragging his art around the UK scene for over 20 years.A serial poetry slam champion and hater of both competition and hypocrisy, he has two books of poetry, micro-fiction and threadbare philosphy - ‘The Sustainable Nihilists' Handbook’ and 'Poundland Rimbaud' - published by Burning Eye, and numerous solo stand-up spokenword theatre shows under his belt, which he’s toured around theatres, pubs, garden sheds, summer houses, empty shops and Britain's other ad-hoc performance spaces in a blatant championing of intimacy, connection and homespun DIY culture.

New shows in the Covid-clogged art pipeline include one for families about a doomed pier and a refugee mermaid and two for adults, about imagination and radio, and hope. All seem tragically relevant. By turns funny, absurd and oddly moving, Jonny's work is both a celebration of the beauty in the mundane and an elaborate cry for help.

“Acute social observation, intricate humour, surreal fantasy, sharp irony and wit...and England's most pretentious moustache.” The Independent

Open Mic Slam
Judged by five randomly selected members of the audience, 8 poets will each share a poem in a not-too-competitive competition format, with a chance to win a short set at the next event and a place in the prestigious H&T Hackney annual slam final. 3.5minutes on the mic, any style welcome. Poems should be love-themed (in some way). Email hackney@hammerandtongue.com for a place in the slam. First come, first served. Don't delay!

Blind Date
At H&T, we love the people who come to our events and so this month we want to help them love each other too. Throughout the night an eligible bachelor will be choosing an eligible single woman to go on a virtual date, in a hetero-normative celebration of love, passion and, of course, "our Cilla".

With tunes from DJ CloseUpThings spun to have you dancing in your Zoom box, the night is hosted by lovers of love, AngrySam Berkson, Claude Barbe-Brown and Fausta Joly.