Tons of Fun University is a musical, spoken word trio based in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

, which formed in 2003. It consists of Canadian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wr ...

Shane Koyczan Shane L. Koyczan , born 22 May 1976, is a Canadian spoken word poet, writer, and member of the group Tons of Fun University. He is known for writing about issues like bullying, cancer, death, and eating disorders. He is most famous for the ant ...

and C. R. Avery, and American poet

Mighty Mike McGee Michael Matthew McGee (born January 12, 1976), more commonly known as Mighty Mike McGee, is an American slam poet. Biography McGee is the oldest of eight children from several marriages. He has spent most of his life in and around San J ...

. The group tours their self-described "talk rock" around many of the North American music festivals and theaters. Tons of Fun University, also known as T.O.F.U., are historically rooted in

poetry slam A poetry slam is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges. While formats can vary, slams are often loud and lively, with audience participation, cheering and dramatic delivery. ...

. In 2000, Koyczan became the first international

slam poet A poetry slam is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges. While formats can vary, slams are often loud and lively, with audience participation, cheering and dramatic delivery ...

to win the

National Poetry Slam The National Poetry Slam (NPS) is a performance poetry competition where teams from across the United States, Canada, and, occasionally, Europe and Australia, participate in a large-scale poetry slam. The event occurs in early August every year an ...

Individual Grand Championship, an award won by McGee in 2003. Avery became noticed in the Vancouver poetry slam scene by incorporating keyboards, harmonica, poetry and

beatboxing Beatboxing (also beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (typically a TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.

– simultaneously – throughout his performances. These elements are heavily used in the group's performances, along with influences pulled from hip hop,

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

and

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics o ...

. They have described themselves as a cross between

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...

and

Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for two of her published collections, '' Th ...

. Tons of Fun University was formed in August 2003 by Shane Koyczan and Mike McGee and first performed at the Café Deux Soleil on 16 December 2003. C.R. Avery joined in 2004 with the trio's debut at the 2004

Vancouver Folk Music Festival The Vancouver Folk Music Festival (VFMF), founded in 1978, is an outdoor multistage music festival, located at Jericho Beach Park on the west side of Vancouver, British Columbia. It takes place annually, on the third weekend of July. The fe ...

. The group was commissioned to write a poem/song for the mainstage event called "Come A Long Way". The groups performance at the 2005 Vancouver Folk Music Festival was seen by Youthink Magazine as one of the highlights of the concert.VFF Showcases Eclectic Music From Around the Globe
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Discography

''The Them They're Talking About'' (EP), 2005 #"static" – 3:58 #"New Chapter in the Book of Hobo" – 5:11 #"Skin" – 4:42 #"Mycrophone" – 3:00 #"The Night" – 6:25 #"Pocketknife" – 5:35 #"Letter to Neil Armstrong" – 4:22 #"Postcards From New York" – 4:53 #"Come A Long Way" – 5:47 #"Move Pen Move" – 5:36 #"(dirge)" – 0:27 #"Onto Something" – 5:36 ''Hard to Tell'' (EP), 2009 #"Shake the Dust" – 3:00 #"But If We Were" – 3:37 #"Ste. Marie" – 4:38 #"Before We Leave" – 7:18 #"In Search Of Midnight" – 4:24 #"Broken Eyes" – 8:05 #"Bedtime Stories" – 4:29 #"Tons of Fun University" – 5:00

References

External links

Tons of Fun University's Official Myspace ProfileTons of Fun University's Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tons Of Fun University Canadian spoken word poets Musical groups established in 2003 2003 establishments in British Columbia Musical groups from Vancouver