O2 ABC Love Music Column – June 2012
Badmouth Battles #5
O2 ABC2, Sat 28 July, 6pm - 11pm, £6
What is it in the human psyche that causes people to exaggerate their own magnificence while attempting to assassinate the character of someone else? That might be the sort of question that would cross your mind if you and a few hundred other people weren't trying so hard to contain your laughter at what you had just heard as a result of those impulses. This is Badmouth Battles, where MCs take each other on in staged contests between mics and minds in front of a bear pit crowd who are ready to lap up the offensive artistry and devastating lines being unleashed. The premise is simple enough: a coin toss decides who begins and then over three rounds each MC takes their turn to do battle with a set of judges deciding the victor. Orchestrating the night is Glasgow’s own Gasp & Depths who have both appeared in previous contests, including facing off against each other. “A lot of good battlers will try to flip what their opponent has just said in the last round, and when that is done well it can win a battle,” Gasp says. “It’s always a good feeling when you can make a rebuttal to what someone has said and it lands perfectly. Other times it can fall flat and can even fling you off for the start of your round.”
Where the comparatively gentlemanly rules of boxing prevent contestants from striking below the belt (if obeyed), the rules of engagement in this arena are less prohibitive. In fact, the region below the belt is often the topic of some of the more particularly vicious slurs; but Gasp feels that this is all part of the contest. “When you step in the ring the gloves are off and you are trying to belittle your opponent as much as possible, although there are some things I wouldn't say.” Hitting the obvious targets isn’t always the best way to win out a contest though. “I have seen great battles where people's faces just drop after someone has said something no one was expecting. You need to cover all angles and styles of attack and it’s good to see the different reactions from a crowd when the downright nasty, disgusting and unimaginable things have been said.”
The role of the crowd in these contests is far more than that of passive observers. “I believe the crowd is everything,” Gasp explains. “Without them it would just be two people screaming at each other. Most battlers will get hyped off the crowd and sometimes even get them involved and that’s when shit can get interesting.” The atmosphere of the battles has to be experienced first hand but the killer lines can be relived again on the Badmouth YouTube channel which has some classic grudge contests on record. The most watched of them at present features Loki against Jinx where the balance of power lurches back and forth between the MCs as devastating put downs rain down. “It was a clash of two absolute Scottish legends and no one would have thought they would have battled in that format. If the first time wasn't wild enough they had a rematch at the next event and, well, just watch the battle!”