Open now · Neuro-Funkiness
The reason that I shake.
Health, humour and humanity. Explore the memes I’m making during my hospital stay, beginning with Wisdom of the Willow.
Enter Neuro-Funkiness →Shakes Worldwide Web
Mind & Motion.
The reason that I shake.
Writer, performer and maker of poems you can join in with.
Mood 1–10 · bodily tremor 1–5. Movement illustrates my chosen ratings.Red hatching: 7+ high mood. Check in with the care team. A score alone cannot decide hospital care.
About the readings
These are self-set snapshots. The hand represents bodily tremor; movement is illustrative. Red hatching marks 7–10. Hospital care requires individual clinical assessment. Read NHS guidance and Bipolar UK’s Mood Scale.
Explore my poems, films, performances and ways to join in.
Discover Shakes →Ellesmere Port · A little wordplay
DiscoverShakes.
Shakes · we / us · Port Poet
Playful poems. Shared silences. A room full of possibilities.
Writer, performer and maker of poems you can join in with.
The reason that I shake. Meet more of me through Neuro-Funkiness: health, humour and the images I’m making during my hospital stay.
An invitation from Shakes ✳
An invitation from Shakes
I curate
the silence.
The Audience
Are My Voice
Speak. Sign. Write. Simply be.
Words welcome.Silence welcome.You welcome.
A little more of me
Step into my world.
COMING SOON
A future home for Oslo Merc, queer work and catalogue mischief.
Supporter access is planned. Details to follow.
See the coming-soon sign →Choose a doorway
Come into the poem.
Three invitations. No right way to join in.
Record · revisit · reinvent
The living rooms.
A recording captures one incarnation. These poems keep changing through audience involvement and performance.
Past date · EVT-0001 · Mayer Hall
Past dates & reflections →Untamed:Freedom
Exhibition Launch · Events 471
Mayer Hall, Bebington
Shakes performed at Mayer Hall with Untamed Words—their second piece for Mayer Hall and Events 471, following The Tide Writes Cursive.
An opening night of poetry and entertainment, organised by 471 Routes CIC.
Past event detailsParticipation in Untamed Words is always an invitation. Watching silently is equally welcome.
🎬 Featured performance · UNSPOKEN WORD · USPKN-0002
I Curate The Silence
The Audience Are My Voice
A tribute to the composer John Cage.
Main recording · 1:48 · original sound and timing. Poster: edited projection text.
Performance poetry · Improvisation · Audience co-creation
The room becomes the poem.
Shakes combines performance poetry, improvisation and spontaneous storytelling. The audience helps shape what happens next.
The Greatest Poetry of All Time (G-POAT) explores an idea: the making of the poem is the poem.
Words. Play.
A room full of possibilities.Watch Shakes on YouTube ↗
A room full of possibilities.Watch Shakes on YouTube ↗
Metaverse 0001
A work-in-progress performance, approximately 13 minutes.
Watch on YouTubeUse YouTube’s caption controls where captions are available. A verified transcript is not yet available.
UNSPOKEN WORD · A performance series
USPKN-0001UNTAMED WORDS
(signed and spoken)
A short participatory performance by Shakes, responding to Untamed: Freedom.
Shakes performs largely or entirely without speaking. Cue cards and gesture invite the audience to become the voice of the poem.
Words do not have to obey the poet.
Blank cards let audience words and ideas enter the developing poem. It begins with Shakes, then gradually belongs to the room—with gratitude, solidarity, equality, inclusion and playfulness at its heart.
There is more than one way to join in.
- Speak
- Sign
- Gesture
- Write
- Express differently
- Leave it unspoken
Participation is always an invitation. Watching silently is equally welcome. If the room stays quiet, the poem can continue without anyone being put on the spot.
Access is part of the choreography.
A cue-card assistant holds the stack, reveals one card at a time when Shakes indicates, then places each used card in the prop basket. Shakes directs; another person physically releases the words into the room.
A chair on stage makes a seated performance possible while keeping Shakes visible.
A simple non-visual participation route is being developed with the event team. Shakes does not claim BSL fluency.
A piece to take away
USPKN-0001-A01The wristband is part of the work.
A neon-yellow paper/Tyvek band: a free souvenir, a catalogue artefact, and space for a word or mark of your own. Wearing it is entirely optional.
The work: USPKN-0001The artefact: USPKN-0001-A01
Archive wristband artwork; its printed social links and QR code need updating. Find Shakes on Instagram at @shakes7spare. The barcode records the artefact code.
Film · Games · Experimental theatre
Before the poem,
there was a whole world.
Selected earlier work · credited as Steve Jackson
Open the archive · Point Blank, essays, film & games →
Play official trailerFeature-film debut · 1993
Cannibal! The Musical
Sheriff Adams
Credited as Sheriff of Lake City
Shakes’ debut feature-film appearance, credited under the name Steve Jackson, in Trey Parker’s first feature with Matt Stone—before South Park. Shakes also sings in the film.
Filmed in 1993; released by Troma in 1996. The soundtrack is listed under Trey Parker. Check current UK streaming options.
More film photographs and credits
Live-action game performance · 1995
Jungle Strike
NSA Man
Gremlin Interactive · PC CD-ROM version
Shakes performs in the filmed cutscenes for the PC CD-ROM edition of Jungle Strike, the sequel to Desert Strike. The cast credit names Steve Jackson as NSA Man.
Part of the 1990s wave of games that brought live actors into the story through full-motion video.
The intro includes other performers; a reel of Shakes’ scenes is still being prepared. This credit relates to the filmed PC scenes. PC CD-ROM edition in the Computing History collection.
Experimental theatre · 1994
Dreams’ Winter
Guest performer
Forced Entertainment · Manchester Central Library
Shakes was a guest performer in Dreams’ Winter, Forced Entertainment’s first major site-specific performance. Directed by Tim Etchells, the work unfolded among the books and readers’ tables of Manchester Central Library.
The company’s archive lists Steve Jackson among the guest performers.
Contact
Let’s find
the poem.
For performances, invitations and creative conversations.