Microphone check. Microphone ready. Showtime.

They’re on and the entertainment begins. The two hosts laugh and crack jokes as soon as they step on the stage. Airbrushed graffiti and graphics dye their colorful
T-shirts, forcing those present to check them out. They’ve done this before. Their comfortable manner gives them away.

The audience grows from only a handful of people as others begin to wander into the Midtown coffee shop. The loud chshhhhhh of steaming milk is forgotten as
the hosts continue on the stage.

Jenilynn Anderson and Marques Davison are local performing artists making a statement. They send messages to their audience through poetry, music, comedy,
and even visual art. Their free live shows invite everyone to come and watch the performances. Other local artists are welcome to share their talents as well, giving
variety to the couple’s shows.

Neither Anderson or Davison are actually performing at Butch N Nellie’s Coffee Company tonight, but they are encouraging others to take the spotlight. This
evening, the couple gets to kick back and host Live N’ Direct, their own open mic show.

“We wanted people to have a place that was free to go to where they could see art, music, poetry, and just a full spectrum of the arts,” says Anderson.

Davison, 27, and Anderson, 25, both City College students express themselves on topics such as crime, relationships, and sexuality.

“We [females] can have the same emotions and feelings about sex or sexuality and share it. It should be shared,” says Anderson.

Although Anderson is usually the one raising the topic of sex, the couple recently performed an erotic poetry piece in a City College human sexuality class.

Barbara Davis-Lyman, who teaches the class alongside Bob Ackley, asked the two to perform the piece after reading a written copy Anderson had brought her.

“Not only was it multi-dimensional and palpable, it was absolutely extraordinary,” says Davis-Lyman. Oakland native Davison, likes to give his audience something to think about when he performs too.

“I don’t like to leave the stage unless somebody’s learned at least one thing,” says Davison.

Davison, who also goes by the stage name Emcee Sho’Nuff, says he was “forced” into public performance at an early age by his father and it eventually grew on him.

“I just think when I get on stage, I feel like I have a voice that people naturally listen to and I don’t try to force it on people. I just think it’s a gift,” says Davison.

The couple, who are engaged, film their show and broadcast it on Internet television so that those who missed the live show can still view it. It is also a way for
artists to see their performances and track how they’ve progressed, or what needs work.

And they don’t stop.

Both students are working on bringing artists together at City College by using P.A.N.T.H.E.R.S, an artist networking club. It was created by the two entertainers, and operates by bringing campus event awareness to students through film that broadcasts on the Web and on public access channels.

Promoting campus events is nothing new to Davison. Many may recognize him as “the guy playing music” out in the quad from when he was the Commissioner
of Student Affairs, when he was in charge of coordinating all ASG events.

Whether you spot the couple engaging in ethnic theatre performances at City College or catch them on a Saturday night at Butch N Nellie’s, their dynamic charisma is bound to get your attention. You will never find out unless you check them out, and see for yourself.

“What is so inspiring to me is that our students have such rich and varied lives in our community and sometimes we don’t even know about it,” says Davis-Lyman.