Campus Cutie: Ted “ThePoet” Guillory

Fast Facts:

Name: Ted Guillory, Jr. (Ted the Poet)

Major(s): Theatre (BA)

Relationship status:  In a relationship

Hometown:  San Antonio, TX

Celeb crush: Scarlett Johansson

Personal:

You’re into spoken word, when did you first get into it?

Growing up, my uncle was always writing verses and working on music around me, and I wondered if I could do the same. Even though I was terrible when I first started, I improved so much over the years. From my love for writing song lyrics came an interest in writing and performing poetry. As of recently, my focus has been on song lyrics again, but poetry is incorporated in everything I write.

What is your inspiration?

The love and support of my family, friends, and peers inspire me to keep doing great things and never let them down. I love my followers!

What is your favorite thing to write/speak about?

The majority of my poetry is about love, sadness, or personal life experiences, which may include love or sadness. I feel these topics allow me to express the most emotion, as well as getting those emotions out of listeners and readers.

What is your creative process like?

My creative process is very inconsistent. Sometimes, I’ll think for an hour and only write two lines. Sometimes, I’ll think for twenty minutes and write a complete song/poem. When I sit down to write, I never know what to expect: Will I disappoint myself? Will I surprise myself? Will I reach writer’s block? Will thoughts keep flowing onto the paper? I believe this is a product of an unstable mind, but from this disorder and chaos always comes beautiful art.

Where was the first place your performed? What was that like for you, what emotions were running through your head?

It’s hard to pinpoint the first place I performed. I used to share poetry with my English class every week during my senior year of high school (They called it Ted Time). I (accidentally) performed poetry for my graduating class on graduation night, but that’s a long story. My first poetry slam was at The Arts at Mark’s Garage, and I was more nervous than I ever admitted. At least I got 3rd place!

Who is your role model?

I don’t consider any one person my role model, but I do draw inspiration from many people, including my mother and father, many artists and musicians, authors, historical figures, etc.

What do you hope to do with spoken word?  

I plan to utilize my talent for spoken word poetry to make beautiful and thought-provoking music for all the world to hear!

Do you have any future plans for your spoken word?

My future career plans mainly involve film and television acting, but poetry will always be my first love. No matter what, it will always be apart of my life and work.

Favorites:

Sport:  Football

Food:  Steak (cooked medium) and eggs (scrambled)

Season: Autumn

TV show:  Breaking Bad

Movie:  The Dark Knight

Song: Fear by Tech N9ne

Book:  The Dark Half by Stephen King

This or That:

Sour/sweet: Sweet

Mac/Pc:  PC

Coffee/Tea:  Tea

Beach/Pool:  Beach

Singing/Dancing:  Singing

Apple/ Android: Apple

Jay-Z/Kanye: Kanye

Arm Day/ Leg Day: Arms