On Thursday, the candlelit basement of Komedia played host to a coming-together of some of the city’s finest wordsmiths, as Brighton Hammer And Tongue’s annual poetry slam championships came to a head with their yearly grand slam final.

Enthusiastically hosted by the ever-charming Rosy Carrick and Mike Parker, the show featured all eight 2013 finalists, with poetry and poets alike being judged by a scorecard-wielding audience.

With a wildly varied mix of styles, poets Sid Sherma, Tommy Sissons, Invocal MC and Patrick Widdins battled their way through to the final round amid cheers in the packed-out studio.

Between Patrick Widdins’ hyper-surreal storytelling and Tommy Sisson’s final-winning hip-hop performance, it was refreshing to see such a breadth of talent and imagination.

But without a doubt, the show was stolen by “avant-garde comedy god” Simon Munnery. An achingly funny guest poet, his performance ranged from singalongs about Wetherspoons to monologues spoken by headlice in the voice of Winston Churchill. Blending whimsical poetry with ponderings on the lunacy of life, his unique style of stand-up masterfully rounded off Hammer And Tongue, a show which yet again reminded us of how far the genre of poetry can still be pushed.