By Lindsey Smith–Neil Hilborn, a popular slam poet and author, took to the stage Thursday night to share his personal struggles with mental illness and life through poetry.
Starting off with a rousing sound check, almost screaming into the mic, Hilborn continued to have an equally emotional roller coaster of a performance. From yelling, to laughing, then almost crying, Hilborn did not fail to bring listeners into his struggles with O.C.D and bipolar disorder.
In fact, his poem titled “OCD” went viral in 2013 and is currently Button Poetry’s most-watched video on YouTube. He has since toured the world, stopping in 40 states and eight countries.
A self-proclaimed introvert, also recovering from pneumonia, Hilborn took a breather between each poem, hands on knees, coughing frequently. Even with these setbacks and tough subject matter, Hilborn had the room laughing most of the hour.
At the end of his set, Hilborn encouraged everybody to come “hang out” so he could sign books and chat, bringing more of that friendly, personalized feeling to the audience.
English major and senior Zach Hutchison enjoyed Hilborn and his style. He said, “It was cool how real he was in both the poems and being able to show two sides of the same coin, like love/hate and depression/happiness.”
Kristen Brown, a fellow English major, agreed. “I really like that he hit both the complete downs and the positives of life,” she said.
Hilborn has several books of poetry, his most recent released in 2018, titled The Future. He can be found on Facebook under Neil Hilborn, Twitter under @neilicorn, and on buttonpoetry.com.
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