I'm not much for poetry, although I do like hearing the occasional apropos quote. But, I wouldn't define Peter Cook and partner Kenny Lerner's "Flying Words Project" at RIT's Webb Auditorium on February 2 as singularly as the word "poetry" suggests. It's more like performance art incorporating stand-up comedy, theatrical dramatics, and audience participation, all under a poetry umbrella.

Cook, who is deaf, presents his work accompanied by Lerner, who is hearing. Or maybe that's deaf-disabled, as illustrated by the stories Cook shared whereby Lerner's hearing was indeed a disability, like sleeping in the hotel room closest to the ice machine. Cook became Lerner's assistant as they propped a mattress against the wall to shut out the sound. And then, Lerner set the air conditioner to high so that the sound would drown out the ice machine rumbling. Logical, yes, but also a bit ridiculous seeming to the deaf community.

Throughout the performance, it was easy to spot some of Cook's favorite things: raindrops, sunsets/rises and rays, walls, doors, gates. These images seemed to pervade all of his work. From issuing applause instructions -- clapping at chin level so that Cook could see and Lerner could hear -- to taking the audience on a directed airplane flight (and crash), complete with flight attendants serving drinks and birds flying into propellers, Cook kept the over-capacity audience at attention. It was all a lot of fun, something I thought I'd never say about poetry.

Next up: Tribeca opens