Imagine a child with a bowl on their head whose father cuts around the bowl to create a hair style. This may sound like a cosmetologist’s nightmare, but that is just what Anthony Spaulding’s father did to make sure Spaulding and his brother were clean cut and cost-effective. The embarrassment of the haircut that followed, encouraged Spaulding to pick up the clippers himself. Spaulding wrote, directed and performed his one man show To Cut A Barber’s Hands which toured locally in Chicago from church to church for months. While he is now hard at work on another show, he also needs to survive. He can be found waxing poetic at State Street Barbers at 1545 N. Wells in Chicago’s Old Town where he cuts hair six days a week.
Spaulding is also making sure to contribute to the community by cutting hair for people who, like his family, cannot afford it. The day he interviewed at his place of employment, he had just been to visit a family who was in dire need. He arrived early at their family home and cut hair for everyone there, out of the goodness of his heart.
Spaulding is known for performing with panache, on the spur of the moment. He cuts a striking figure as he showed up to a recent poetry reading at the Highland Park Art Center wearing a stylish black suit and black button down shirt, the only ornamentation being a large gold crucifix around his neck. “You are the best dressed person here!” Exclaimed poetry host Lynn West after Spaulding humbly admitted he was not prepared to perform, and yet came through with a perfectly memorized poetic performance.
He has a firm foundation in faith and family while exhibiting a growth mindset. “When you’re a barber, you have to be willing to change to keep up with the times.” He said during an interview with Poetry in Chicago. These qualities are paramount in his daily interactions with customers where he has a keen sensitivity for each customer’s unique style. To find out more about his work, follow him through social media accounts listed on his link tree account at Aplus Innovations LLC. and read Poetry in Chicago’s January article about him.
Poetry in Chicago 