Rain Drops Hammer [on] the 32nd O. Henry Pun-Off

In the face of weather that money can’t change, it pays to have good neighbors. Saturday around noon, with hopeful punsters standing in mud puddles under tents and the rain unrelenting, the Hilton came through with an offer that no one could sneeze at: the use of their ballroom. A bedraggled and grateful crowd shuffled from the backyard of the O. Henry Museum over to the big house. And the fancy digs could not dampen the low humor. While the streaming video webcast was washed out and the contestants were all wet, the word nerds still managed to shine. Their puns, thankfully, had spark.

A pun is the humorous use of a homonym as a synonym. It becomes a matter of judgment and taste how far “sounds alike” can be stretched, even in Austin. For example, Eirik Ott, in his 90 second Beatles-themed riff, used this line: “They asked me to perform some puns. ‘No way,’ I said, “I’m a day quipper.’” A joke or a pun or both? The audience decided the leaners. Here, groans functioned as a voting pun: loud was “yes,” soft was “no.” In Punniest of Show, the audience was also called upon to resolve a three-way tie for first. This time, they voted with their hands: by clapping. It was close again. They selected Kirk Miller, wearing a yellow hard hat and pounding out a carpenter routine, as the winner and Andy Balinsky as the second place finisher. You can watch the third place finisher (Big Poppa), Eirik Ott’s routine.

The weather received its share of attention. One contestant told the audience of around 300: “Thank you for braving the punderstorm.” It just goes to show, in the words of judge Gary Hallock that, “You can’t reign in punsters.”