PUN COMPETITION AT IT’S BEST

The competition at the Pun-Off is dead serious, but the idea of judging puns in a pun competition format is truly silly. That’s the balance for which organizers strive at the Bay Area Pun-Off and the Los Angeles Pun-Off – where the jokes don’t necessarily have to be good, they just have to be puns. While we maintain that puns and all their wordplay cousins deserve a platform to elicit the groans and eye-rolls they so dearly and darkly deserve, co-emcees Jonah Spear and Carmen Olson have brought iron fisted judging to new levels with clear, specific frameworks, developed over many years, for what makes a “passable” pun. The event is, after all, a pun-off; not to be confused with a celebration of spoonerisms, a warm reception for wellerisms, or any other casual appreciation of well meaning wordplay… it’s a pun-off, plain and simple, and sometimes it’s surprisingly not-so-simple; so, Spear and Olson shepherd the action along with steady hands, clever commentary, and the skill and authority of people that have been judging puns for over five years *including running the tie-breakers "drawing room" for the O Henry Pun-Off World Championship online. The evening’s comedy is offered in two acts: an opening round of puntification – a presentation by prepared pundits of no more than two minutes and an initial round of punslingers, starting with eight brave competitors and narrowing the field down to six remaining wordplayers rounds out the first act. Then, the pun competition heats up after a break, with semi-final rounds of three ‘slingers (narrowed to one in each round) and a final pun competition with a special category, presented as a vicious, high-stakes, head-to-head battle for a one-of-a-kind trophy. *The co-emcee Carmen’s nickname is Mei Mei; so the trophies are hand-Mei-made.

Pun Competition – Home of the Bay Area Pun-Off & Los Angeles Pun-Off

Over the past six years and more than fifty shows, the Bay Area Pun-Off has come to represent not only a quirky comedy wordplay staple, but the bi-monthly mainstay at the Haight Street Art Center is home to a community of wordplay enthusiasts offering mutual support and appreciation for an under appreciated art form. It’s a family affair with all the face-palming, knee-slapping, and groaning that such a gathering deserves. Learn more about our Story