**"[Away with Words] is low wit in its highest form. . . Mr.
Berkowitz is sensitive throughout to the evanescence and contingency of
punning and to the fleeting chemistry of a live pun-on-pun matchup
crackling with energy." -**Wall Street Journal
Fast Company reporter Joe Berkowitz investigates the bizarre and
hilarious world of pun competitions from the Punderdome 3000 in Brooklyn
to the World competition in Austin.
When Joe Berkowitz witnessed his first Punderdome competition, it felt
wrong in the best way. Something impossible seemed to be happening. The
kinds of jokes we learn to repress through social conditioning were not
only being aired out in public--they were being applauded. As it turned
out, this monthly show was part of a subculture that's been around in
one form or another since at least the late '70s. Its pinnacle is the O.
Henry Pun Off World Championship, an annual tournament in Austin, Texas.
As someone who is terminally self-conscious, Joe was both awed and
jealous of these people who confidently killed with the most maligned
form of humor.
In this immersive ride into the subversive world of pun competitions, we
meet punsters weird and wonderful and Berkowitz is our tour guide. Puns
may show up in life in subtle ways sometimes, but once you start
thinking in puns you discover they're everywhere. Berkowitz's search
to discover who makes them the most, and why, leads him to the
professional comedian competitors on @Midnight, a TV show with a pun
competition built into it, the writing staff of Bob's Burgers, the
punniest show on TV, and even a humor research conference. With his new
unlikely band of punster brothers, he finally heads to Austin to compete
in the World Championship. Of course, in befriending these comic misfits
he also ended up learning that when you embrace puns you become a more
authentic version of yourself.
