The 33 1/3 nd Annual O. Henry Pun-Off: May 22, 2010 
A NEW RECORD FOR PUNS! 

The O. Henry Pun-Off World Championships is Jest for a Wordy Cause!

AUSTIN, TX  - Celebrate the lowest form of humor in high style at the 33 1/3 Annual O. Henry Pun-Off World Championships on Saturday, May 22, 2010 at the O. Henry Museum, 409 E. Fifth Street. 

High tone arms & heads will spin when we celebrate the lowest form of humor in high stylus the tables turn on everyone. We're out to set Austin's capitol record straight.

This year's Pun-Off World Championships is the vinyl frontier for punsters who trek from everywhere in the universe. The festivities begin at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 22, and will include live music, BBQ, and a vintage book & vinyl sale. Admission is FREE.

Free parking is available on the streets or at parking garages within a reasonable walking distance.  .  

Many will be left out standing in their fields as they attempt to harvest this year's bumper crop of corn.  Up for grabs will be the title of "Punniest of Show."  This freestyle competition for punsters with prepared material allows 90 seconds for creative have-wits from every crook and nanny to stuff their struts.    

Later bushel come to shove as another corny crop of 32 contestants face off in the "Punslingers" competition where aspiring "have-wits" are paired up and pared down by battling in wordplay on a given topic and will pun until one is speechless or repeats a previous pun three times (three strikes rule.)   Although the crowd groans louder and larger each year, contest registration and admission are still free.  

Inspiring wordplayers can find more information at the website www. punpunpun.com.  Word butchers and prospective pundits who wish to jest for a wordy cause or just want more information are invited to call the O. Henry Museum at (512) 472-1903 or Pun-Off extra-corninaire Gary Hallock at (512) 973-9929. Visit:  http://www.ohenrymuseum.org/    

O. Henry cartoon by Richard Bartholomew

O. Henry and the Pun-Off: History and His Story

"Lend an ear and we'll give you more corn," was how those who attended the first O.Henry Pun-Off World Championship were welcomed in 1978. Shucks! After 32 years the Pun-Off continues to a-maize people with wacky wordplay and home groan wit from powerful punsters who are out standing in their field. Home again in Brush Square in the Museum's spacious backyard and under the direction of the Austin Parks & Recreation Department, this annual gleaning of the groaners yields a bountiful harvest of fun and foolishness for hundreds of shady characters.

The O. Henry Pun-Off was inspired by the writings of William Sydney Porter who, while living in Austin in the 1890's began writing stories with the pen name "O. Henry." By the time of his death in 1910, O.Henry had published over 300 short stories including The Ransom of Red Chief and the Christmas classic, Gift of the Magi. His voracious vocabulary and love of language endeared him to a broad audience but it was his trademark twisted endings that always kept curious readers coming back for more. Reading an O.Henry story is a participatory experience.

Today the Pun-Off keeps his name alive by offering a means to even more twisted ends. The impertinent perpetrators of paronomasia who share their world of warped wordplay similarly delight and surprise new generations of willing victims in the beloved author's memory.

What is a PUN?

A pun is the humorous use of a word or words in such a way as to suggest different meanings or applications OR words that have the same or nearly the same sound but different meanings.