Puns. Mere mention of the word elicits groans from otherwise polite people. Puns are words exploited shamelessly for humorous effect, wrung for every single drop of meaning. They've been called "the lowest form of humor," and, as a friend of mine says, "there's a special place in hell for pun-makers." But is their pungent reputation justified?
Steve Brooks would know. The six-time winner and reigning champion of the O.Henry Pun-Off World Championships admits that life as a compulsive punster can be difficult. When asked what his first big break was, for instance, he says it was when someone threatened to break his jaw if he didn't shutup. Puns can put off the less appreciative, and habitual punning took a toll on Brooks social life. "Until I moved to Austin," he adds, "where people will turn out by the hundreds to watch me pun."
Punfest of Champions
Brooks, the world-class punster, has been punny all his life and says even his first word was a pun ("Dada"). But he didn't find fame until 1993, when he won the Pun-Off's "Punniest of Show" competition.
In the contest, competitors deliver a 90-second prepared pun. Brooks, who believes "parody is the sincerest form of plagiarism," performed a pun that began "Fort Worth and Seguin years ago..." and just got sillier from there. This "Texasburg Address" scored a perfect 50 out of 50 points the only time, Brooks believes, a performance pun has earned a perfect score.
In 1994, he stole the show by winning both Punniest of Show and "High Lies and Low Puns," where dueling punsters take turns making impromptu puns related to a topic drawn from the Bad Pun Bedpan. The catch is that each gets just five seconds to ponder their puns. When one chokes, the other advances to the next round; by the end of the afternoon, the wittiest wordsmith has emerged as champ.
Brooks' prize-winning prepared pun of 1994 mixed philosophy and Tex-Mex food into a new school of thought called Tex-Mexistentialism, which, he notes "all started with the philosopher Juan-Paul Salsa, who wrote, To Bean, or Nacho to Bean, that is the Queso, and espouses such beliefs as Pinto, therefore, Cayenne, Honor Tamale and thy Papaya and Thou Salt not Tequila." Brooks, a musician and songwriter, occasionally performs the "Texasburg Address" and "Tex-Mexistentialism" between songs at concerts.
How does a world-champion punter keep fit? With a serious training regimen. "My training season opens April 1," says Brooks, "no fooling. One of the few friends I have left throws out a topic and I try to reel off five puns related to the topic as fast as I can. Repeat the exercise with a whole series of topics. Then I buy him a beer."
Brooks is also a journalist in Austin and he says that making puns is good for his writing. "Punning keeps my mind limber. No one should work with words unless they can also play with them ... Language is like Play-Doh," he muses. "I love to bend and shape it in new ways, and occasionally eat it when no one's looking."
EPIC PUNS
by Steve Brooks
- Lincoln's Texasburg Address
- Champion Pun of the 1993 O. Henry Punoff
- Tex-Mexistentialism
- Champion Pun of the 1994 O. Henry Punoff
- Carstianity
- Champion Pun of the 1997 O. Henry Punoff
- Inhale to the Chief
- Champion Pun of the 2001 O. Henry Punoff
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All Puns reprinted by permission of the author ©1995 Steve Brooks Frog Records 4905 Gladeview Dr. Austin, TX 78745 1-877-440-7668 steve@stevebrooks.net |
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