Jonah, the guy who started Worldwide Puns, has a weird penchant for critiquing people’s puns - usually in the form of, “that’s not really a pun and I’ll tell you why.” It’s an annoying habit of “well-actually-ing” that doesn’t play well at parties unless you’re the macabre type whose kink is basically shadenfreude.

Apparently, plenty of people’s kink is shadenfreude… because the pun-off sells out pretty consistently.

See, what we have at Worldwide Puns is a setup where people agree to have their puns critiqued - at least insofar as “yes, that is a pun,” or “no, that is not a pun… and here’s why.” And we’ve found that’s a reliable way to move the competition along.

A lot of comedy-type competitions rely on audience applause to determine a winner. We have always found that practice cringe-inducing in a pun arena as it sacrifices the form to the whims of drunken amateurs. No offense, audiences. It’s just that while it’s true that some puns are better than others, it’s also true that some audience members don’t actually understand what a pun is… and that’s okay. We do! 

If it’s just about who can get the crowd to clap loudest, then we may as well host a basic clown cabaret and send the winner home with a bag full of balloon animals; But we have real trophies, and our clowns are brilliant, brave people putting themselves out there trying to do something really difficult.

Then, ironically, in order to keep the show manageable time-wise, we do some sort of audience vote if we hit a time threshold. Strong opinions, held loosely, right?

AFTER ALL, JUDGING PUNS IS A VERY SILLY IDEA.

Our unique rules and structure bring predictability and fairness to the pun-off, so we all know what we’re getting into and we’re all playing the same (albeit silly) game. 

Also, we’re explicit about doing our best in the realms of inclusivity - we believe judges and audiences both prefer comedy without racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, ablism, etc. We all prefer our puns to be more inclusive and loving. We aim to create a brave space for performers and a safe space for wordplay. In other words, we don’t take cheap shots and we don’t punch down. There’s enough of that in amatuer comedy.

That’s the culture and the community we want to create and live in.