PunMaster

PunMaster

Flynn Lyton Telemon, on the subject of 'bird puns':"Canary come out and play?"

Everybody else: (GROAN!)

What is it?

The PunMaster is a purely honorary title awarded to the winner of a quarterly Pun Tourney. One title is awarded for each season of the year, e.g., "PunMaster of Spring," "PunMaster of Summer," etc., corresponding to the time of year when the quarterly contest is held. It was customary for the PunMaster of the previous season to host the current season's Pun Tourney, and to then present a belt favor to that tourney's winner.

The PunMaster occupies no position whatsoever in the Order of Precedence, and is generally reviled and despised among the populace. It is customary to hurl rotten vegetables or other refuse at the PunMaster... or it would be, were it customary to bring these items to sessions of Amtgard.

When Maccalus left the Golden Plains in the early 1990's, the tradition of the Pun Tourney was well-established there, having been brought to the Plains by Boldwen Reinholt when he moved up from the Emerald Hills. Some years later, nobody in the Plains or the Hills seemed to know what the PunMaster was. Maccalus revived the tradition when he co-founded the Freehold of Five Banners in 2007.

How do you become the PunMaster?

The title of PunMaster is awarded to the winner of a quarterly Pun Tourney, which is hosted by the previous PunMaster.

The host chooses a topic, generally something like "bird puns" or "beer puns." As a rule of thumb, the more mundane the topic the better!

Participants in the tourney usually sit facing each other in a circle. The first victim-- er, contestant-- must then make a pun which has at least an indirect relation to the topic. Once this is done, the contest proceeds to the person on his or her left, continuing around the circle in a clockwise direction.

Each contestant is automatically allowed to "pass" once if he or she is unable to think of a pun. Additional passes may be granted if the contestant makes a 'groaner,' or particularly hideous pun eliciting a groan from the majority of those assembled, or by making a double pun within the same sentence. The validity of groaners and double puns are determined by a majority vote of those within the circle.