ROFL Recap

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
Took part in ROFL! last night at Joe's Pub.

The idea is that 8 blog nerd/comedy/writer types get up and make a presentation about the Internet - a funny link, a comedy short, something off your website - basically anything you want.

The audience then votes by applause which stuff they think is funnniest and eventually it's narrowed down to a winner.

I won the $150 grand prize, despite major tech issues that pretty much rendered the first part of my presentation useless.

Imagine getting up on a stage, which you hate because you hate public speaking. Then the presentation you're supposed to give doesn't load right. Then to kill time while the tech guy is trying to work it out the host asks you to SING, which is your SECOND worst fear, so much so that your esophagus fills with sawdust at the thought of doing karaoke, even if it's in a room full of people you've known all your life and you've just downed 2 liters of tequila.

THEN the tech guy makes some cute remark about how the file you gave him for the music is DRM-protected and makes you look like a tech-idiot grandma square who doesn't belong on the internet, let alone a show that's supposed to be about savvy kids on the cutting edge of online trends. He does this over the loudspeaker, so the whole audience can hear.

You tell the tech guy "Play anything! Play a polka! Just give it some music!" and instead of taking the cue the presentation remains silent and the slides start going by. SLOWLY. PAINFULLY.

The host asks the audience to sing along to the slides and make up their own music, which they do. And it's funny. And it's a happy ending. But for 5 minutes you were about to cry and pee your pants like grade school.

Anyway, we don't have to worry about any of that now. Because it's online and it's all good.

Thanks to Joe's Pub. Shit happens. I ain't mad at ya.