2014
April 1, 2015, the Robert Benchley Society Announces the Winners in the 2014 RBS Humor Writing Competition. Our celebrity judge, Mark Russell, said of this year's finalist, "If the New Yorker ever rejected any of these, I would cancel my subscription." --
- Lowell T. Christensen, of White Rock, N.M., for How to Help Children with Attention Deficit Disorder
"Well worth the dizziness I experienced while reading it. The piece should include a prescription for Ritalin." -- Mark Russell
- Cy Creed, of Hamburg, N.Y., for Just The Socks Please, Nothing But The Socks
"Obviously, the pace of it – I was imagining Nichols and May." -- Mark Russell
- Kathy Myers, of Petaluma Calif., for A Brief History of Writers
"Funny digression in the first paragraph – I don’t question the validity of the writer’s anthropology premise." -- Mark Russell
- Eileen Mitchell, of Palatine, Illinois, for The Science of Stumbling
"Loved the magazine titles, 'Fido Fancier,' 'Splay Food Journal,' 'Arms Akimbo Magazine,' etc. – pure Benchley." -- Mark Russell
February 22, 2015, the Robert Benchley Society Announces the Top-Ten Semifinalists in the 2014 RBS Humor Writing Competition (in alphabetical order)
- Barb Best, of Malibu, Calif., for Risk,
- Con Chapman, of Boston, Mass., for Take the 40 Million-Years-Without-Sex Challenge,
- Lowell T. Christensen, of White Rock, N.M., for How to Help Children with Attention Deficit Disorder,
- Cy Creed, of Hamburg, N.Y., for Just The Socks Please, Nothing But The Socks,
- Nancy Crochiere, of Amesbury, Mass., for I’ll Never Lube This Way Again,
- Eileen Mitchell, of Palatine, Illinois, for The Science of Stumbling,
- Kathy Myers, of Petaluma Calif., for A Brief History of Writers,
- Valerie Peterson, of New York, N.Y., for Letter to Santa,
- Dorothy Rosby, of Rapid City, S.D., for What Hath Bell Wrought?, and
- James Smart, of Philadelphia, Penn., for The Origen of Some Christmas Customs.
All the 2014 entries on available for reading HERE.
2013
The Award Dinner will be held at the 11th Annual Gathering of the Robert Benchley Society, in Boston, November 22-24.
CLICK HERE for details or to register.
October 25, 2013, the Robert Benchley Society Announces the Winners in 2013 RBS Humor Writing Competition
- Barbara Samuels of Port St Lucie, Florida
for Take a Gesund-hike
- Cindy Lane Poch of Stillwater, Minnesota
for Iatrophobia
- Lowell T. Christensen of White Rock, N.M.
for
The Excruciating History of Dentistry
- Ramona Grigg of Drummond Island, Mich.
for Budget-Cutting the Hard Way
October 9, 2013, the Robert Benchley Society Announces the Top-Ten Semifinalists in 2013 RBS Humor Writing Competition (in alphabetical order)
The 2013 entries on available for reading HERE.
The award ceremony will in Boston, November 22 - 24, 2013.
This year's final judge is Dr. Gina Barreca, author of It's Not That I'm Bitter: How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Visible Panty Lines and Conquered the World (St. Martin’s), who has appeared on 20/20,
The Today Show, CNN, the BBC, NPR, Oprah, and Dr. Phil to discuss gender, power, politics, and humor.
Her earlier books include the bestselling They Used to Call Me Snow White But I Drifted: Women's Strategic Use of Humor (reissued in a “classic” edition in 2013),
Babes in Boyland: A Personal History of Coeducation in the Ivy League, and six other books she's written-- in addition to sixteen she's edited.
They've been translated into several languages, including Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, and German. Gina, whose columns from The Hartford Courant
are distributed worldwide by the McClatchy-Tribune Syndicate, is Professor of English and Feminist Theory at the University of Connecticut.
Her B.A. is from Dartmouth College, where she was the first woman to be named Alumni Scholar, her M.A. is from Cambridge University,
where she was a Reynold's Fellow, and her Ph.D. is from the City University of New York, where she lived close to a good delicatessen.
Gina writes regularly for Psychology Today, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and The Huffington Post; she has also written for The New York Times,
The Independent, Cosmopolitan, and The Harvard Business Review. She grew up in Brooklyn, now lives with her husband in Connecticut,
and has two step-sons who are at that adorable age where they’re attorneys. A new member of the Friars' Club, a "Voices and Visions" honoree of CT Women's Hall of Fame,
winner of UConn's most distinguished teaching award, and a keynote at events from The Erma Bombeck Conference, the National Association of Independent Schools,
Women In Federal Law Enforcement, The Smithsonian, and The Chicago Humanities Festival, Gina can be found in the Library of Congress or in the make-up aisle of Walgreens.
The deadline to enter the 2013 competition for the Robert Benchley Society Humor Award is August 30, 2013. The award ceremony
will in Boston, November 22 - 24, 2013. For more details or to enter click here.
2012
Annual Gathering
- Night International Annual Gathering "Very Interesting...but Stupid"
- Confirmed Celebrity Guest: Laugh-In star, Arte Johnson.
- Friday through Sunday, October 12th through 14th
- Los Angeles, details to be announced
- Click here for details or to register.
Robert Benchley Award for Humor
- The deadline for entering was April 1st.
- Final judge: Comedian Arte Johnson, perhaps best known for playing Wolfgang the German soldier on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.
- Winners (in order from first place through fourth place)
- Tim French of Midway, Ala., for Who Says You Can't Dance?
"As a youngster I used to look forward to seeing the Benchley shorts. Somehow I always felt he looked like an avocado with clothing. Watching him act was a great joy and your essay forces him to do just that. I could just picture him demonstrating all of the dance styles, badly."
-- Arte Johnson
- Cathy Lennon of Park City, Utah, for How to Yawn
"You have found a subject that would be right down 'the Benchley Alley'. Taking the common and giving it an aura of importance was one of the great keys of Benchley humor. How to Yawn as a subject matter with possible demonstrations would be well worth watching in the Benchley mode."
-- Arte Johnson
- Jesse Levy of Burbank, Calif., for My Scotch Adventure
"Benchley would definitely attempt a Scotch accent and would fail dismally but it would certainly be worth hearing. He certainly would try to make all of these brands exciting for the tasting if not for the hearing. Hopefully he would wear the proper tartan for each and possibly model each for the camera."
-- Arte Johnson
- Carol Cherman of Los Angeles, Calif., for Cane Mutiny
"The serious side of everyday life was something that Benchley understood and what could be more serious than fly swatting. Your essay gives meaning to what is a technical side of insect removal. It certainly would be a Benchley subject along with nose blowing."
-- Arte Johnson
- Semi-Finalists (in alphabetical order)
- Con Chapman of Weston, Mass., for How to Make an Atom Bomb While Your Wife’s Away
- Carol Cherman of Los Angeles, Calif., for Cane Mutiny
- Whit Deschner of Baker City, Oregon, for I Didn't Say That
- Robert G. Ferrell of La Vernia, Texas, for r u ded?
- Tim French of Midway, Ala., for Who Says You Can't Dance?
- Cathy Lennon of Park City, Utah, for How to Yawn
- Jesse Levy of Burbank, Calif., for My Scotch Adventure
- Mary Stobie of Wheat Ridge, Colorado, for The Truth About Steam Baths
- Nick Thomas of Elmore, Ala., for Trouble for Nursery Rhyme Characters
- The Writing Fairy of Sunderland, Ontario, for Personal Ad
- All Entries received sans names.
2011
Annual Gathering
- Eighth International Annual Gathering "A Capitol Idea"
- November 11-13, 2011
- Washington, D.C.
- 2010 and 2011 RBS Awards for Humor Writing
Robert Benchley Award for Humor
- Winners (in order from first place through fourth place)
- Tim French of Midway, Alabama, for The Old Man and the Leaf Blower.
"My wife and I laughed out loud at the title. That alone made me pick your short story as my
favorite. The title was wonderful. And the premise, oh, so original. At that Great Sardis' in the
Sky, Robert is amused, as is Old Ernie, wherever he is." -- Mark Russell.
- Robert G. Ferrell of La Vernia, Texas, for Up the Greek Without a Paddle.
"I thoroughly enjoyed your short story. It takes off quickly with the first two sentences and
maintained Benchley's level throughout. I loved the use of '2iPencils and narrow-ruled iPads',
and I laughed out loud at 'please drop your fig leaves by the door.'" -- Mark Russell.
- Edward Southerland of Sherman Texas, for Certificates of Authenticity.
"Your premise was nicely original. 'Leonardo Da Vinci's plans for a steam powered blimp'
and 'Dr. Murney's Das Facten Wel Knowen' are delightful. Who knew that people from Texas were so funny" -- Mark Russell.
- Steve Shrott of Toronto, Ontario, for Unblocking the Block.
"Thank you for an enjoyable read. I liked the Marx Brothers rhythm you had going in your short story.
Having, on occasion, suffered from writer's block, you had be going with the first paragraph
and kept my attention throughout. Loved 'must pea' may be the coffee table book of the decade.'" -- Mark Russell.
- Semi-Finalists (in alphabetical order)
- Mike Ball of Whitmore Lake, Mich., for The Gospel According to Saint Pauli
- Barb Best of Sherman Oaks, Calif., for Dial “M” for Maddening
- Dan Burt of Millbrook, Alabama, for How to Stack Things
- Rebecca Cardwell of Calgary Alberta, for How to Get Your Dog to Lose Weight
- David Crawford of Kelowna, British Columbia, for Size Matters
- Robert G. Ferrell of La Vernia, Texas, for Up the Greek Without a Paddle
- Tim French of Midway, Alabama, for The Old Man and the Leaf Blower
- Steve Shrott of Toronto, Ontario, for Unblocking the Block
- Edward Southerland of Sherman Texas, for Certificates of Authenticity
- Agata Stanford of Glens Falls, New York, for Report from the Chairman of the Adventurers Club
- All Entries received sans names.
- Judges
- Final judge: Humorist Mark Russell.
- Preliminary judges:
author of Robert Benchley An Annotated Bibliography, Gordon E. Ernst;
writer and RBS Director, Eileen Forster Keck;
RBS member Sharon Lyon;
2007 Benchley Society award winner and author of Disabled Fables, Dan Montville;
chairman of A Moderate State of Preservation Chapter (Ann Arbor, Mich.) of RBS, and editor of The Athletic Benchley Tom Saunders; and
2009 Benchley Society award winner Ed Tasca.
2010
Robert Benchley Award for Humor
- Winners (in order from first place through fourth place)
- Mike Tuck of Eden Prairie, Minn., for Story Time with the Children
"In this essay, Mike Tuck channels Robert Benchley's Uncle Edith stories, in which the hapless storyteller is heckled by his unruly young listeners. The many laugh lines and non-sequiturs evoke the elusive Benchley style." --Christopher Morgan (RBS Vice Chairman, East Coast)
- Con Chapman of Boston, Mass., for Ten Habits of Highly-Organized People, and How to Avoid Them
- Denise Weeks of Richardson, Texas, for How to Watch TV
- Katherine Leisering of Parkersburg, West Virginia, for Poem Authenticated By Loone
- Semi-Finalists (in alphabetical order)
- Dan Burt, of Millbrook, Alabama for Parents Beware: Kids Learn Stuff
- Becky Cardwell of Calgary, Alberta, for Five Fun Ways to Tell Your Child He's Adopted
- Con Chapman of Boston, Mass., for Ten Habits of Highly-Organized People, and How to Avoid Them
- David Crawford of Kelowna, British Columbia, for The Contemporary Sneeze
- Katherine Leisering of Parkersburg, West Virginia, for Poem Authenticated By Loone
- E. Mitchell of Palatine, Illinois, for The Sex Life of the Spineless Jellyfish
- Terry L. Stawar of Georgetown, Indiana, for The Strange Case of the Wayward Beef Roast
- Rose Valenta of Chalfont, Penn., for How Government Plans to Achieve Potty Parity
- Denise Weeks of Richardson, Texas, for How to Watch TV
- All Entries sans names
- Judges:
- Final judge: RBS Chairman David Trumbull
- Preliminary judges:
author of Robert Benchley An Annotated Bibliography, Gordon E. Ernst;
writer and RBS Director, Eileen Forster Keck;
2007 Benchley Society award winner and author of Disabled Fables, Dan Montville;
puzzle designer RBS Vice Chairman, Chris Morgan;
chairman of A Moderate State of Preservation Chapter (Ann Arbor, Mich.) of RBS, and editor of The Athletic Benchley Tom Saunders; and
2009 Benchley Society award winner Ed Tasca.
Annual Gathering
2009
Robert Benchley Award for Humor
- Winners (in order from first place through fourth place
- Ed Tasca of Toronto, Ontario for Let’s Click Up the Old Gang Sometime
"Original and lively writing on a new topic, social networks." --Kevin Fitzpatrick
- Brenda Pontiff of Los Angeles, Calif. for A Teensy Weensy Renaissance
"Clever, has good writing and funny." --Kevin Fitzpatrick
- Con Chapman of Weston, Mass. for Foundations of Western Logic
"Clever and well-written." --Kevin Fitzpatrick
- B. Elwin Sherman of Bethlehem, N.H. for A Woman At Home
"Original and has a new take on an old subject." --Kevin Fitzpatrick
- Semi-Finalists (in alphabetical order)
- Con Chapman of Weston, Mass. for Foundations of Western Logic
- L.J. Diehl of Sterling Heights, Mich. for A Guide to Parenting in the 21st Century
- Brenda Pontiff of Los Angeles, Calif. for A Teensy Weensy Renaissance
- Felice Prager of Scottsdale, Arizona for How to Kill a Scorpion
- Laura Pryor of Clarkston, Mich. for Starbucks Amuck
- B. Elwin Sherman of Bethlehem, N.H. for A Woman At Home
- Ed Tasca of Toronto, Ontario for Let’s Click Up the Old Gang Sometime
- Mike Tuck of Eden Prairie, Minn. for Name That Landmark
- Carl Vine of Johnstown, Ohio for Simple Instructions for Completing Any Tax Form
- George Waters of Pasadena, Calif. for How to Build a Gate
- Entries:
- Judges:
- Final judge: Kevin C. Fitzpatrick. Kevin has been a past judge of the competition. He is the president of the RBS Fascinating Crimes chapter in New York.
In 1999 he founded the Dorothy Parker Society and serves as president. He is the author of "A Journey into Dorothy Parker's New York" and with
Nat Benchley, is the co-editor of the new book "The Lost Algonquin Round Table" (Donald Books-iUniverse).
Link for the book: http://www.donaldbooks.com/catalogue.html
- Preliminary judges
author of Robert Benchley An Annotated Bibliography, Gordon E. Ernst;
writer and RBS Director, Eileen Forster Keck;
puzzle designer RBS Vice Chairman, Chris Morgan;
2007 RBS Humor Award winner, Daniel Montville;
radio personality and chairman of A Moderate State of Preservation Chapter (Ann Arbor, Mich.) of RBS, Tom Saunders;
RBS Director Pamela Siska and
Robert Benchley Society Chairman David Trumbull.
2008
Annual Gathering
Robert Benchley Award for Humor
- Winners:
- Madeleine Begun Kane of Bayside, N.Y. for Guide for the Opera Impaired
"I don't know if Robert Benchley ever commented on operas in all his writings, but it is certainly a subject I suspect he would have handled exactly as you did," --Bob Newhart
- Mike Tuck of Hopkins, Minn. for Welcome to America
"Has a quality I call Benchleyesque, especially in the asides." --Bob Newhart
- Jesse Levy of North Hollywood, Calif. for How to Watch a Sad Movie and Retain Your Manliness
"Very much a subject that Benchley might have very well written on and in his style." --Bob Newhart
- Denise G. Weeks of Richardson, Texas for How to Start Your Own Band
"Very much in Benchley's style and was the sort of subject matter he might have treated. --Bob Newhart
- Semi-Finalists (in alphabetical order)
- Con Chapman of Weston, Mass. for My Memoirs, to the Best of My Knowledge
- Madeleine Begun Kane of Bayside, N.Y. for Guide for the Opera Impaired
- Jesse Levy of North Hollywood, Calif. for How to Watch a Sad Movie and Retain Your Manliness
- E. Mitchell of Palatine, Ill. for How to Avoid the Neighbors
- Joseph Nebus of Jackson, N.J. for What Do They Make Of Jelly?
- Brenda Pontiff of Los Angeles, Calif. for How to Wake Up
- John Thom of Los Angeles, Calif. for My Uncle Henry
- Mike Tuck of Hopkins, Minn. for Welcome to America
- Denise G. Weeks of Richardson, Texas for How to Start Your Own Band
- Sharon Elizabeth Wood of Cary, N.C. for How to Be Happy
- Entries
- Judges
- Final judge Bob Newhart
- Preliminary judges
RBS member Dwain Buck;
2005 Benchley Society award winner Horace J. Digby;
author of Robert Benchley An Annotated Bibliography, Gordon E. Ernst;
writer and RBS Director, Eileen Forster Keck;
puzzle designer RBS Vice Chairman, Chris Morgan;
radio personality and chairman of A Moderate State of Preservation Chapter (Ann Arbor, Mich.) of RBS, Tom Saunders; and
Robert Benchley Society Chairman David Trumbull
2007
| Dave Barry with 2008 RBS Award Winner Daniel Montville |
Annual Gathering
- Fifth Annual Gathering
- October 5-6, 2007
- New York, New York
- Held jointly with Dorothy Parker Society Parkerfest
Robert Benchley Award for Humor
- Winners:
- Daniel Montville of Oak Park, Ill. for How to Write a Book
"A smart, silly essay written in the classic Benchley how-to-style. The opening
sentence establishes the confidently insane tone: "There couldn't be a better
time for you to write a book because nobody reads any more (I certainly
don't).' Montville goes on to dispense a meandering stream of upbeat and
utterly useless advice, never passing up an opportunity to detour from the irrelevant to the
even more irrelevant. The only troubling thing about this
essay is that it pretty much describes the way I actually write books." --Dave Barry
- George Waters of Pasadena, Calif. for T'ai Chi for Beginners," or "War and Peace"
"Another fine Benchley-esque how-to essay, also with an excellent opener:
'If there is one thing I cannot stand (and, really, is one ever enough?), it is sloth.'
I personally have never tried T'ai Chi, but after reading Water's relentlessly
uninformative take on the subject, I've decided that I don't want to." --Dave Barry
- Ed Tasca of Toronto, Ontario for Hello again, Mr. Uh--!?
"Tasca hilariously explores, in Benchley style, the problem of being unable to
remember anything, including the mnemonics that you're supposed to
remember to help you remember things, which you tend to forget (I refer here
to the mnemonics) (I think). I just want to state here that somebody should
develop a mnemonic to help people remember how to spell 'mnemonic.'" --Dave Barry
- Jennifer Byrne of Glassboro, N.J. for You Shouldn’t Have (Really)
"I have long been puzzled by the fact that cat owners tolerate a pet that keeps
bringing them gifts of dead animals and animal parts. Finally, Byrne has
provided an answer: cat owners are insane. I already knew that, but this essay
is very funny anyway." --Dave Barry
- Semi-Finalists (in alphabetical order)
- Jennifer Byrne of Glassboro, N.J. for You Shouldn’t Have (Really)
- David Carlyon of Larchmont N.Y. 10538 The Next Robert Benchley
- Mary Lyn Eagle, aka Marie Hawk, of Oroville, Wash. for Step by Step Instructions for Surviving a Computer Melt Down
- Diana Grove of New Orleans, Louisiana for A Perfectly Acceptable Pet
- Anthony Martinetti of Pawtucket, R.I. for While Reading THE RAVEN on Wikipedia
- Daniel Montville of Oak Park, Ill. for How to Write a Book
- John Parnell of Macon, Georgia for I stared at my executive editor's e-mail to me with a mix of revulsion and horror...
- Brenda Pontiff of Los Angeles, Calif. for A Warning Concerning Self-Help Propaganda
- Ed Tasca of Toronto, Ontario for Hello again, Mr. Uh--!?
- George Waters of Pasadena, Calif. for T'ai Chi for Beginners," or "War and Peace"
- Entries
- Judges
- Final judge Dave Barry
- Preliminary judges
2005 Benchley Society award winner Horace J. Digby;
author of Robert Benchley An Annotated Bibliography, Gordon E. Ernst;
President of the Dorothy Parker Society and RBS Director, Kevin Fitzpatrick;
writer and RBS Director, Eileen Forster Keck;
RBS Secretary, Sharon Lyon;
puzzle designer and RBS Vice Chairman, Chris Morgan;
Robert Benchley Society Chairman David Trumbull
2006
Annual Gathering
Robert Benchley Award for Humor
- Winners
- W. Bruce Cameron of Santa Monica, California for Golf for the First Time.
"W. Bruce Cameron's very funny essay has a number of lines that strongly remind me of the master, my favorite being:
"To make the sport less boring, course designers have carefully built in a series of obstacles called 'geese.'"
A wonderful read from beginning to end." -- Dave Barry.
- Christopher Perdue of Eugene, Oregon for Quitting Coffee: I'd Rather be Eaten by a Raptor.
"Christopher Perdue makes good use of the faux-authoritative tone that Benchley used so often to parody scientific 'advances.'
Perdue begins his piece with a marvelously Benchley-esque sentence: 'According to a recent study, scientists disagree about when humans,
the smartest, most adaptable creatures on earth, will finally be killed by breakfast food.'" -- Dave Barry
- Dan Burt of Millbrook, Alabama for Shuffling Cards at Work: Deal Me Out.
"Benchley loved to grump about life's little annoyances; I think he'd have enjoyed Dan Burt's entertaining tirade about being compelled
by co-workers to sign an endless parade of cards for people he doesn't know or care about." -- Dave Barry
- Ed Tasca of Toronto, Ontario for My six steps for taming any earthquake.
"Ed Tasca follows his excellent title with some equally excellent advice, such as: 'Never let any family member under the age
of five care for the injured.'" -- Dave Barry
- Semi-Finalists (in alphabetical order)
- Dan Burt of Millbrook, Alabama for Shuffling Cards at Work: Deal Me Out
- Jennifer Byrne of Glassboro, New Jersey for How To Be Your Own Worst Enemy
- W. Bruce Cameron of Santa Monica, California for Golf for the First Time
- Sean Ellis of Amityville, New York for You Say you want a Resolution?
- Harmony Harrison of Bandon, Oregon for How to Chew or Pilates for Masticators
- Bill Hyder of Columbia, Maryland for Mr. MacGregor Comes Through
- Christopher Perdue of Eugene, Oregon for Quitting Coffee: I'd Rather be Eaten by a Raptor
- Mike Procter of Calgary, Alberta for Better Living Through Research
- Anthony E. Sorrentino of Milton, New York for Fruit for Thought
- Ed Tasca of Toronto, Ontario for My six steps for taming any earthquake
- Entries
- Judges
- Final judge Dave Barry
- Preliminary judges
2005 Benchley Society award winner Horace J. Digby;
author of Robert Benchley An Annotated Bibliography, Gordon E. Ernst;
RBS member Steven Jens;
writer and RBS Director, Eileen Forster Keck;
RBS Secretary, Sharon Lyon;
puzzle designer and RBS Vice Chairman, Chris Morgan;
radio personality and chairman of A Moderate State of Preservation Chapter (Ann Arbor, Mich.) of RBS, Tom Saunders; and
RBS member Ruth Smerling;
Robert Benchley Society Chairman David Trumbull
- Dates
- Deadline for entries: April 15th
- Announcement of ten semi-finalist: May 16th
- Announcement of winners: July 6th
2005
Annual Gathering
Robert Benchley Award for Humor
- The first-place winner was Horace J. Digby of Kelso, Washington for When You Can't Sleep
"The conditions for qualification were quite rigorous.
Competition was open to fillies and mares who have not won more than two races.
Indeed, just to qualify as an entry in this post was not without some personal loss for our winner.
Next you should know that the length of the contest presented it's own problems. As any writer can tell you, six furlongs is really quite a short distance.
If you falter out of the gate with a less than perfect opening sentence you have almost no space in which to recover.
And with just two turns and then the homestretch there is little distance in which to develop your theme." --David Trumbull
- Coming in Second Place was Consuelo M. Ohanesian's for The Zen of Red Nail Polish.
- Third place went to Ed Tasca of Toronto, Ontario for Return to Sunny Los Las.
- A complete report in available in our online archive here.
2004
Annual Gathering
- Second Annual Gathering
- September 1-3, 2004
- New York, New York
- Held jointly with Dorothy Parker Society Parkerfest
2003
Annual Gathering
- First Annual Gathering
- August 22-24, 2003
- New York, New York
- Held jointly with Dorothy Parker Society Parkerfest
|