It’s been a few weeks since the big day, and I’m still coming back down to earth. What a fun night, and it wouldn’t have been possible without a lot of people. If I miss anybody, I am terribly sorry. I’ll be honest: I work hard to make this thing happen, but if it wasn’t for the following people and places it would all be for naught.

The Lovely Cookie. As you can imagine, I am not a very fun person to deal with in the weeks leading up to this thing. Cookie does a terrific job of letting me pout, drive myself crazy, and scream at my computer without thinking I am out of my mind.

Chip Chantry. Every year Chip puts in a ton of time to help make this thing work, and by involving him  more in the production, I feel like the last two bowls have been two of our best ever. He helped write the opening song, he did the engagement game, he helped shoot the promo video and he graded papers. It is no secret that I think that Chip is a comic genius, and he has been instrumental in taking this from a trivia event to a full fledged show.

Fastball Bob Gutierrez and Johnny Greattimes. Needless to say, Bob doesn’t have anything else to do on a Saturday night, seeing as he has no job and no friends, but it’s still great to have him on board. And Greattimes, well he’s living my dream job…he’s a wrestling referee (seriously) as well as a tremendous sketch comedian (Bob and Greattimes are both part of Secret Pants). Both were extremely generous with their time and talents in making this thing happen.

Kristian Paradis and the Cavatina Calypso Band. Let’s not kid ourselves, these guys were worth the price of admission by themselves. They were mindblowingly awesome. Contact me if you want their info. If you ever host anything fun, you should probably hire these guys.

DJ Starr (Incredibly, that is his real name). As he has for 5 straight years now, DJ took incredible photos of the evening. If you are ever looking for a photographer for an event, this is your dude.

The World Cafe Live. Great venue, and incredibly easy to work with. I liked rotating venues, but the World Cafe is just so great to work with, and is such a great spot, that I just don’t see a reason to go anywhere else.

Brittany, Dan, and Jenn. They were our graders for the evening. The hardest work and least gratifying job of the whole evening is grading papers. The fact that they were willing to volunteer to do it just floors me. Such a huge help. I can’t thank these guys enough. I also want to thank my parents, who make the trip up each and every year to support me in this event. Normally my mom helps grade papers, but this year I was glad that she got to take a year off and just enjoy the show.

Rennie Harris RHAW, which was led by my buddy Raphael Xavier. These guys were phenomenal. I had worked with Raphael once before, and for the 2nd straight time he delivered with a tremendous troupe that were energetic and a heck of a lot of fun. If you ever need dancers for anything, please let me know and I’ll pass along Raphael’s info. He’s a pleasure to work with.

All of the celebs in the Celebrity Round. Needless to say, these are all extremely busy people. The fact they were willing to take a few minutes to do this is extremely cool. Thanks to Zoe Strauss, Elton Brand, Jenn Carrol, Hurricane Schwartz, Rhea Hughes, Todd Glass, Irish John, Keen Kweder, Larry Mendte, and Pierre Robert. I also want to thank Victor Fiorillo at Philly Mag who was instrumental in lining up several of these celebs.

All of the bars who contributed gift certificates to the event. Sidecar, Bards, POPE, Pub and Kitchen, Locust Rendezvous, City Tap House, and O’Neals.

And of course, I want to personally thank each and every person who attended. This show is a celebration of the quirky community we have built over the years, and it’s a real dream to be able to put on a show this big and this fun with such a great crowd of people in attendance. Your support is greatly appreciated. Thanks again. And what the hell? Let’s do it again next year.

Cheers, JGT