Yes, it's that time of year. Time to bar the door, or open the door to the
bar. Time to run screaming for the hills or run cheering to the corner of
5th and Neches, for one of those annual events that Keeps Austin Weird. Now
that Spamarama has succumbed to a hostile corporate takeover, the O.Henry
Pun-Off becomes even more precious, even more, dare I say, sacred? I dare
not? Okay.

Nonetheless, if you take guilty pleasure in the humble pun (You know who you
are!), you can pun out of the closet this Saturday and join hundreds of
others who are proud to wave their geek flags. Since the organizers talked
me into retiring from competition, I'll be helping to emcee the contests,
while singing a few of my punnier songs in-between.

Sunday afternoon, at Jovita's on South 1st, I'll be joining a stellar Austin
lineup to raise funds for one of folk music's elderly icons: Utah Phillips.
He's a contemporary of Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Al Grierson who is
suffering from congestive heart failure in Nevada City, CA. Folksingers are
staging benefits for Utah all over the country. After a 30 minute warm-up of
his music, you'll hear songs from myself, as well as Bob Cheevers, Bill
Passalacqua, Tim Henderson, Edge City, The Ginn Sisters, Michael Fracasso
and Shelley King. There will be a Silent Auction, with a few items donated
by Ani DiFranco, who did an album with Utah that snagged a Grammy
nomination. I'll be up around 6:45, but you'll be glad you stayed for the
whole show.

SATURDAY, MAY 17, noon to 5
O.HENRY PUN-OFF
O.Henry Museum
409 East 5th St. @ Neches
Bring lawn chair, blanket, sunscreen and sense of humor
www.punpunpun.com

SUNDAY, MAY 18, 5 to 9 p.m.
UTAH PHILLIPS BENEFIT
JOVITA'S, 1619 South First St.
447-7825
www.jovitas.com
www.utahphillips.com