No Benchley Humor Writing Competition this Year

I regret to inform you that the Robert Benchley Society Annual Humor Writing Competition will not be held in 2016. Watch this blog for further announcements about Society activities.

...and the winners are...

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." --

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

NEWS FLASH...

The winners in the 2014/2015 Robert Benchley Society Award for Humor Writing Competition have been chosen and will be announced on this blog Wednesday. No fooling!

We are working with our judge, Mark Russell, on a date for the Award Dinner, which will be held in Washington, D.C.

Robert Benchley Society Announces Semifinalists in 2014 Humor Contest

February 22, 2015, the Robert Benchley Society Announces the Top-Ten Semifinalists in 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

These top ten essays have been forwarded to humorist Mark Russell, who will decide on the final four, ranked in order from first place. The winners will be announced on April Fools Day, and the awards will be presented at the Robert Benchley Society Annual Awards Dinner, at the University Club of Washington, D.C., at a date to be determined.

This year's preliminary judges were:

• Horace Digby, 2005 Benchley Society First Place Award Winner, President of the Longwood, Washington "We Only Came to See if There Really is an Award" Chapter of the RBS, and West Coast Vice Chairman of the RBS,
• Matt Hahn, President of the Washington, D.C., "Lost Locomotive" Chapter of the RBS,
• Eileen Forster Keck, a Director of the RBS,
• Sharon Lyon, a Co-Founder of the RBS,
• Dan Montville, author of Disabled Fables, 2008 1st place winner of the RBS Humor Writing Award, and Director of the RBS,
• Chris Morgan, East Coast Vice Chairman of the RBS, and
• Ed Tasca, 2009 1st place winner of the RBS Humor Writing Award, and Director of the RBS.

Humor Contest Update

Watch for an announcement soon of the top-ten semifinalists in the 2014 Robert Benchley Society Annual Award for Humor Writing.

Let the Laughter Begin

The entries in the 2014 Robert Benchley Society Annual Award for Humor Competition are available for reading at www.robertbenchley.org/2014_competition/index.htm.

Mark Russell to Judge 2014 Benchley Humor Competition, Entries Due by September 15th

The Robert Benchley Society is happy to announce that Washington, D.C.-based national humorist Mark Russell has agreed to be the final celebrity judge in the 2014 Robert Benchley Society Annual Humor Writing Award Competition.

I'm sure you are all familiar with Mr. Russell's topical and political humor and music, either through his three decades on public television or from his personal performances. More information on Mr. Russell may be found on his website www.markrussell.net.

The deadline to enter the 2014 Robert Benchley Society Annual Award for Humor Writing Competition is September 15, 2014 (the anniversary of Mr. Benchley's birth). For more details visit our website http://www.robertbenchley.org/competition/index.htm.

Register Now for the Robert Benchley Society Annual Gathering

The Robert Benchley Society Humor 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.

Robert Benchley Society Names Winners in Annual Humor Writing Competition

The Robert Benchley Society is pleased to announce the winners in the 2013 Robert Benchley Society Annual Humor Writing Competition. For the list of winners CLICK HERE. The awards will be given out by this year's judge Gina Barreca at the Annual Gathering of the Society, Friday through Saturday, November 22nd through 24th, in Boston, Massachusetts. Theme of this year's annual gathering is "You Can Always Tell a Harvard Man..."

The Robert Benchley Society Announces the Top-Ten Semifinalists in 2013 RBS Humor Writing Competition

Today David Trumbull, Chairman, Robert Benchley Society, announced the top ten semi-finalists in this year's humor writing competition. "There were many fine entries and the preliminary judges are to be commended for their dedication in carefully reading and ranking the entries. "I know it was not easy, in some cases, for judges to place a rank order to entries that were so good that, in a less exclusive contest, any one of them might have been number one," said Mr. Trumbull, "however, the results, which were derived from a tabulation of all the score cards, in the end, produced a definitive list of the ten funniest and most Benchley-like," Trumbull continued.

This years preliminary judges were:

• Sharon Lyon, a founding member of the Robert Benchley Society

• Matt Hahn, Chairman of the Washington "Lost Locomotive" Chapter of the RBS

• Daniel Montville, winner of the 2007 RBS Award for Humor Writing

• Chris Morgan, Vice Chairman, East Coast, RBS

• Ed Tasca, winner of the 2009 RBS Award for Humor Writing

• Michele Wojciechowski, professional humor writer and stand-up comediene

The top ten entries (in alphabetical order) are:

• Lowell T. Christensen of White Rock, N.M. for The Excruciating History of Dentistry

• Chelsea Fisher of Arlington, Virginia for The Old Movie Shuffle

• Ramona Grigg of Drummond Island, Mich. for Budget-Cutting the Hard Way

• Dave Jaffe of Deerfield, Illinois for Quality is Job Three out of Seven!: How to Create a Press Release

• Barbara Samuels of Port St Lucie, Florida for Take a Gesund-hike

• E. Mitchell of Palatine, Illinois for How to Be Human

• Lisa Smith Molinari of Newport, R.I. for The Future of Archaeology

• Cindy Lane Poch of Stillwater, Minnesota for Iatrophobia

• C.J. Scuffins of Dublin Ireland for Quick! Sand!

• Jerry Zezima of Coram, N.Y. for As a man who is known far and wide...

The final determination of the final first, second, third, and fourth place entries will be made by this year's final judge 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 awards will be given out that the Ten International Annual Gathering of the Robert Benchley Society, Friday through Sunday, November 22 through 24, 2013, in Boston. The theme of this year's Annual Gathering is "You Can Always Tell a Harvard Man."

Let the Laughter Begin!

The entries in the 2013 Robert Benchley Society Annual Award fro Humor Competition are available for reading at www.robertbenchley.org/2013_competition/index.htm.

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 award ceremony will in Boston, November 22 - 24, 2013.

Something to Get You in the Mood for the RBS Annual Gathering in Boston

Remember, your entries for the 2013 Robert Benchley Society Annual Award for Humor Writing are due by Friday, August 30th. And now, for something completely different --

Benchley Society Announces 2013 Humor Competition Judge

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.

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.

Deadline to Enter the Competition for the 2013 Robert Benchley Society Humor Award

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.

Save the Dates!

The Robert Benchley Society Annual Humor Writing Competition and Annual Gathering will be announced shortly. The deadline for submitting entries to in the competition will be August 30th. The Annual Gathering and Awards Dinner will be held in Boston, Friday through Sunday, November 22 through 24. Watch for details to come out shortly.

Happy the Home Where Humor is Read

The following column appeared in the October 19, 2012, issue of the Post-Gazette, the Italian-American Voice of Massachusetts.

I write from West Hollywood, California, where we just gave out the 2012 Robert Benchley Awards for Humor Writing. During our festivities, which featured Arte Johnson from TV's Laugh-In presiding at the award ceremony, we announced the publication of a book of humorous short essays, titled Love Conquers All and consisting of 63 classic Robert C. Benchley essays of 90 years ago, plus the winning entries from our annual humor-writing competitions.

We believe there is a want for witty clean comedy. The Robert Benchley Society is filling that want by turning back to humor written in, or in the style of, the 1920s. The funny thing is, just how contemporary, how of today, that humor is. Benchley is contemporary when he writes about the man who gets intimidated by the clerk at the department store, mirrors that seem to take perverse delight in making one's reflection look bad, and the, um, joys of reading the Sunday "funnies" aloud to the kiddies. Contemporary, yes, because the themes are universal, but so unlike many of today's comics in presentation.

The difference is that today humor has edge: it is "transgressive." While formerly it was thought that art might sometimes outrage conventional sensibilities, now, anything that outrages is "art." Offensiveness being more common than true artistic talent, this new definition has the advantage of greatly increasing the supply of "artists." Judging from some recent comedic offerings, one might conclude that the sole criterion to be a "comedian" is to have a reasonably functional body with its full complement of fluids, excretions, and naughty bits. It also helps to use the words that you can't − or at least used not be able to − say on television.

As Arte said in his remarks to us after dinner, "We've had the escalation of the scatological conversation, smut that gets tossed in for comedy -- that's not funny, it's not funny." Contrast that with Benchley, who wrote two essays entirely about bathrooms without even once using "bathroom humor."

The Robert Benchley Society hopes you enjoy reading this collection of short essays. Copies will go on sale shortly and the profits will be used to give out free copies to libraries, schools, hospitals, and to our men and women serving abroad in our military. If this book leads to more people reading and writing laugh-out-loud, sophisticated humor, then the Society, now at our tenth anniversary, will have justified its existence.

Register Now for Oct. 12-14 Benchley International Annual Gathering in L.A.

The Robert Benchley Society announces its "Very Interesting" Tenth Anniversary International Annual Gathering, to be held Friday through Sunday, October 12th through 14th, in Los Angeles, California. The highlight of the event will be the Annual Awards Dinner with guest presenter, Arte Johnson. For more details or to register, go to www.robertbenchley.org/AG2012/registration.htm.

Robert Benchley Society Announces 2012 Humor Competition Winners

BOSTON, July 24, 2012 -- The Robert Benchley Society announces that comedian Arte Johnson has named, as First Place winner in the 2012 Robert Benchley Society Annual Humor Writing Competition, Tim French of Midway, Alabama, for his essay Who Says You Can't Dance? In honoring Mr. French, who is the only two-time First Place winner in the history of the competition, Mr. Johnson said:

"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."

Mr. French won last year's competition as well, when humorist Mark Russell chose his essay The Old Man and the Leaf Blower.

Mr. Johnson awarded Second Place to Cathy Lennon of Park City, Utah, for How to Yawn, saying:

"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."

Coming in third was Jesse Levy of Burbank, Calif., for My Scotch Adventure. Johnson noted:

"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."

This was Mr. Levy's second time in the top four. In 2008 his essay How to Watch a Sad Movie and Retain Your Manliness was ranked third by humorist Bob Newhart.

Carol Cherman of Los Angeles, Calif., takes the Fourth Place title for Cane Mutiny. Mr. Johnson said:

"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."

Every year since 2005, the Robert Benchley Society has put on this humor-writing competition, which is open to all writers of English language humor. All judging is done blind, with the preliminary judges and final celebrity judge not knowing the names of the entrants. This means that amateurs and professional humorists compete equally. Watch our blog for an announcement of next year's competition.

Arte Johnson will give out the awards at this year's Annual Awards Dinner to be held in Los Angeles at the Ninth International Annual Gathering of the Robert Benchley Society. "As a youngster," said Johnson, "I could hardly wait for Benchley movie shorts when I went to the movies. After all, for 12 cents, who could be satisfied with just Flash Gordon, the news, and a double feature?"

We are currently working out the details of the October 12-14 Annual Gathering, but we can already promise that it'll be as packed with fun and features as a good old-fashioned Saturday at the talkies.

Save the Dates! Humorist Arte Johnson is Our Confirmed Guest for the October 12-14 Robert Benchley Society Annual Gathering

Come join us in Los Angeles, California, for another fun-filled Robert Benchley Society ("RBS") Annual Gathering and Humor Awards Dinner, honoring the 2012 winners, to be announced soon. This year, festivities will take place over the weekend of October 12-14th. Additional details will be posted on the http://www.robertbenchley.org/ website.

Television comedian Arte Johnson has confirmed his attendance at this year's Annual Gathering, which bears the theme: "Very Interesting...But Stupid!" The Society last met in Los Angeles in 2006, when our first place winner was W. Bruce Cameron. Details of this, the Ninth Annual Gathering, are in the works, but already we have identified several fun, and out of the ordinary, events for our attendees. Watch for details!

Just to give you an idea of what you can expect, last year’s theme was “A Capitol Idea.”

“Born on the Isle of Wight, September 15,1807, shipped as cabin boy on the Florence J. Marble in 1815, wrote Tale of Two Cities in 1820, married Princess Anastasie of Portugal in 1831 (children: Prince Rupprecht and several little girls) and was buried in Westminster Abbey in 1871.” ~ Mr. Robert Benchley, an autobiographical sketch in his famous “dementia praecox” style.

"As we reflected on the above biography at the RBS 2011 Annual Gathering and Humor Awards Dinner," said Society director Rose Valenta, "the dementia praecox process was greatly enhanced by several martini toasts that kicked-off this fantastic Eighth Annual Gathering."

The 2011 event was held in Washington, D.C. The highlight of the festivities was Saturday night at the University Club, where political humorist Mark Russell presented the 2011 Robert Benchley Award for Humor to Tim French of Midway, Alabama, for his Benchleyesque offering, “The Old Man and the Leaf Blower.” Mark greeted all of our attendees personally over cocktails before dinner and after dinner dazzled us with a private performance of his famed humor routine.

Russell, who is famous for his political satire, became even more popular in 1990, shortly after the execution of Romanian dictator, Nicolae Ceauşescu, when he did a parody song on his PBS show to the tune of "Chattanooga Choo-Choo,” It went like this: "Pardon me, boys, are you the cats who shot Ceauşescu? You made my day, the way you blew him away."

He entertained us all night at the Club with quips like “Congress wanted to commemorate the holiday Cinco de Mayo, but they couldn’t agree on a date” and “The trick now is figuring out how many guys from Penn State will end up in the State Penn.”

He is truly a remarkable comedian, and most of us felt that he prepared and executed his comical material for us, as if he was headlining in front of a global audience.

After Mark's performance, Matthew Hahn treated us to a private screening of his short film, "The Ten Thousand-Dollar Martini," a comedic "send up" of the Algonquin Hotel's "Martini on the Rock," which contains an actual engagement diamond.

In addition to the Awards Dinner, 2011 attendees enjoyed several events chosen for their appeal to fans of witty humor. On Friday night we dined at the round table in the "Pope" room at Buca di Beppo, where everyone enjoyed a five-course dinner and delightful entertainment. The highlight of the evening was an unofficial still photo caption writing competition wherein participants were asked to write captions to still photos from the Mexican "soap opera" called "La Fea Mas Bella." Contest winners were Jean Keleher and Matthew Hahn, both of the Washington, D.C. "Lost Locomotive" Chapter, Tim French of Midway, Alabama, and Christine McCarthy of the Boston, Mass. "We've Come for the Davenport" Chapter.

On Saturday morning, our group gathered for a trip to the Library of Congress “Hope for America” exhibit that allowed us to examine artifacts and get a glimpse of the cultural evolution of American politics and entertainment. Details of the exhibit can be found at http://myloc.gov/exhibitions/hopeforamerica/Pages/default.aspx.

We lunched at Sam’s Deli and News Stand on 15th Street NW. The food was delicious and the ambiance of the restaurant resembled a busy news room, quite fitting for the prolific Benchley fans in attendance from RBS Chapters in Boston, Mass., Philadelphia, Penn., Los Angeles, Calif., and Washington, D.C. The guest list also included members Bob and Mary Haught from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists ("NSNC") and Barb Best, from the Los Angeles "Uncle Edith" Chapter and winner of the 2010 Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop Award for Global Humor.

Rose said, "Mary Trumbull and I left our group to take a quick tour of the new Martin Luther King Memorial before returning to the Club. We were so impressed by the memorial that we stayed and took photos to post for everyone's enjoyment. The official photographer for the entire weekend was Chris Morgan of Boston and he did a phenomenal job."

Rose continued:

"I had a thoroughly enjoyable time at this event and loved reading the Benchleyesque offerings for the 2012 humor writing competition. I am champing at the bit to attend the next Annual Gathering, October 12th through 14th, in Los Angeles."

Our Top Ten Funny Writers for 2012

The Robert Benchley Society is pleased to announce the ten semi-finialists in the competition for the 2012 Robert Benchley Humor Writing Award. The top ten entries, in alphabetic order by author, are:

• 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

These essays are in the hands of this year's celebrity judge, comedian Arte Johnson, perhaps best known for playing Wolfgang the German soldier on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. Mr. Johnson will select the top four essays in order and send the writer of each essay a personal note stating what he liked about the essay. The Annnual Award Ceremony and Dinner will be held this fall in Los Angeles at a date to be determined based on the availability of our winners and Mr. Johnon.

The judges in the first round, which resulted in the top ten semi-finalists were:

• 2005 Benchley Society First Place Award Winner, President of the Longwood, Washington "We Only Came to See if There Really is an Award" Chapter of the RBS, and West Coast Vice Chairman of the RBS, Horace Digby;
  
• Author of Robert Benchley: An Annotated Bibliography, and RBS Director, the late Gordon E. Ernst;
  
• President of the Washington, D.C. "Lost Locomotive" Chapter of the RBS, Matthew Hahn;
  
• Writer and RBS Director, Eileen Forster Keck;
  
• RBS Co-Founder and Director, Sharon Lyon;
  
• RBS East Coast Vice Chairman, Christopher Morgan;
  
• 2007 Benchley Society First Place Award Winner, author of Disabled Fables, and RBS Director, Dan Montville;
  
• Chairman of the Ann Arbor "A Moderate State of Preservation Chapter" of the RBS, editor of The Athletic Benchley, and RBS Director, Tom Saunders;
  
• Co-Founder and Director of the RBS and past Vice Chairman, Pamela Siska; and
  
• 2009 Benchley Society First Place Award Winner and RBS Director, Ed Tasca.