Here are the score sheets from Punniest of Show at the 2017 O. Henry Pun-Off. There were six judges, with the highest and lowest score for each contestant being dropped. This left a highest possible score of 40.
| Name | J1 | J2 | J3 | J4 | J5 | J6 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joshon Sabik | 7 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 25 |
| 2 | Jake Morrison | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 27 |
| 3 | Kate Memorde | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 34 |
| 4 | Emily Parrish | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 37 |
| 5 | Dave McMahon | 7 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 22 |
| 6 | Andrew Rhyne | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 36 |
| 7 | Daniel Grosser | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 29 |
| 8 | Chris Neft | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 29 |
| 9 | Sean Carey | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 25 |
| 10 | Arum Depray | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 38 |
| 11 | Kathryn Estes | 9 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 27 |
| 12 | Ben Ziek | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 38 |
| 13 | Jonathan Faulkner | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 34 |
| 14 | Southpaw Jones | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 40 |
| 15 | Sirus Badiee | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| 16 | Robert Ramon | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 38 |
| 17 | Kasen James | 9 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 31 |
| 18 | Annica Eagle | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 38 |
| 19 | Kate Howard | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 27 |
| 20 | Charley Blue | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 30 |
| 21 | Max Parke | 10 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 36 |
| 22 | Dav Wallace | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 36 |
| 23 | Jerzy Gwiazdowski | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 40 |
| 24 | Amanda Hopkins | 9 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 37 |
| 25 | Caitlyn Teasdale | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 36 |
| 26 | Diana Gruber | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 32 |
| 27 | Toby Miceli-Gwiazdowski | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 40 |
| 28 | Gordon Kramer | 9 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 37 |
| 29 | Michael Kohl | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 37 |
| 30 | Nikolai Vanyo | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 36 |
| 31 | Goofy | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 36 |
| 32 | Haley Haradan | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 38 |
If you’re paying attention, that’s three perfect scores, and five scores of 38. An amazing 18 (of 32 total) entries scored 35 or higher!
Was the competition that good, or is something else going on?
While the competition was very good this year, and I don’t remember anyone who was just awful, the scores seem a bit inflated.
Of the six judges, I believe five were new. It’s quite possible that I’m biased, but it seems that the new judges were giving much higher scores than in years past.
That said, the relative ranking of the scores seems mostly accurate to me. The scores just group them together rather tightly.
Jerzy Gwiazdowski was disqualified due to running long, which was truly unfortunate. His entry was nothing less than magnificent.
The ties at 40 and 38 were resolved via audience applause, with the final ranking being:
1st – Southpaw Jones
2nd – Toby Miceli-Gwiazdowski
3rd – Annica Eagle