Tarzan’s Tripes first interviewed Dav in 2011, after he took second place in Punslingers. Dav won Punslingers last year, but the complexities of my having a then six-month-old kept me from interviewing him.

This year, Dav tied for third place in Punslingers, after falling to eventual winner Ben Ziek in the semi-finals.

He graciously agreed to be interviewed again this year.

Brian: Tarzan’s Tripes interviewed you a couple of years ago after the 2011 Pun-Off. What, if anything, has changed in your life since then?

Dav: Well, that year I took 2nd place which was pretty awesome. In 2012 I threw my hat into the Punslinger’s arena again to see how I would fair and because I enjoy the event so much! Ben Ziek and I faced off in the final round again, but that time I prevailed and took home the championship!

Dav: This year Ben took me out in the semifinals and I ended up taking 3rd place.

Dav: I am thrilled to have placed in the top 3 spots over the past three years.

Brian: At this point, you’re a Punslingers vet. Do you have any sort of preparation routine?

Dav: No real routine per say. The weeks leading up to the main event are full of me driving my wife, Kim, crazy with me punning incessantly. This year the Facebook group P.U.N.Y. played a major role in getting my brain in gear. The administrators came up with daily topics and those who participated would comment with puns galore.

Brian: A new category that you got to try out this year was Celebrity Questions. It required a specific structure of pun. How did that change the challenge?

Dav: I thought that round was amazing. Both Ben and I were caught off guard at first but he and I are seasoned improvisors so that is when we are most comfortable. Once we understood what the topic required, it was just a matter of filtering the roll-a-dex of celebrities in our heads and go to town.

Brian: Your other topics were Bread, Magic & Illusions, and Theatre. Were there any puns you thought of later that you wished you had used?

Dav: Ask anyone who plays the Punslinger round and they’ll tell you the “should’ve saids” are very common as soon as you get off stage.

Bread – The pirate likes to garrr lick bread!
Magic – I was bored at the magic show so I told my friend,”There’s nothing up. Let’s leave.” (you have to kinda slur that one a bit)
Theatre – The set anal retentive set builder kept all of the nails under stud E.

Dav: I’ll admit, my head was in a weird place this year. In the past, I always came out to play. This year, for some reason, I cane out to compete. Two completely different styles. I prefer the former. Next year cannot come soon enough!