You might have heard rumor, but it’s true: The National Lampoon Twitter Awards were not a joke. Even though Jeffrey Ross said in his acceptance speech, “I want to thank National Lampoon for reminding us that they exist,” and Modern Family co-executive producer Danny Zuker claimed he felt better when he won an Emmy a month ago, the #NLTwitterAwards were not some fun hashtag that @PattonOswalt made up. In fact, they’re are not even the the only party officially recognizing achievement through the microblogging giant. The Shorty Awards have been going on for three years, but they recognize all categories in Twitter as opposed to just what’s funny. Also, Jim Gaffigan showed up to the Shortys rather than the National Lampoon Twitter Awards presented last Thursday at the Hollywood Improv on Melrose Ave.
Despite Gaffigan’s absence, National Lampoon made a legitimate awards show distinguishing those who have made their mark 140 characters at a time. Just like most awards shows, there was a hilarious host (Eddie Pepitone), acceptance speeches, a special honoree (@humblebrag), live music performances, but presented in the way only an awards show for the renegade writing form should be. Hysterical comedian and Twitter star in his own right Pepitone, read his tweets one-by-one as they were printed out in a loosely held stack of sheets, constantly reminding everyone that he gets re-tweeted. Later on in the evening, Pepitone won the award for Most Likely to Tweet Their Suicide Note. The night continued oscillating between amazing and awkward with performances from Internet stars Eli Braden and Allie Goertz as well as repeatedly mispronouncing John Fugelsang’s name and the complete absence of several award winners like Sarah Silverman who nabbed both Best Stand-up and Best Actress.
Though the Melrose Ave. sidewalk was substituting for the red carpet, Twitter’s funniest handles were out in force at the Twitter Awards. @Robdelaney, @kellyoxford, @meganamram, @jennyjohnsonhi5, @thesulk and more were all in attendance. Just like you might suspect, only the sound of their names really brought forth attention since their Twitter avatars prove hard for some to connect to a real life face. This slight loss in translation was the most noticeable thing throughout the night.
Some tweeters proved their worth in the flesh as stand-ups giving what they tweet a few more dimensions, while others kept their speeches within 140 characters (@dearanyone, winner of Best Under 40K Followers just burped for their speech). Notably, Ross and Delaney showed a packed room that, whether the crowd knew it or not, they are more than just @realjeffreyross and @robdelaney.
The National Lampoon Twitter Awards was so fully realized enough of an awards ceremony to have a list of snubs. Among them, the hilarious, yet infamous @NeilHamburger was not nominated for Best Celebrity Sniper despite having the best attack of Britney Spears that anyone has launched across any platform. Prodigy @ShelbyFero, the unstoppable @AllThingsBrody (Brody Stevens), “newcomer” @AlbertBrooks, and more didn’t get mentioned throughout the show, save for Norm MacDonald saying he enjoys reading Fero’s tweets in his acceptance video.
In spite of millions of people maintaining their position of disgust in regards to Twitter, it’s undeniable how influential it has become in comedy. Comedians that take the stage in front of a live audience more often than not complain that people who are funny on Twitter aren’t comedians. No one is really debating that fact, but Delaney, a real stand-up, has built quite a following online, especially from Twitter allowing him to tour while both Kelly Oxford, Twitter Queen, and Megan Amram, nominated for two Twitter awards, got writing gigs and a feature on Last Call with Carson Daly from their tweets. As odd as one might think the whole idea of writing funny things 140 characters at a time is, it’s certainly not being taken lightly by an increasing amount of comedians and industry alike with the presentation of the National Lampoon Twitter Awards. Even TMZ knew that they might catch a scoop as they hung outside the Improv the whole night.
Here’s a list of Nominees and Winners for the 1st Annual National Lampoon Twitter Awards:
Twitter King
@robdelaney-winner
@thesulk
@danieltosh
@pattonoswalt
Twitter Queen
@kellyoxford-winner
@jennyjohnsonhi5
@slashleen
@sarahksilverman
@meganamram
Political Humorist
@johnfugelsang
@pourmecoffee
@borowitzreport
@sethmeyers21
@theonion-winner
Sports Humorist
@SklarBrothers-winner
@sethmeyers21
@jaymohr37
@sportsguy33
@Justin_Stangel
BEST UNDER 40K
@DearAnyone-winner
@JuliusSharpe
@JohnFugelsang
BEST UNDER 30K
@damienfahey
@dannyzuker
@eddiepepitone
@mrsrupertpupkin-winner
@dadboner
BEST UNDER 20K
@clarkekant-winner
@bazecraze
@yoyoha
@conanobrienswyf
@filthyrichmond
BEST UNDER 10K
@thebosha
@ty_schutz
@RobinMcCauley-winner
@theNuzzy
@nickadooLA
@shawnries
@adampally
@stevenamiri
BEST DEITY
@Jesus_M_Christ-winner
@KFUCKINGP
@dalailama
MOST INANE
@sn00ki
@kimkardashian-winner accepted by @jennyjohnsonhi5
@heidimontag
@chrisbrown
@sarahpalinusa
MOST INSANE
@charliesheen-winner
@the_ironsheik
@Josecanseco
MOST OFFENSIVE MALE
@fatjew
@paulypeligroso
@anthonyjeselnik
@yuckybot
@the_ironsheik
@YourFavWhiteGuy-winner
MOST OFFENSIVE FEMALE
@jennyjohnsonhi5-winner
@meganamram
@Lisafarted
@ronniewk
@LisaLampanelli
@missmircea
BEST TALK SHOW HOST
@conanobrien-winner
@jimmyfallon
@craigyferg
@jimmykimmel
@stephenathome
@howardstern
BEST HALL OF FAMER
@stevemartintogo
@albertbrooks
@alecbaldwin
@alyankovic
@normmacdonald-winner
BEST NEWCOMER
@jerryseinfeld
@TheLewisBlack-winner
MOST LIKELY TO TWEET THEIR SUICIDE NOTE
@eddiepepitone-winner
@BarackObama
@lindsaylohan
BEST COMPANY FEED
@comedycentral
@nationallampoon
@collegehumor
@funnyordie-winner
@theonion
BEST STAND-UP COMEDIAN
@jimgaffigan
@chrisrock
@sarahksilverman-winner
@KevinMcCaff
@nickthune
@hannibalburess
BEST CELEBRITY SNIPER
@realjeffreyross-winner
@jennyjohnsonhi5
@elibraden
BEST ATHLETE
@ochocinco
@josecanseco
@miketyson-winner
@Shaq
@brianwilson38
BEST DIRECTOR
@jon_favreau
@juddapatow
@sethmacfarlane-winner
@thatkevinsmith
BEST ACTOR
@jimcarrey
@robhuebel
@rainnwilson
@galifianakisz
@robcorddry
@willsasso-winner
BEST ACTRESS
@sullivannicole
@sarahksilverman-winner
BEST GAY
@georgetakei
@andydick
@nickadooLA
@jackmackenroth-winner
BEST RICH GUY
@billgates
@mcuban-winner
@realdonaldtrump
BEST PARENT
@dannyzuker-winner
@kellyoxford
@clarkekant
BEST FAKE FEED
@lifecoachers
@Jesus_M_Christ
@TheBillWalton-winner
@PimpBillClinton
PERSON YOU WOULD MOST LIKE TO SEE JOIN TWITTER
@LarryDavid-winner
@AdamSandler
@KimJong-Il
@CaseyAnthony
SPECIAL HONOREE
@humblebrag
