There's No Business Like it

The reviews are in and Scary PACE was "the best one yet" and the "funniest one ever." For some reason this year there was an excitement in the air all over our building...an anticipation I've never seen before. I had people calling from other departments asking if they could "crash" the show.

It was a coincident that Scary PACE was actually our thirteenth year. This is the first time we've held the annual awards show in October. Each year it's a little later in the year so eventually I suppose we'll skip a year kind of like a leap year skips a day to keep up.

Anyway, it was a lot of work but worth every minute. The set was creepy and cool with a miniature graveyard including fencing and a huge flourescent moon hanging above it. There were gothic chairs for the presenters (who were in full costume) to sit in (PVC pipe and black satin over regular chairs). And the EMCEES Vampire and Vampira had a deliciously gruesome script full of puns guaranteed to make you groan about drinking bloody marys and longnecks and thinking outside the box.

The fog machine added to the "graveyard" feel of the stage, unfortunately, it also made taking pictures almost impossible (unless you like pictures of smoke).

We had an opening number to Thriller with faceless zombie dancers. After it was over and to everyone's surprise, one of the dancers went to the podium and took off his mask revealing the president of our division. (Insert hysterical laughter here)

The rest of the show included the awards and various and sundry videos which depicted in GREAT detail things such as unfortunate associates being killed by copy machines and shark-like mail carts.

Here's a list of the movies and TV shows we lampooned (taking a deep breath): Jaws, Shining, Twilight Zone, Friday the 13th, Exorcist, Hellraiser, Phantom of the Opera, Halloween, Alfred Hitchcock, The Ring, Addams Family, Psycho, Motel Hell, Nightmare on Elm Street, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dracula, Young Frankenstein, Frankestein, The Mummy, The Hunchback, Scary Movie I and II.

One of my favorite parts of the show was how we handed out the awards. We had a (petite) woman lying in a cardboard coffin in front of the podium. You couldn't tell she was real until the first award recipient was handed the trophy she held like a lily on her chest. After each award she would descretely replace it with another one that was tucked beside her in the casket. Every time her pale, thin hand reached out of the coffin with another trophy...we got another huge laugh. Our brave committee member who volunteered for coffin duty spent the entire hour and a half flat on her back with her eyes closed. (She'll have to watch the show when it comes out on video.)

Another "new wrinkle" this year was that the invitations were attached to plastic see-through masks that you were instructed to decorate and wear as your key to enter the show. Earlier in the day everyone brought their masks to a designated room for judging. Then they took digital pictures of the top three scariest, funniest and most original masks. Before the audience entered the ballroom they voted on their favorite in each category. Then at the end of the show we gave $25 gift cards to the winners.

And speaking of winners...my mask with hot-glued candy corn, a baby bottle in it's mouth and a tag that said

"Children of the Candy Corn"
took first place in the funniest category. For some reason this award far outshined the $100 gift card and trophy I received for Best Editorial Copy.

Anyway, a good time was had by all, but I'm glad it's over for another year...and that it's Friday.