John Hodgman's Book Release Party

David Rees discussing the many ways one can sharpen a pencil To become an apprentice of artisanal pencil sharpening, one must wear elbow pads, as the young unnamed assistant (Wyatt Cenac) wears above. David Rees describes the many variations of sharpening pencils. One of the variations? Behind the back like Jimi Hendrix used to play his guitar. Jonathan Coulton (and The Jonathan Coulton All-Stars) perform a song about John Hodgman. The Jonathan Coulton All-Stars Jonathan Coulton holds John Hodgman's martini while he reads from That Is All John Hodgman reads from his latest book That Is All, the final volume on his series on trivia and knowledge. Which is fine since the world will end on December 21, 2012 anyway. Jonthan Coulton & The Jonathan Coulton All-Stars perform a three song set. The songs were, "Code Monkey," "The Stache" and "Je Suis Rick Springfield" John Hodgman revealed that he actually trademarked the name "Jonathan Coulton" and his "feral" look. Hodgman requested that Coulton take off his buckskin top and fur hat. The fur hat was then auctioned off for the highest bidder for $15,000. The man in the center, Paul Rudd, was the person who paid $15,000 via credit card to become 'feral Jonathan Coulton'. Paul Rudd assumes the feral Jonathan Coulton identity. The look is now complete. Jonathan Coulton reads a part from John Hodgman's scripted reality show about hoarding which acquires contestants by kidnapping. Yes, you read that correctly. David Rees also reads from the reality show TV script. Feral Jonathan Coulton reads the part of Big Mike (there are two Mikes in the cast). John Hodgman laughs during Big Mike's reading. He lives in a wheelchair and doesn't have any arms. John Hodgman closed the party by performing a couple of songs on ukelele. The final song of the night, a cover that featured Hodgman on ukelele, Cynthia Hopkins on accordion and Jonathan Coulton on guitar.