I heard the MC call my name and felt my legs carry me toward the stage. It was time to enter the Punderdome. I'd never competed in a pun contest, much less in front of hundreds of people at an event considered the Roman Colosseum of punditry. My stage presence could be described as lacking. I had done basically no preparation.

If you were not yet aware that BattleBots is a thing again, then there are two things you should know: 1) it is, and 2) a guy named Faruq Tauheed is the reason you should be tuning in. As the ring announcer on latest incarnation of the homemade robot showdown, Tauheed somehow manages to upstage all the metal-crushing, flame-throwing action with his pun-heavy commentary. Each introduction is as cleverly crafted as the battling bots themselves, tailor-made to squeeze every ounce of humor out of the names and origins of the robo-competitors.