Oompah-loompah Le

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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John “Punnyman” Le was having tons of pun with his riff on “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” the other night on the news.

This was his story – first, he interviewed a downtown Ashvegas chocolatier; then he stuffed his face full of chocolate; then he threw in some video clips from the new movie.

It made no sense at all. I felt like I was on the psychedlic boat ride with the Gene Wilder version of Willy Wonka as I watched Le.

The ceaseless puns were making me dizzy… All the chocolate, Le with the stupid hat on, I swear I saw and heard him start the Oompah-Loompah song, the striped socks on his chubby little calves flexing with his every step… Then there was Le turning purple and exploding into a million tiny pieces after eating too much dandy candy…

Then there was Le in the elevator – I reached for the “Incompetant Fools” button in the elevator box, then jumped… Le, desperate to get out, mashed his chunkyface against the clear elevator door. All the while, he was stuffing his face with chocolate-shaped puns. Then he disappeared into space.

I shook my head. Whew. Almost lost it.