Want to win an all-expenses paid trip to Las Vegas?
Get ready to lay it on thick, Slick. You have until Nov. 14 to make your way to www.SmoothTalkToVegas.ca and submit a videotaped or written submission to the folks at Expedia.ca that you're one of the smoothest operators in the land.
"It's not about luck, it's about Canadians using their creativity to get themselves out of a funny but unexpected, and even slightly embarrassing, situation with airport security," says improv comic and Flin Flon native Sandy Jobin-Bevans, a member of Toronto's Second City comedy troupe.
Here's the situation: You're flying to Vegas. You arrive at airport security, airline tickets in hand, but unbeknownst to you, your so-called friends have packed a few surprises in your luggage. Security officers are stumped. They want to know why you're taking a toilet brush, a set of dentures, and a cartoon map of Switzerland (items change with each entry) to Sin City.
And you have 60 seconds to explain it on video, five minutes if you're typing in your weasel words.
(None of the random items that will pop up in your suitcase will be illegal or immoral. They're meant to raise eyebrows, not alarm bells.)
Smooth talking is a bit underhanded, yes, but it's not lying. "It's all about being committed to what you're talking about and staying with it no matter what path it takes you down. Have a story and stick with it," says Jobin-Bevans, a University of Manitoba graduate who had planned to be a high school history teacher before he joined the local improv troupe Brave New Weasals.
Contestants will be evaluated on creativity, originality, humour, overall appeal and Vegas content. A panel of judges from Expedia, West Jet and Vegas's Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino will choose the top 20 entries. Voters from across Canada will have until Nov. 28 to choose seven finalists, who will be flown to Vegas for a live, smooth-talking showdown, to be hosted by Jobin-Bevans. The winner of that will have three guests flown in immediately after the "smooth-off" to share the prize-winning vacation at Planet Hollywood.
The contest is open to Canadians 21 years of age and over, but Jobin-Bevans advises smooth talkers not to be too profane.
