The Chicagoist will be launching later but in the meantime please enjoy our archives.

Video: Andrew W.K.'s Heartwarming Pizza Summit Keynote

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 4, 2016 3:30PM

2016_04_pizza_04.JPG
A sampling of items on display at the Pizza Museum, photo by Jim Kopeny / Tankboy

Over 900 people attended two sessions celebrating all things pizza at Chop Shop Sunday. The first, what we hope will become annual, Old Style Pizza Summit was a rousing success.

The highlight of the evening came when Andrew W.K. delivered his keynote address from a podium shaped like, what else, a huge slice of pizza. We were able to capture most of his speech below, so if you feel like getting amped up about partying and pizza on a Monday morning, now's your chance to do so.

Tickets to the event sold out in less than 10 minutes when they went on sale months ago, so we were pleased to see that organizers had actually capped tickets sales to ensure the crowds would be full, but not overflowing. We attended the evening session, and while every one of the 10 pizza vendor tables were busy, we never had to wait in line for very long. This ensured every attendee left fully, um, stuffed with pizza.

Most tables at the event offered regular pizza slices, but a few vendors did get inventive, including Taco In A Bag's "Pizza In A Bag" construction. It wasn't a fully successful endeavor, but we had to give them points for at least trying something new.

2016_04_pizza_02.JPG
A sampling of items on display at the Pizza Museum, photo by Jim Kopeny / Tankboy

The second floor of the venue held the "U.S. Pizza Museum," a small display of pizza related esoterica that took up a small space in the corner. Curator Kendall Bruns was onsite to answer pizza fans questions about the collection, so we thought that was a nice touch. If you're interested in seeing Bruns' collection, you can still do so while it remains up for public display through the end of Monday.