The Funniest Place To Be On Election Night

Everyone and their mother was throwing an election night bash Tuesday, but very few could say they were one of the hottest tickets in town. One of those parties, without question, was Comedy Central’s Indecision 2008 shindig, held at The Park in New York’s meatpacking district.

The Atmosphere

Each room had a different vibe. The main room, which had trees and a park-like atmosphere, was the center of the party, with two bars, a buffet and more TVs than you could shake a stick at. There was also a blogging area, where many distracted bloggers sat, typing away all night, while people just a few feet away crowded around another bar. As for the crowd, it skewed young, and was overwhelmingly pro-Obama. Afew TV related celebrity sightings: 30 Rock’s Jack McBrayer, Lonny Ross and Jane Krakowski, 30 Days’ Morgan Spurlock, Top Chef’s Padma Lakshmi and the correspondents from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

The Food/Drinks

There were a number of buffets. The “pro-American” buffet served delicacies such as “small-town patriotic chicken strips,” “red state burgers,” “blue state pizza,” “lone state quesadillas,” “Joe The Plumber’s good ole’ mac n cheese” and of course freedom fries. The “un-American” buffet served “$150,000 makeover steak,” “elitist mixed greens,” “socialist salmon,” “old world rigatoni” and “imported grilled vegetables.”

After the meal, waitresses walked around with cookies, brownies and cupcakes emblazoned with the picture of John McCain or Barack Obama (left). Not many people wanted McCain cupcakes.

There were also many many bars. Seriously, you couldn’t walk ten feet without running into a bar. The crowd seemed to appreciate this.

The Fun

Upon arrival, each guest received a bag of comedy central coins, for use in slot machines spread throughout the party, and a scratch off card. If you got three of the same, you won a prize! (my Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin, Lemon didn’t cut it, as you can see below).

Comedy also set up photo booths, where guests could snap photos of themselves. The showpieces of the night however were the 20 foot high Indecision 2008 plinko boards (pictured right). Guests would travel in pairs up to the second floor, where they would compete against each other in plinko. The winner got a t-shirt and a Subway gift card.

Did I mention there were lots of bars?

The Show

Comedy was fair and balanced when it came to which networks got screen space. They were all represented. That is, until 10, when The Daily Show live special came on. All screens turned to Comedy Central at that point. Of course, you couldn’t always hear what was being said. The crowd noise and the laughter often lead to viewers missing a few key jokes, but hey, all in good fun. When Jon Stewart called it for Obama a few minutes after 11 p.m., the crowd went nuts.

For both John McCain and Barack Obama’s speeches, the music was shut off, and the audio feed from CNN was piped into the sound system. The rooms almost completely stopped during both, with everyone glued to the TV sets.

Afterward celebratory music was turned on, champagne was flowing and everyone had a good time till late.