Imagine sitting silently on a stage while your friend, sibling or co-worker, armed with a microphone and PowerPoint slides, reveals your life’s details to a roomful of strangers.
Within five minutes, that audience could learn about your job status, annual income, political leanings and sexual preferences. But you don’t flee the stage in embarrassment. Instead, you allow the final slide to contain your social media and contact information.
Sound like a fun evcening? If you’re single but in search of a relationship, you’re a perfect candidate for Pitch and Pair.
Launched in New York City Pitch and Pair is the brainchild of marketing professional Joseph Teblum,. The show aims to do what dating apps can’t — namely, find love where the first interaction is in person as opposed to via a screen.
“People are sick of the apps,” said Teblum, 33 and single. “With these events, you are seeing people right away. You’re meeting their friend group because it’s usually the friends who are pitching them.”
A recent event at the Den Theatre in Chicago brought a near-capacity crowd of mostly Gen Zers, the primary Pitch and Pair demographic. Ticket prices start at $20 for audience members but it costs upward of $70 to be a contestant. Chicago comedian Josh Ocean Thomas warmed up the crowd with riffs on, not surprisingly, the horrors of online dating. Eventually Thomas transitioned to event emcee and the presentations began.
Teblum and his team screen candidates beforehand, often making selections based on social media profiles. Contestants and their wing persons are told to keep things positive.
“Early on we had a few experiences where the contestants wanted to roast each other,” Teblum said. “Our audience does not like that. But if you say, ‘he has a cat, he goes to therapy and he takes care of his mom,’ they’ll go wild.’”
The Pitch and Pair Experience: No More Swiping
Over 90 minutes, the audience met singles like Adam Moore, an IT tech. In her pitch, his friend/presenter Karla Hernandez, labeled him a part-time ‘DDDEEEEEEEJAAAAAAAY.’ The crowd yelled its approval despite Hernandez saying Moore’s side hustle could be a “red flag.” Following her pitch audience members fired questions at Moore, something Pitch and Pair encourages. In Moore’s case questions leaned toward his musical tastes, although other contestants were grilled on their 2024 presidential election choices.
Lizz Evalen, pitching her friend Kelcie Boring, told the crowd Boring was an “esoteric shorty.” Also that she loved vintage clothes shopping and taking pictures of rabbits.
Comedians, both full and part time, showcased their skills on the Den’s stage. Part-time comic Harry Meredith began his pitch of friend Matt Calhoun, 28, with a raucous, “Look how sexy he is.”
Hoots and catcalls from audience members signalled they agreed with Meredith’s description.
Calhoun, a data analyst and also a part-time comedian, shifted uncomfortably in his seat a few times. However, he had approved Meredith’s pitch after a few meetings with his friend.
“He’s one of those guys who doesn’t like being complimented,” Meredith said. “He doesn’t accept praise well.”
Real Stories = Real Results?
Calhoun labeled his time in the spotlight “embarrassing.” However, he but said he did receive a few Instagram messages from women in the audience. All Pitch and Pairs include a post-event mixer, an event that benefitted Matthew Hovda, 28, a systems engineer who divides his time between Chicago and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Pitched by his sister Kristen, 25, the presentation included numerous pictures of Hovda, including one in his underwear, sporting a VR headset.
“That was on Valentine’s Day last year and I told the audience I was hoping it wouldn’t be his Valentine’s Day next year,” Kristen said.
Her creativity may have paid off; Matthew Hovda and an audience member went to two bars following Pitch and Pair. Three days later they planned to meet up for coffee.
Teblum’s brainchild shows no signs of slowing down. Pitch and Pair will return to Chicago and New York. Shows in Los Angeles and London are also on the books, and Teblum is toying with creating a Pitch and Pair for over-40 singles. His long-term goals include more than just making Pitch and Pair a lucrative venture.
“We haven’t had any weddings yet, but they’re coming,” Teblum said.
