Celebrity bingo callers such as Philip Seymour Hoffman (of Capote fame), Annie Parisse, and Saturday Night Live cast member Will Forte came down along with 150 others to raise money for a new play to be produced.

Playwright Adam Rapp's new play Essential Self-Defense needs just one thing to get it produced: bingo. Rapp's new "fable-like nightmare" had karaoke, disappearing children and a Midwestern oddball who takes a job as a dummy in a lady's self-defense class.

In order to get it produced, an off-Broadway theatre group called Edge Theatre (which Rapp is the resident playwright) has organized and hosted a celebrity bingo benefit in Manhattan to raise the $25,000.00 needed to produce the play.

Bingo is the favourite of most nonprofit theatres, who prefer bingo because more participants stand a chance of winning, and also because the game of bingo has been gaining momentum at the national level for some time now.

This particular celebrity bingo game was not cheap. The entrance fee for the benefit cost $50 and this included only one bingo card! Any additional bingo cards cost $25 each. Round tables that seat 10, were located at the foot of the stage and went for $2,500.00. Winners won DVD collections, lunch for two at Chanterelle in Tribeca, and other exciting prizes.

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"You gonna bark all day, little doggie, or are you gonna bite?" - Mr. Blonde from Reservoir Dogs