Going, Going, Gong

Carmichael Lynch’s annual O’Gong Show has become a Minneapolis ad industry staple. Every year around St. Patrick’s Day, the agency’s new employees (those who have been there less than a year) are “strongly encouraged” to showcase some sort of talent. Past acts have included impersonations of characters from The Full Monty, samurai warriors and a human Rice Krispie.

This year, in celebration of its 40th anniversary, the shop is inviting all of its former employees back for a special show that will include the return of famed emcee Fred Keller.

“It’ll be like a salmon returning to the stream in which it was born,” wrote agency chairman Lee Lynch in an e-mail to current and former employees, “minus the risk of being eaten by grizzlies and the inevitable death by spawning.”

Response to the invitation has been overwhelming, according to a shop representative.