At the Gotham Independent Film Awards on Monday, we learned a few things, mostly about Jared Leto. But there were other educational tidbits:  When in need of comedy, crowd-source. Mike Birbiglia, the evening’s host, asked his Twitter followers for jokes about the nominees. Samples:  @birbigs Bradley Cooper’s Silver Linings Playbook performance is sure to edge out Oscar the Grouch for Best Performance in a Trash Bag.  — John Fitzpatrick (@fitzpatj1969) November 26, 2012  @birbigs Let’s just call tonight “The Academy Awards For People Who Went To A Liberal Arts College.” #GOTHAMJOKES  — Daniel Killefer (@realdankillefer) November 23, 2012  #GothamJokes These awards are all about recognizing films that you’ve never heard of.So who better to host then @birbigs!Zing!  — Tom Crowley (@crowley_tom) November 24, 2012  Introducing Matt Damon for his career achievement prize, his “Promised Land” co-star and co-writer, John Krasinki, read threads from commenters on Mr. Damon’s imdb.com page. See? Fanboy-ism does pay off.  The Gothams are a hotbed of surreal career moments, mostly involving jackets. Mr. Birbiglia noted that when he first moved to New York some 15 years ago, he worked at the Gothams, as a coat-checker – which, he added, paid more than hosting. (Zing!)  Mr. Damon also attended his first Gothams 15 years ago. “It was right before ‘Good Will Hunting’ came out, and it was the first moment my life got really surreal,” he said, accepting his award. “Because Calvin Klein gave me a suit, for free. And that was the first time that ever happened.”  “As I was putting it on,” he added, “I realized that if I added up all the money that all the clothes that I’d ever owned in my life were worth, they wouldn’t be worth as much as the suit.”  Mr. Damon went on to thank his wife, children, co-stars and collaborators for letting him lead a life that is a little bit surreal and a lot artistically fulfilling. No word on what happened to the suit.  The director David O. Russell is a dedicated writer. Accepting his career achievement, Mr. Russell revealed that he had written his first screenplay during jury duty in New York. The script for his latest movie, “Silver Linings Playbook,” a likely Oscar contender, went through more than 20 drafts.  David O. Russell is still not keen to revisit this moment. Mr. Birbiglia made a joke about it. Let’s just say Mr. Russell, who presumably had eaten, didn’t find it funny  Moms! More than one winner thanked his mother, though not quite the way Jared Gilman, the 13-year-old co-star of “Moonrise Kingdom,” which won best feature, accepted the prize. “First off, I’d like to thank my mom, for driving me to all those auditions,” he said in a changing voice.  Matt Damon and David O. Russell are probably going to work together soon. (Attention, Republicans.) In his acceptance speech, Mr. Russell said he was hunting for Mr. Damon to star in one of his films. Mr. Damon upped the ante.  “Don’t think I haven’t been hunting you,” he said, addressing Mr. Russell from the podium. “You’re like a wolf, and I’m like Sarah Palin in a helicopter. It’s only a matter of time.”
Memorable moments from the Gothams included Matt Damon's likening himself to Sarah Palin wolf-hunting and the host Mike Birbiglia crowd-sourcing his jokes.