On a recent Tuesday night, Bradley Wilkerson stood before a crowd of around 70 people in their twenties and thirties at Vermont Comedy Club, ready to introduce his friend. "Tom is 26 years old. He's a single, straight male," Wilkerson said, cueing up the first slide in a PowerPoint presentation. A bulleted list of fun facts about Tom, who sat in the audience, appeared on a big screen, including "Chronic misplacer of sunglasses and water bottles," "Forklift Certified" and "Allergic to peanuts." "He loves Star Wars. He's seen, like, all of the spin-offs and stuff. So if you want to talk about that, you can," Wilkerson continued, then quickly added, "but if you don't, it's not a deal-breaker." Wilkerson and his girlfriend were hyping their friend Tom Farran at Burlington's first Pitch-a-Friend, where people recommend their single friends as ideal romantic partners in three- to five-minute presentations. Over the course of the night, 10 people presented their friends through slideshows decked out with photos, animations and charts. Melissa Schipke and Ariana Brogan started Pitch-a-Friend in Philadelphia in 2022. The business now has chapters in 33 cities worldwide, from Hong Kong to Boise, Idaho. The events have gained traction among a subset of young people seeking alternatives to dating apps, particularly in-person meetups that foster deeper connections. Comedian Maggie Phelan, 29, brought the event to Burlington. She got the idea after her sister was the subject of a Pitch-a-Friend presentation in Philadelphia, which resulted in a few dates. "On dating apps, I think sometimes we forget that there's an actual person connected to the profile," Phelan said. "But at these events, because it's in person at local bars, it's just an easy way to actually connect with people." Cofounder Schipke told Seven Days that she and Brogan launched Pitch-a-Friend partly to increase foot traffic on slow nights at local breweries. She now hosts the event weekly at venues across Philadelphia, where a lengthy wait list of bars and breweries angle to be the next Pitch-a-Friend host. The business model is similar to that of trivia nights, Schipke said; venues pay a hosting fee but often earn back more through food and drink sales. All Pitch-a-Friend events have a few ground rules: Presentations must be less than five minutes and free of vulgarity and nudity, and they must portray the person in a positive light. "This isn't a roast," Phelan…