Today’s practice snack is a little game I like to play called “beat the comedian.” Simply we are taking a comedian’s line and trying to come up with alternate punch lines. And, one of those lines may be a better punch line.
The purpose is to build the skill of generating a laugh from any logical phrase or fact. Tomorrow I’ll reveal the the punchline the comedian used. Ready?
As you know from The Laugh Generator, one way to get a laugh is to take the accepted meaning and clarify what you mean. Here is an example from Brian Kiley:
One thing I remember, we used to do something called family night, where we set aside one night a week for each of us to spend a night with a different family.
Family night is typically the night where the family hangs out and plays a game or two, reads a book, or maybe cooks together. In this case Brian took that picture and clarified the meaning of family night for his family.
Here’s your Practice Snack:
“I was my wife’s birth coach” or “My husband was my birth coach”
Try and come up with some responses to line to clarify . Don’t worry whether or not the lines are funny, just do the work. Remember our goal is 10 because of the Rule of 9 from John Vorhaus. John says that for every 9 jokes you come up with, 9 won’t work.
To get started simply start brainstorming and word association on “birth coach” and what it means to be a birth coach. What are the expected actions, phrases, and attitudes. Write down everything you can think of and then write some more.
Next, switch it. What are the inappropriate or unexpected actions, phrases, and attitudes?
Use that material to come up with 10 possible responses to the line. Tomorrow I’ll reveal the the punchline the comedian used. Have fun!
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