It's speech season in this part of the planet. My 11 year old, Max decided to use it as an opportunity to try out his first stand up comedy routine. As luck would have it, I was the practise audience....the test market on a few zingers. We watched a few Youtube videos. I introduced him to Steven Wright who has some of the funniest deadpan lines ever. Good to know Wright made the grade on Max's personal humour meter. Some of his own lines were tossed aside, while others made his final cut. I wish I had a video of him delivering it because I'm sure it was done with his outgoing body language and his great timing.
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What's So Funny?
What came first, the alphabet or that annoying song? Have you ever noticed that it has the same melody as twinkle twinkle little star AND that racist black sheep one? A B C D E F G, H I J K LMNOP…..Baa Baa black sheep have you any wool? See? The same..... Did they run out of tunes at the nursery rhyme factory or something?
Oh no! Now it’s going to be stuck in my head all day long.
You know, some people are interested in money or power. Others want to save the world. Special people spend their lives learning about aliens and cats. Me? I’m fascinated by what so funny. NOT what smells funny. I’ll leave that kind of odorous topic for someone else. I want to know what makes me laugh. More importantly, I want to know what makes YOU laugh. Actually I really don’t care. I’m just trying to be nice….shhhh!
People LOVE someone with a good sense of humour. In fact, they love this more than looks or intelligence. You could be the strangest person in the world, but if you can make people laugh, they will treat you like royalty!
There are many different styles of humour….there’s sarcasm and I KNOW
you’d REALLY enjoy the rest of my speech if I continued on sarcastically now wouldn’t you? NOT!
Then there’s what people call toilet humour….you know when someone makes a funny bodily sound in the middle of the class silently writing a test. WE all crack up over that! C’mon, admit it!! Hey! Did you know the whoopee cushion was invented in Canada? TRUE! What discovery is more important to the universe than a piece of rubber that makes the sound of someone passing gas? The telephone? No. Computers? No. The car? Not even close. None of those things make you laugh and laughter my fellow students is the best way to make friends and influence people. Wouldn’t you rather meet someone who is hilarious than Bill Gates? Ok, I think it would be pretty cool to meet Bill Gates….but I’d much rather spend an afternoon hanging with Will Ferrell.
The most important ingredient needed in your humorous bag of tricks is of course the joke. And if you remember all the words, and tell it with the right emphasis it works beautifully. If you time it right and say the punch line with enthusiasm, you’re guaranteed to get a laugh out of someone. Ok, let’s try it….
Once upon a time there were two muffins in the microwave. Suddenly, one of the muffins says: "Man it's hot in here!!!!" The other muffin shouts….., "Look a talking muffin!!!!"
A wise person once said…well….actually….it was my Mom…. She said that you can always find something humourous every single day. Even when you’re having the worst day ever, you can find something ridiculous about it. This is the kind of humour I like best because its real life and its how I choose to see it. Many stand up comedians like Chris Rock, Gerry Dee, Demetri Martin AND Steve Martin are great at describing the world around them in a very funny way. Jerry Seinfeld makes his living by pointing out the random ordinary events in life that most people don’t even pay attention to.
Here’s an example…..
“Why do they call it a "building"? It looks like they're finished. Why isn't it a "built"?”
His whole TV show was based on his interactions with his friends as they went about living life. It is one of the funniest TV shows in history. He described his show as “the show about nothing” yet we all laughed! WE all can relate to the wacky things that happened because they happen in our ordinary lives too.
So, I would like to end this with something to brighten up your day….either to laugh at or make fun of…..ready??
I went to the FREX last September in the middle of a thunderstorm. The power went out. 20 people were stuck on the Merry Go Round for 3 days.
bada boom!
Oh no! Now it’s going to be stuck in my head all day long.
You know, some people are interested in money or power. Others want to save the world. Special people spend their lives learning about aliens and cats. Me? I’m fascinated by what so funny. NOT what smells funny. I’ll leave that kind of odorous topic for someone else. I want to know what makes me laugh. More importantly, I want to know what makes YOU laugh. Actually I really don’t care. I’m just trying to be nice….shhhh!
People LOVE someone with a good sense of humour. In fact, they love this more than looks or intelligence. You could be the strangest person in the world, but if you can make people laugh, they will treat you like royalty!
There are many different styles of humour….there’s sarcasm and I KNOW
you’d REALLY enjoy the rest of my speech if I continued on sarcastically now wouldn’t you? NOT!
Then there’s what people call toilet humour….you know when someone makes a funny bodily sound in the middle of the class silently writing a test. WE all crack up over that! C’mon, admit it!! Hey! Did you know the whoopee cushion was invented in Canada? TRUE! What discovery is more important to the universe than a piece of rubber that makes the sound of someone passing gas? The telephone? No. Computers? No. The car? Not even close. None of those things make you laugh and laughter my fellow students is the best way to make friends and influence people. Wouldn’t you rather meet someone who is hilarious than Bill Gates? Ok, I think it would be pretty cool to meet Bill Gates….but I’d much rather spend an afternoon hanging with Will Ferrell.
The most important ingredient needed in your humorous bag of tricks is of course the joke. And if you remember all the words, and tell it with the right emphasis it works beautifully. If you time it right and say the punch line with enthusiasm, you’re guaranteed to get a laugh out of someone. Ok, let’s try it….
Once upon a time there were two muffins in the microwave. Suddenly, one of the muffins says: "Man it's hot in here!!!!" The other muffin shouts….., "Look a talking muffin!!!!"
A wise person once said…well….actually….it was my Mom…. She said that you can always find something humourous every single day. Even when you’re having the worst day ever, you can find something ridiculous about it. This is the kind of humour I like best because its real life and its how I choose to see it. Many stand up comedians like Chris Rock, Gerry Dee, Demetri Martin AND Steve Martin are great at describing the world around them in a very funny way. Jerry Seinfeld makes his living by pointing out the random ordinary events in life that most people don’t even pay attention to.
Here’s an example…..
“Why do they call it a "building"? It looks like they're finished. Why isn't it a "built"?”
His whole TV show was based on his interactions with his friends as they went about living life. It is one of the funniest TV shows in history. He described his show as “the show about nothing” yet we all laughed! WE all can relate to the wacky things that happened because they happen in our ordinary lives too.
So, I would like to end this with something to brighten up your day….either to laugh at or make fun of…..ready??
I went to the FREX last September in the middle of a thunderstorm. The power went out. 20 people were stuck on the Merry Go Round for 3 days.
bada boom!
10 comments:
Dana:
I love humor, it's what gets us through life sometimes in the hardest suituations.
I try to laugh every single day mostly at myself.
One day last week I was having one of those days and was talking to Carla our receptionist on my cell, as I got out of the car I started frantically looking and said Oh God Carla I lost my cell phone, in a calm voice she replied I think you talking to me on it.
Mavis
Thats hilarious Mavis! You're such a multi tasker I can see that happening to you! My God, don't be driving and talking on your cell!
I've done that with my sunglasses....and i have a tendancy to tuck a pen above my ear, forget its there and go on a hunt for une stylo.
Laughter.....some of the heartiest laughs have occured during my home visits in the middle of a sad story....I can't imagine life without laughter.
ps. you'd like Max's sense of humour...very dry wit and quick on his feet. He's been cracking up this family since he learned to bounce in his jolly jumper.
one more thing i thought about....Maritimers have the best sense of humour!
I like Max already!
Humor is such a vital part of life .... it helps up heal.
I cannot live without laughter, and personally?
I do my best to ALWAYS smile and laugh.
It really does make life so much nicer!
Ok .... you have some of THE wackiest word verifications I have EVER seen!
Todays gem: thongsigh
Hmmm .....
What an interesting audio/visual! ;)
~ Scarletina
What a lucky young man to have you as his mother! And I love his speech -- except for the Frex line at the end which somehow went right over my head....
N.
Being somewhat younger, Boo and Skibo are stuck on the knock knock jokes. I'm hoping that Boo will soon graduate to the "elephant in cherry tree" series of jokes.
Scarletina....thongsigh? one could take that word and make a few jokes out of it eh?
N. I look at it the other way....it's me who won the lottery. :)
He did consider a few knock knock jokes and we laughed as we tried to make some up.
The FREX? Its the local end of summer carnival? Or was it the punchline you didn't get?
Hey N....the joke was a take on the old escalator joke? The power went out and 20 people were stuck on the escalator for 2 hours. ;)
He sure is a very smart quick "comedian"....It will be interesting to see how he develops--If he continues in the Comic vain....! Eleven...And So Smart!
Naomi....very quick witted. He's always been able to see the absurdity in his world. I look forward to seeing where he heads as he grows up too.
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