Humor Power

Here’s another monologue and analysis.  It was presented at the end of a Toastmasters meeting.

THE SET-UP (What happened and what was said during the meeting, before the monologue was delivered.)

1.  Our club President opened the meeting with a toast.

2.  We had two guests who appeared to be about 16 years old.

3.  Ryan and David are two members in their early 20s.

4.  Our emcee for the evening announced the meeting theme:  “Kicking Bad Habits.”

5.  A speaker opened a quote starting with:  “Einstein once said…”

6.  A speaker gave a talk on The Science of Prime Numbers.

7.  A speaker gave a speech based on the book Love Languages.

8.  In an impromptu speech Barbel mentioned watching the “adult channel” in her bedroom.

THE MONOLOGUE

I’ve been in Toastmasters for 36 years.  This is the first time I’ve seen a toast.  My life is complete.
(Irony.  One would expect that Toastmasters would always be doing toasts.  “My life is complete” is a topper.)

It’s great to see our young visitors tonight.  I’m especially happy they’re here, because Ryan and David can see what it feels like to be old men.
(This joke is a reversal.  Turning young people into old people.  Very good laugh.)

When Krista announced the theme of Kicking Bad Habits, I thought she said Kinking Bad Habits.  I thought that was strange, because that is the theme for next week.
(A joke based on a sound-alike word.  I suspected that I wasn’t the only one who heard “kinking” and I was right.  The “next week line” was a topper.)

Einstein once said:  “The person who can explain the science of prime numbers is not a nerd.  The person who can explain the science of prime numbers is a nerd squared.”
(Joke, topper, topper.  The first laugh line was “Einstein once said.”  Squaring the nerd fit the theme of the speech and was an alternate way of saying Super-Nerd.)

I’m writing a book on Love Languages.
     Flashing
     Drooling
     And heavy breathing
(A parody of the original book.  A huge laugh.)

Which reminds me to announce that after the meeting, there’s a party…at Barbel’s.  I’ll be taking notes for my book.
(A perfect closer.  The topper is a callback.)

This entry was posted on Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 6:46 am and is filed under Case Studies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.