Humor Power

Here’s another Observational Humor monologue presented at the end of a Toastmasters meeting.

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

1.  An evaluator illustrated how a speaker could have a stronger call to action, at the end of a speech, by being very vocally assertive.  He over-did his example, realized it, and then said:  “We’ll, maybe not with not that much bombast.”

2.  We have a very diverse membership.  Several speakers that evening shared that English was their second language.

3.  A speaker mocked his own skill level, saying he had the skills of a giant iguana.

4.  A guest, who was a massage therapist, joked that people will often say to her:  “My back is killing me,” looking for a free massage.

5.  A speaker mentioned that he had recently watched a Japanese movie.

6.  People were assigned impromptu speech topics in pairs.  Pam and David were a team, and Pam climbed all over David.  Someone later joked that they were now required to get married.

7.  A speech evaluator used a sign, which was a magician’s prop, at the end of his evaluation.  The words on the sign changed each time he turned it over:  Applause, More Applause, Keep It Up, Thank You.

THE MONOLOGUE

The floor is open to anyone with Observational Humor.  If you have any Observational Humor…you will PRESENT IT NOW!!!
(I delivered the end of the statement with over-the-top energy, which is a great contrast to my normal low-energy style.)

I feel like I’m at a great disadvantage…when I was raised, my first language was English.
(Could be interpreted as self-deprecation.  Could be interpreted as a nonsense reversal of a common theme at the meeting.  A good laugh.)

It’s strange that I’m good at Observational Humor.  When I was young, I had the humor skills of a giant iguana.
(A call back.  Self-deprecation.)

My back is killing me. 
(Walked over to and looked at the guest who was a massage therapist.  I paused an extra long time.  The laughter was delayed, but very strong.)

That was a time-released joke.
(An off-the-cuff observation that was not in my scripted monologue.  I call delayed reaction jokes, Time Released Humor.  Sometimes the delay is expected.  Sometimes it’s a surprise.  In this case I was anticipating the slow reaction.)

Last night I watched a Japanese movie.  I just watched it.  I didn’t listen to it.
(I played with the literal definition of WATCH.)

After I heard that Pam and David are getting married…I realized that if Michael married JD…he would be Michael Smith.
(Played with names.  Both people have the last name Smith.  Getting married would not change their last names.  Anticipating another delayed reaction, I paused and made a facial gesture.  Received a delayed laugh as they processed the joke.)

That concludes tonight’s Observational Humor.  (Held up hand-drawn sign which said APPLAUSE.  A big laugh.)

Super Bowl ads are an event almost as big as the game itself.  Some people take their bathroom breaks during the game so they don’t miss the commercials!

At a $3,000,000 price tag for a 30-second spot, you want your ad to hit the mark.

  – You want people to anticipate watching your ad.  It needs to be entertaining.
  – You want the ad to be memorable.
  – You want people to talk about it afterward.  You want the ad to be viral.

Great humor helps deliver all three.

In recent years, about 80 percent of ads during the Super Bowl have been humor-themed.  And almost always, all of the top-ten ads have featured humor.  In this year’s ad line up 81 percent of ads were humor-themed (factoring out movie promotional ads).

I would assume that the advertisers who bought the most ads on this year’s Super Bowl (Budweiser, Chevrolet, Doritos, Pepsi, Coke, Bridgestone, GoDaddy) and regular advertisers in past years (Career Builder, ETrade) would know about the value of their advertising dollar.  Those advertisers bought over 20 ads this year and all of them had humor themes.   Humor sells.

Common humor themes are:
  – Parties
  – Animals
  – Children and babies
  – And of course the occasional kick-in-the-groin (not my favorite humor vehicle).

Two humor ads which I liked were not rated high on the USA Today popularity list.  They both use a vehicle of “lists” with an “act-out” (a comedy technique where you present a humorous statement and then act it out).  The first one is the Car Max ad #38 on the USA Today list (link provided below).  The list is built on the statement, “I feel like BLANK.”   Each item on the list is followed by an act out.  It’s one of my favorite ads.  The other ad was Cars.Com #21.  The list is built on the theme of “let others go first,” and is a list of humor situations.  I like it.

Another technique I like is when an ad uses a topper.  Just when the commercial appears to be over, another joke based on the theme sneaks up on you.  For an example, see Cars.Com #49.

Link to view Super Bowl ads on USA Today web site.

This post features an analysis of another monologue delivered at the end of a Toastmasters meeting.

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

1.  The meeting was held on the Martin Luther King holiday.  The emcee of the program quoted large parts of King’s I Have A Dream speech.

2.  Frank, the emcee of the evening, had interviewed every speaker for the evening and asked them what was their dream.  He then introduced every speaker on the program and shared their dream.

3.  Normally the Observational Humor Master (me) is introduced by the Master Evaluator.  That evening the Master Evaluator passed control of the meeting back to the emcee without introducing me.  The emcee (Frank) kept the meeting moving by doing my introduction.  He wasn’t planning on doing that introduction, so he didn’t have “a dream” to share for me.

4.  Frank is an over-the-top funny person and a professional entertainer.

5.  Frank is one of my disc golf partners.  He almost always beats me.

6.  A speaker said his dream was to be a porn star.

7.  The word of the day for the meeting was CREED.  The grammarian shared the definition of the word and jokingly suggested that using the word of the day could make us sound more intelligent.

8.  A speaker said that her dream was to be taller.

9.  A speaker talked about future security, and suggested investing in silver.  And getting a gun.

10.  An evaluator noted that a speaker’s manual project suggested using a Rhetorical Device.  He jokingly admitted he didn’t know what that was.

11.  A speaker told of a place, Paragapolis Island, where all the inhabitants were men.  Her dream was to vacation there.

12.  The same speaker mentioned that she had a friend who easily attracted men.  She referred to her as a “boy magnet.”

13.  A speaker told us about a cabbage soup diet.  A negative feature about the diet was that it gave you gas.

THE MONOLOGUE

Did you notice that I’m the only speaker on the program tonight who does not have a dream?
(At the last minute we realized that the Master Evaluator passed control of the meeting to the Emcee without introducing the Observational Humor Master.  I knew that the Emcee had not asked me what my dream was, and suspected that he might just make something up.  That he was going to introduce me took him by surprise and he did a great introduction but left out the part of telling people what my dream was.  I felt that the audience would “get” the fact that I wasn’t introduced with a “dream”…and they did.  Very good laugh.)

I actually do have a dream.  One day I’ll beat Frank in disc golf.
(Self-deprecation, admitting I usually lose when playing Frank in disc golf.)

And Frank has a dream…that one day he’ll be a CORN star.  Dreams do come true.
(Frank is a master of many forms of humor, including corny jokes.  Dreams do come true is a topper.)

Last week I joined a multi-level marketing program for a miracle wrinkle remover.  I have a cream!
(I played with a number of rhyme/sound-alikes for the word dream.  I considered using a LIST as a vehicle for creating the humor, but chose instead to use just the one item for CREAM.  Big laugh.)

The program is seriously about helping people.  We are not motivated by creed.
(Plays with a similar sounding word.  Also provides the setup for the next joke.)

I said that word so I’d sound intelligent.

How to be funny.
1.  Be tall.
2.  Get a gun.
3.  Use a rhetorical device.
(A list of three, each one being a call-back to a different part of the evening.  Good laughs for each item.)

For the women in the audience, before you rush out and buy your plane tickets to Paragapolis Island…realize that there is a reason why only men live there.  Boy magnets.
(Small laugh after Paragapolis Island as they anticipate the punchline.  Boy magnets line provides a strong topper.  Huge laugh.)

And finally, I need to point out a myth.  People have come to believe I sit in the back of the room to help me create humor.  The real reason I sit in the back of the room…cabbage soup.
(A long pause before delivering the punch words.  A huge laugh.)

In this case study we’ll look at building a monologue on a theme.

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

1.  A speaker quoted Shakespeare:  All the world’s a stage…and all the men and women merely players.

2.  I arrive early for the meeting so I can grab my regular back row seat, to the left of the stage.  For observational purposes, I find it valuable to have all the “action” in front of me.  If I were to sit in the middle of the room, some of the speakers, when speaking from their chairs, would be speaking behind me.  My selected chair also happens to be next to an open door which leads to a kitchen.  Before I’m introduced to lead the Observational Humor part of the meeting, I step into the kitchen and loosen up.

3.  A speaker told a well-used joke:  Always pick A.  And always pick B.  But never pick your nose.

4.  A member gave a speech about sports betting.  He talked about the importance of understanding the essentials of betting to give you an edge. “Before you place a bet…make sure you get it!”

THE MONOLOGUE

(Note that observations in the SET-UP never occur, as the meeting unfolds, in the same order as the lines in the monologue.  What happens is that I notice a set-up opportunity.  Then I draft a first-cut effort at a humor line.  About eighty-percent of the way thru the meeting I start to look at my possible humor lines to see if I see a pattern.  I always try to give the monologue some meaningful structure or a theme, if possible.  In this case I saw potential lines that fell into the category of “tips for delivering Observational Humor.”  Here is the monologue segment that resulted.

All the world’s a stage…and all men and women merely humorists.
(Part of the set-up for this opening is that when I opened the floor to observational comments, about ten members contributed approximately 25 humorous observations.)

One of the keys to creating good observational humor is where you sit.  You’ve probably noticed that I always sit in the back corner of the room.
(This is not funny.  I’m using it as a set-up for an upcoming joke.  Some members are expecting every line in the monologue to be funny.  For them, a non-humorous line builds the tension that is set by the anticipation of the payoff.)

Here are three suggestions for being alert and selecting items for observational humor.
(Rule of three.  The first and second one are not funny, continuing to build tension.)

  – Pick something someone said.

  – Or pick something that someone did.

  – But most importantly…never pick my seat.
(Triggers for this joke are, first, a call back to the pick-a-nose joke, but freshening it with a different twist.  Second, it uses alternate word meanings.  In this case, there are TWO words with double meanings, making the joke richer.  PICK and SEAT both have alternate meanings.

And remember this…before you deliver a joke…make sure you get it!
(Common sense advice.  The humor is triggered by using a call back to a phrase which was used three or four times in a speaker’s speech.  The repetitive nature of the phrase was a factor in making it a strong setup.)

Here’s a look at Observational Humor presented after a presentation by Mike Rayburn, professional guitarist, comic, motivational speaker.

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

1.  Guest speaker Mike Rayburn is a professional speaker and entertainer.  He is a very funny guy.

2.  Ben Klink introduced Mike and made reference to something being Sizzling Red Hot, “Like my face.”  The line got a big laugh.

3.  Mike quoted Descartes:  I think…therefore I am.  Then he twisted the phrase for a big laugh.

4.  Mike joked that one of the fun things about having a career as a comic is that you occasionally get to speak to drunk people.

5.  Bobby was a guest from another club.  He is a very funny guy and often kids about stealing other people’s jokes.

6.  As one of his amazing guitar numbers, Mike did a musical parody of Dueling Banjos, where he played a duel between a guitar and a middle-eastern instrument, using only an accoustic guitar.

7.  Mike referred to a genetically modified tomato that even flies won’t eat.

THE MONOLOGUE

Here’s the humor tip for the day.  If you want your humor to be a big hit…volunteer to follow a brilliant, professional comic.
(The joke suggests that the opposite will happen.  It’s saying that following a pro, by comparison, your humor will appear lame.  Self-deprecation.)

That will make your humor sizzling-red-hot…like Ben Klink’s face.
(Ben’s earlier comment received a big laugh.  That made the comment a good target for an Observational Humor joke.)

As I heard Mike speak, I realized:  I’m funny…therefore I am!
(Twisting a cliche to fit my theme of humor.)

I’ve got a great idea to improve our club meetings.  Let’s bring a Keg to each meeting.  And we can speak to drunk people.
(Silly suggestion.  Good laugh.)

Have you met our guest, Bobby?  He’s from another club.  This week he’ll be doing jokes with set-ups written in America and with punchlines written in Baghdad…which will result in jokes that flies won’t laugh at.
(A call back to the musical parody of dueling banjos.  Includes a topper, twisting the reference to what flies will and won’t do.  A huge laugh.)

Here’s an analysis of another Observational Humor monologue.

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

1.  Jeffrey was a guest at the meeting.  When he was introduced he was congratulated for having the courage to sit in the front row.

2.  Ben Klink, our club president, arrived late and missed the opening part of the meeting.  Club officer Ryan Mulligan filled in for him.

3.  Speaker Al Jensen wore an extremely flashy coat.

4.  In that day’s news was the closure of the Liberace Museum.

5.  Speaker Barbel referred to the fact that 30 years ago “she was hot!”

6.  A speaker mentioned losing weight using ankle weights when going to bed.

THE MONOLOGUE

Jeffrey, I hope you enjoyed sitting in the front row.  It’s now time for the Observational Humor part of the meeting…so we’re ready to pass out the plastic sheets.
(The joke implies that the Observational Humor part of the meeting gets wild, like a Gallagher program.)

Ben, since you were late to the meeting…we gave you a Mulligan.
(Using a reference from golf where a person gets a second chance by taking a “mulligan.”)

Al Jensen’s wardrobe was made possible by this morning’s closing of the Liberace Museum.
(Al’s coat was an obvious target for humor.  Connecting it to the day’s news was effective.  Big laugh.)

Barbel, you and I should have met 30 years ago…when we were both hot.
(Self-deprecation.  Implies that I’m no longer hot.)

Going to bed with ankle weights is like sleeping with a Bar Bell.  Which is always good for losing two pounds.
(Use of name play and a sound-alike word, Bar Bell and Barbel.  The joke which proceeded it [thirty years ago] was part of the set up by using her name.  Huge laugh.  The laugh was so big, I forgot to deliver the topper.)

Let’s look at some Observational Humor from a monologue at the end of a PowerHouse Pros Toastmaster meeting.

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

1.  A guest introduced herself to the club as Short, Fat and Adorable.

2.  A speaker used a math game to direct audience members to arrive at a “free choice” of DENMARK and ELEPHANT.

3.  A speaker said that when he was in Japan someone gave him a gift of 40,000 Yen.

4.  A speaker shared the insight that “Things happen for a reason.”

5.  Randy told us about a woman where he works who is really weird.  She’s looking for a man, and Randy said he would protect us.)

6.  The word of the day for the meeting was GOOMBA.  The grammarian took several minutes to introduce the word.

7.  In a speech on robots, a speaker referred to a Roomba, an automated vacuum cleaner.

8.  A speaker talked about asserting his masculinity and mentioned the TV series The Sopranos.

9.  A speaker shared a cheer used at a High School basketball game when he was younger.  “Lets Go!  Lets Go!  L-E-T-S-G-O!  Lets Go!”

THE MONOLOGUE

My name is John Kinde.  I’m tall, skinny and adorable.  Well…two out of three isn’t bad.
(Self deprecation.  A punchline followed by a topper.  The topper, two out of three, implies that I’m not adorable…since it’s not debatable that I’m tall and skinny.  Although I prefer thin or slender, skinny is a funnier word choice.)

Take your age.  Multiply it by 27.  Now take the cube root of that number and add it to the weight of a Danish Elephant.  The next step is to wake up your neighbor.
(The-weight-of-a-Danish-Elephant is the first punchline.  And wake-up-your-neighbor is a topper.  You feel that the joke is over…and boom, down comes the topper.  As a good topper should, it received a bigger laugh than the line that set it up.)

I’ve travelled in Japan.  An interesting thing is their pay telephones.  I was making a call, and was interrupted by the operator who said:  “For the next three minutes…please deposit 40,000 yen.”
(It’s a funny way of saying “40,000 Yen isn’t as much as it sounds like.”  Which is true, but it IS more than $450 at today’s exchange rates, which is not pocket change.)

Things happen for a reason.  That’s a profound insight.  Like, when you tell a joke and nobody laughs…there’s a reason.
(A call back to a wisdom sound bite sets up a punchline which merely states the obvious.)

This past weekend I dated this really weird woman.  Then I found out she works with Randy.
(Dropping myself into someone else’s story.  I set up the fact that the woman was strange, then I linked her to Randy’s story.)

Let me conclude by answering some of your burning questions.
(Using the Answer Man format, giving the answer first and then providing the question.)

The first answer is:  A Goomba.
The question is:  What do you call a Roomba which is owned by a Gomer.
(Using a dated pop culture reference to Gomer Pyle, who played an unsophisticated country person on the Andy Griffith Show.  A GOMER is sometimes a slang term for rube.)

As a side note:  The word of the day for the next meeting will be Lutefisk.  It’s not related to Goomba…except that it also takes 5-7 minutes to explain what it is.
(I stepped away from the Answer Man vehicle for an aside on the Word of The Day.  Earlier in the meeting the introduction of the word of the day was noticeably long.  Normally it would be about 30 seconds.  That evening it was possibly three minutes.  I was guessing that it would be a good target of a joke.  And I was right.  It got a very big laugh.  I exaggerated by referring to a time frame of a typical speech at a Toastmasters meeting, 5-7 minutes.  Lutefisk is a Norwegian fish dish.  I just picked it as a random, obscure, funny-sounding word.)

The next answer is:  Become a soprano.
The question is:  What is an unlikely way to assert your masculinity.
(My intention was to refer to an alternate word meaning for soprano…a singing voice, usually female, in the high register.)

Well, the meeting is almost over so, Let’s Go, Let’s Go… L-E-T-S-G-O…Let’s Go!
(The cheer was a good way to close the monologue.)

Here is another Observational Humor Monologue.

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

1.  A speaker told a story of locking her keys in the car.  She had recently made a new friend, Beverly, at a Toastmasters meeting.  She rode her bicycle to Beverly’s house to get help with her lock-out situation.

2.  The word of the day was PHLEGMATIC, meaning sluggish, calm, un-flappable, or causing phlegm.

3.  The emcee was dressed in the same colored suit as Frank.  He introduced Frank as “my brother…from another mother.”

4.  A speaker said that she finally opened her Toastmasters Manual after looking at it for months.

5.  Dana used the Question-Man vehicle to present some of his Observational Humor.  He provided the answer first and then announced the question.

6.  A speaker said that his air conditioner broke and he fixed it for thirty-one cents.

7.  The person critiquing proper grammar for the meeting, referred to her job as looking for “grammical errors.”

8.  A speaker described her back yard which was used for the pool, sun bathing, trampolining and swinging on a swing set.  She mentioned that the man next door could watch her sun bathe.

9.  A speaker gave an impromptu speech about being a Thunder From Down Under dancer.  That’s a male exotic dance troupe from Australia similar to the Chippendales.

THE MONOLOGUE

I want everyone to say “Hi Beverly!”
Beverly is our friend.
(looking at Beverly)  Where do you live?
(This uses the Drop-Yourself-Into-The-Story technique.  In this case I’m dropping the entire audience into the story.  My intent was for the audience to say “Hi Beverly.”  They surprised me by also repeating “Beverly is our friend.”  I thought “Oh, Oh.”  I didn’t want them to repeat the punchline of “Where do you live?”  After the punchline I wanted laughter…not another repeat-after-me line.  So I paused.  I made solid eye contact with Beverly.  And I clearly asked the question: “Where do you live?”  It is an implied punchline, suggesting that we would show up at her home when we needed help.  It worked perfectly and received a huge laugh.)

If you look up PHLEGMATIC in the dictionary, you’ll find my picture.  Whenever I tell a joke…people go…ahem (lightly clearing my throat).
(A bit of self-deprecation in two ways.  It possibly implies I’m slow moving.  It also implies that audiences might question the appropriateness of my humor.  A very big laugh.)

My personalized license plate says:  PHLEGM
(Another link to the Word Of The Day.)

Frank is my brother…from another dimension.  That’s why we don’t dress alike.
(Frank is a good friend.   Except for both being funny, we are very different people.  A call-back provided the opportunity to refer to our attire.  He was nicely dressed in a suit and tie.  I was very casual, wearing a denim shirt and tennis shoes.)

Two days ago I opened my Toastmasters Manual for the first time.  I figured after 37 years…it was about time.
(Linking my long-time in Toastmasters to “finally” opening my manual.)

Since Dana presented some Question-Man Answers, I thought it would be appropriate that I closed with some of them.
(I was planning on doing the Question-Man format bits before I heard Dana do his.  But saying this gave the appearance that I decided to do them on the spur of the moment…the illusion of spontaneity.)

The Answer is:  A temporary fix.
The Question is:  What do you call a thirty-one-cent air conditioner repair?
(A perfect joke based on “you get what you pay for.”  A very big laugh.)

The Answer is:  A mistake made by a grandmother.
The Question is:  What is a grammical error.
(When she mis-pronounced the word, I heard an audible reaction from the audience.  Since I knew that the audience had noticed the error, it made it a target for humor.)

The Answer is:  Something you do in a house with a pool.
The Question is:  What is swinging.
(Plays with the double meaning of the word SWINGING.)

The Answer is Gas-Ex.
The Question is:  What will prevent Thunder from Down Under?
(A funny call back which got a huge laugh.  Use a joke like this with caution.  It’s a bodily-function joke which I’d never use for a corporate audience.  With an audience of friends, and delivering it as an implied joke, I felt it was safe.  But if you’re ever in doubt about a joke, leave it out.)

I presented a Humor Workshop at a Las Vegas Toastmasters club.  The format of the meeting was a regular TM meeting (business session, impromptu speeches, prepared speeches, and evaluations).  Following the normal meeting, I presented an Observational Humor monologue and then a Humor Workshop.

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

1.  The meeting was advertised as a Humor Workshop.

2.  During the business meeting, there was an extended discussion about the purchase of a portable lectern for the club.

3.  Club meetings often begin with the Pledge of Allegiance.

4.  Diane Hunter was dressed with Red-White-and-Blue accents.

5.  A speaker said that the greatest fear was speaking in public.

6.  Someone mentioned the cliche of people “laughing their pants off.”

7.  A quote from Darren LaCroix:  If we improved our speaking skills one percent every day, after seventy days we’d be twice as good a speaker as we are today.

8.  I was presenting a humor workshop for the Lunatics Toastmasters club.

9.  S Frank Stringham is one of the club members.  He is a bigger-than-life, comedic entertainer.

10.  S Frank Stringham, presented some humor thoughts while sharing some printed comic strips with the audience.

THE MONOLOGUE

Welcome to the Portable Lectern Workshop.
(Implied that the main purpose of the meeting was to talk about Portable Lecterns, not to present a humor workshop.)

If we’re ever missing an American flag…we can pledge allegiance to Dianne Hunter.
(I asked Dianne to stand before I delivered the line.  Her standing was part of the setup to the joke, making sure people knew how she was dressed.)

Speaking in public is said to be one of life’s greatest fears.  That’s not true.  The greatest fear is actually trying to be funny and having people just stare at you.  Or trying to be serious and having people laugh at you.
(A simple observational twist.)

My greatest fear is when I present my humor, that people will laugh their pants off.  Please don’t!
(This is a topper, riding on the coat tails of the previous joke.)

If you become one percent funnier each day for 70 days, you’ll become twice as funny.  Of course if you aren’t funny at all…you still won’t be funny.
(Stating a not-so-obvious truth.)

Many people, when they come to a Toastmasters meeting for the first time, expect to see us presenting toasts.  When people come to Lunatics for the first time, they expect to get mooned.  When I found out that S Frank was a member, I was expecting a full moon.  That would be like watching a comic strip!
(I set up the joke series by stating a common misconception about Toastmasters clubs, that we do toasts.  I then used the root from Lunatics, Lunar, Moon to set up the first joke.  The first topper linked S Frank to the Lunatics club name.  The second topper played with the double meaning of “comic strip.”)

Here are some examples of Observational Humor presented at the end of a meeting.  Included are the set-up, the observational joke, and some comments about the structure of the joke.

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

1.  As the club President transitioned into the educational part of the meeting, she said:  “And now without further ado…”

2.  A speaker said that she hated to be called on for impromptu speeches, called Table Topics.  Her strategy was to volunteer each meeting for the role of Speech Evaluator.  Normally, if you have a significant role in the meeting, you are not called on for Table Topics.

3.  A speaker said that it would be easy to play the role of Scotty on Star Trek.  He then delivered the line:  “Captain, I can’t give it any more.  I’m giving it all I can.”  He struggled to deliver it in a Scotty-style accent.  He then made the observational remark, “Well maybe that’s harder than it looks!”  He was using self deprecation, poking fun at his poor impersonation.  Huge laugh.

4.  The emcee of the meeting was Pam Shinkle.  She announced the meeting theme of Star Trek and was wearing a Star Trek uniform.  Her partner’s name is Bryant Pergerson.

5.  Erin Pavlina, outgoing club President, presented a Roast of club members in the format of Carnacks (giving the answer first and then providing the question).

6.  Erin is a well-known intuitive psychic advisor.

7.  A speaker told of making a bad batch of cookies because she used baking soda instead of baking powder.

8.  We were told that our grammarian sleeps with a dictionary under his pillow.

THE MONOLOGUE

Ado Ado Ado…and now without further Ado.
(Poking fun at a cliche phrase sometimes used at meetings.)

I don’t like to be called on for Table Topics.  That’s why I always volunteer for the role of Observational Humor Master.
(A humorous explanation of why I normally lead the Observational Humor portion of the meeting.)

If one of the monologue jokes isn’t funny, just remember…this is harder than it looks.
(Self deprecation.  Implies that not all of my jokes will work.)

And welcome to the Enterprise, commanded by Captain Pam Shinkle…where no man has gone before.  With the possible exception of Bryant Pergerson.
(A joke and a topper.  Big laugh.)

I thought of presenting my observations in the format of Carnacks.  But good judgment tells me not to engage in Dualing Carnacks with a psychic.
(Good link between the Carnack format and the psychic profession.)

I figured out what was wrong with my first relationship…too much baking soda.
(An absurd statement which is funny.)

I’ve never slept with a dictionary.  Although I did have a one-night-stand with a thesaurus.  Actually I’ve had more than one…but I’ve learned to describe each one with different words.
(A joke and a topper.  I actually thought of the topper driving home from the meeting, and didn’t actually deliver it at the meeting.)