Humor Power

Learning to Laugh When You Feel Like Crying
by Alen Klein

An excellent book helping you to benefit from the therapeutic use of humor to handle stressful situations.  In addition to helping someone cope with the death of a loved one, it would also be a valuable book for dealing with other forms of loss.   Loss of a job.  Loss of a relationship.  Loss of health.

The book is divided into five sections:  Losing, Learning, Letting Go, Living and Laughing.  The content is delivered in bite-sized pieces which make it easy-to-read and also adaptable to being read in a daily-devotional format, allowing you to reflect and implement a tip-a-day.  It’s also sprinkled with dozens of uplifting quotes from well-known people in the field of self-help.

Allen is an award-winning author and speaker.  I loved the book.  It was inspiring, fun, and motivating.  Highly recommended.

 And Here’s the Kicker
by Mike Sacks

The book features 21 interviews with top humor writers.  Although you’ll probably recognize some of the writers (Dave Barry, Dick Cavett, Al Jaffee), it’s likely that you won’t immediately recognize many of the writers’ names , unless you’re a person who is glued to the credits at the end of a TV show or movie. 

Each writer’s interview is introduced with a one-page biography which will impress you and put the writer’s experience into perspective.  Although some of the names will be new to you, they are the magic behind-the-scenes, responsible for dozens shows you will recognize and love.  Lots of great insights into the craft of writing humor from experts in the trade.

The book includes a six part segment on, Quick and Painless Advice for the Aspiring Humor Writer (finding an agent, getting published, getting a writing job, etc.).

A lengthy book filled with insights for the serious student of humor.  Highly recommended.

After the 2011 Academy Awards broacast, I received a note from Jan Fair, a talented actor, author of more than 50 books, and long-time friend.  She writes:

“I liked your newsletter this month [Time-Released Humor].  It had relevance to David Seidler’s Oscar acceptance speech for Best Original Screenplay for The King’s Speech.   Richly deserved, I might add.

“He definitely used Time-Released Humor, giving the audience time to laugh when he opened with, ‘My father always said to me I would be a late bloomer.’  (He’s 71 and had never even been nominated for an Oscar…although I thought he should have been in 1988 for Tucker.)   It took a moment for the audience to ‘get it’ and he gave them time to laugh.   When the laughter subsided he then he went on to explain saying, ‘I believe I am the oldest person to ever receive this award.’  I also loved that he then said, ‘I hope this record will be broken quickly and often.’

Jan continued:  “David really used a “hard” set-up  when he said, ‘I would like to thank her majesty the Queen for not putting me in the Tower of London for using the Melissa Leo F-word.’  Only a few minutes earlier the audience exploded with laughter when she had been BLEEPED for saying the F-bomb as she accepted her Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for her role in The Fighter.  (She was brilliant in the role.)   And, if you’ve seen The King’s Speech, you’d know he had a lot of F-bombs in his script.”

Thank you Jan for your keen observations on the Oscar’s program.  Humor is certainly something that keeps the awards program alive and ties things together.  The program humor generally comes in two forms:  Scripted and Spontaneous.  Much effort goes into the program opening, which is usually presented in the form of skits, film clips, musical parody, or monologue.  But the highlight of the evening to me is the spontaneous humor sprinkled throughout the program.  This often takes the form of Observational Humor remarks made by the host, presenters and recipients.

Billy Crystal, eight-time oscar host, is one of my favorites emcees.  In my book, his 1992 Oscar night performance stands out as the best.  My favorite Observational Humor moment that evening was when Crystal recognized Hal Roach, American film producer and director, who had recently celebrated his 100th birthday.  Mr Roach rose from his seat and made some impromptu comments which could not be heard by most people because he had no microphone.  When the camera panned back to Crystal he said:  “I think that’s fitting, after all, Mr. Roach started in silent film.”

It’s hard to top the power of spontaneous, observational humor.

It’s time for our Cartoon Caption Contest for the month of March.  We feature the art of professional cartoonist Dan Rosandich.

New Cartoon Caption Contests are announced at the start of the month (alternating months).

New Joke Contests are announced at the start of the month (alternating months).  The next Joke Contest is April 1, 2011.

Here is the cartoon:

Write as many captions as you can.  Then select your best three captions and submit them.  You can submit more than three lines, the extra lines will be eligible for honorable mention.  Only your first three lines will be judged by our panel of judges for first, second and third place.

Select and submit your best entries, and your city/state/country, by March 15, 2011, to HumorPowerTips@HumorPower.com

Visit cartoonist Dan Rosandich who has an extensive and in-depth archive of categorized cartoons and cartoon pictures available for licensing at negotiable fees.

A technique for creating funny cartoon captions is to think BEFORE & AFTER.

For example, let’s look at my winning New Yorker cartoon caption from a couple of years ago.

You’re in trouble when we get to the bicycles.

Sol Morrison, from Santa Barbara, writes:  “The primate is daring the fish to do well in the bike part of race.  He is looking AHEAD of what we (the viewers) see.  He invites us to think and look ahead to a Funny Visual of a Fish on a bicycle.   The humor is future-oriented.  Cartoon caption writers should think ahead.  Try to extend the action in given cartoon challenge:  What could happen next?  What might happen in next panel, logically or illogically?  Don’t lock in to what is literally given in the visual.  Extend into absurdity.  Move the story along, like motion pictures, like life.  Everyone moves on!”

Sol is a player with the Santa Barbara Improv.  Improv players understand the  principle of BEFORE & AFTER.  An improv scene never starts and ends on the performance stage.  If a player “starts” a scene by walking on stage, that isn’t really where the scene begins.  That player is coming from some place and some activity.   That player has a history he or she brings to the scene.  In the case of the New Yorker cartoon, the single panel has a history too.  The cartoon is in the middle of an activity.  Before the snapshot of the drawing, the man and the fish started a triathalon and completed the swimming event.  That’s the BEFORE part of the creativity process.  Ask the question, “as I look at the cartoon, what happened just before this picture took place?”

The AFTER part of the creativity process is where you ask, “what is going to happen next?”  In this case, at the next transition station, the bicycles await.

So as Sol suggests, don’t let your creativity get tunnel vision.  See something bigger than the “picture.”  Be sure to explore what happened BEFORE & AFTER the picture.  And combine that with your other cartoon caption writing tools.  It will give you more options to make your humor connections.

Shapen your skills by entering the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest (weekly) and the Humor Power Cartoon Caption Contest (bi-monthly).

It’s time for the results of our January Cartoon Caption Contest.  We feature the art of professional cartoonist Dan Rosandich.

New Cartoon Caption Contests are announced at the start of the month (alternating months).

New Joke Contests are announced at the start of the month (alternating months).   The next Joke Contest is February 1, 2011.

Here are the top entries selected by our panel of nine judges (speakers and improv players).

** FIRST PLACE **

As you can clearly see there’s no extra income for an allowance increase at this time.
     Sandy Kampner, Evergreen Park, Illinois, USA

** SECOND PLACE **

Nice try Marsha, but this is a Spanish lesson.
     Les Harden, Brisbane, Australia

** THIRD PLACE **

This is like a check book:  The bottom part is what you think you have, and the top part is what the bank says you have.
     Jim Nott, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

HONORABLE MENTION (in random order)

  – I don’t care if you are practicing Lawyer Billing. Give me the straight answer.
  – I’m really not a math teacher, I just play one on TV.
  – Only Congress is allowed to add things up like this!
  – Of course you’ll use this in real life.
  – What’s long division?  You didn’t bring your calculator?
  – An additional numerator gets you closer to completing your denominator.
  – It’s as easy as wearing color coordinated outfits.
  – This is the number of pounds I gained during the holidays this year…divided by how many days I have left to lose those pounds before next year’s holiday season.
  – It really depends how you look at it, doesn’t it?
  – Do what I always do with a toughie like that; first, roll up your sleeves…
  – Oh, I’d say it’s 0.98367346939.  Of course, that’s just an estimate.
  – Yes, it has to be a rational number.  What’s irrational is that you think I’d know it.
  – Long division doesn’t refer to the process, but rather, the face on its solver.
  – Add four more to the numerator and I think I can tackle it.
  – So try to visualize an example: Say you own 245 chickens, and they find 234 worms and then find 7 more; how many will each chicken eat if they are all sharing?

  - I’ll admit that Kindergarten Calculus can be a bit intimidating.
  – The answer is your new smart phone password.
  – The quadratic sum of the two numbers divided by the square root of the mean, subtracted by the exponential derivative and you would be right, HOWEVER in this case you are wrong!
  – It’s an imaginary number, like the amount of time you spend on math homework.
  – When you’re dealt five low cards you’ll always beat the dealer.
  – No, you can’t have multiple choice.
  – Even though your mother says, “women are always right,” it’s still wrong!
  – Of course boys think girl mathematicians are sexy.
  – That’s my phone number; it’s a party line.
  – Yes, that’s one way to write your phone number.
  – So, if you have 234 apples and you add 7 apples, and then you divide by 245 oranges, how many bananas do you have?

Visit cartoonist Dan Rosandich who has an extensive and in depth archive of categorized cartoons and cartoon pictures available for licensing at negotiable fees.

I recently read two great books on humor, and I recommend them both to you.  Born Standing Up, by Steve Martin; and Growing Up Laughing, by Marlo Thomas.

Both books are inspirational, funny and touching.  And they are both a reminder of how “overnight success” is usually preceded by twenty years of hard work.

Born Standing Up gives us a look into the mind of a humor master. 

One of the insights he shares:  “I believed it was important to be funny now, while the audience was watching, but it was also important to be funny later, when the audience was home and thinking about it.  I didn’t worry a bit if I got no response, as long as I believed it had enough strangeness to linger.”

Jerry Seinfeld described Born Standing Up as “one of the best books about comedy and being a comedian ever written.”

Growing Up Laughing shares not only the wisdom of Marlo Thomas, but also is filled with interviews of top people in the comedy business:  Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Cosby, Alan Alda, Joan Rivers, Robin Williams, and many more.

Marlo shares:  ”Stand up comedy doesn’t require value judgments… it’s all about the score.  You get laughs or you don’t.”  Unlike giving a motivational speech, where you can believe people are being motivated, when you’re presenting humor, either you’re funny or you’re not.  The feedback is black and white.

Both the books are engaging, fun to read, and filled with insights that will help you understand the art and science of humor.

These links will take you to Amazon.  Born Standing Up, by Steve Martin.  Growing Up Laughing, by Marlo Thomas.

I attended a magician’s convention in October.  It opened with a panel of four, top comedy magicians which included Tom Mullica, famous for his Tom Foolery night club in Atlanta and his tribute to Red Skelton performed in Branson Missouri.  He said his favorite funny-man was George Carl.  Tom sent me a link of a George Carl performance on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.  It’s brilliant physical comedy.

When you watch a performance like this, it’s unlikely that you’ll be thinking, “How can I do a performance like that?”  The question to ask is, “Even though the performer’s style is unlike mine and is nothing I would want to totally adapt, how can I learn something that might be applicable to what I do?”

Here are a few things that stood out to me:

Use of music to enhance program.  He uses music throughout.  Notice how he uses music to open his set.  He uses it to announce his arrival.  The dignified fanfare sounds…then the vaudeville clown enters.  The contrast helps set the scene for comedy.  The drummer immediately goes into rim-shots to accent his performance.  Lesson learned:  A performer should explore the use of music to enhance his or her performance and message.  It might be singing a song.  It might be to set the tone for your entrance.  It might only be to engage the audience before you are introduced to speak, as part of your pre-performance package.

The power of physical movement.  Notice the impact of his facial expressions, his arm and hand gestures, his overall flexibility.  He uses physical gestures to respond to and connect to the audience.  We all have the ability to add just a degree more physicality to our own performances.

The implied punchline.  This is one of my favorite techniques.  Twice he looks at his watch and then continues the physical action on which he was focused.  The unspoken punchline is, “Have I killed enough time doing this yet?”  As a magician, I can see this type of gag working while shuffling cards.  Look at your watch.  Continue shuffling the cards.

What will you notice in George Carl’s performance that you could apply to your’s?  I’m sure you can identify at least one thing, and probably more.

Here’s the link to the video of George Carl on the Tonight Show.

The theme for this month’s contest, Music On Hold, was suggested by Sol Morrison from Santa Barbara.

New Joke Contests are announced at the start of the month (alternating months).

New Cartoon Caption Contests are announced at the start of the month (alternating months).  The next Cartoon Caption Contest will be announced November 1, 2010.

Your challenge this month is to name a company or business and then decide what would be the perfect “music on hold” for their voice mail system.

Here are some examples:

Plumber:  Cry Me a River.
Arrow Shirts:  I’m Too Sexy For My Shirt.
A dating agency to help women find men:  It’s Raining Men.
US Treasury Department:  Money, Money, Money.

Create as many lines as you can.  Your first three lines will be considered for Top-Three recognition.  Lines submitted beyond your first three will be eligible for Honorable Mention.  Please submit your entries by October 15, 2010.  Send them to HumorPowerTips@HumorPower.com

Select the right place to perform your humor.  Say no to requests which are not a fit for you.

Last week I attended an open-mike comedy night (as a spectator) and was reminded how difficult a performing situation can be when the fit isn’t right.

It was an amateur comedy show at a night club.  It was amateur in the sense that the performers were not paid.  Most of the comedy performed was quite good.  Some of it was excellent.

The venue was a nice, modern, clean night club packed with more than 100 people.  The crowd was a good, professional group of people who were there to meet friends.  It was not a bunch of drunks.

The problem with the venue was that it was not a comedy club.  Most of the people had NOT come to watch a stand-up comedy show.  They had come with the intention of meeting friends and talking.  So during the show, two-thirds of the crowd engaged in conversation while the other third strained to hear the comics over the buzz of the crowd. 

When the show started, I was standing in the back of the room and found it impossible to understand the performers.  From a performer’s point of view, it was not a pretty picture.  Funny material was lucky to get just a titter from the front row of tables.  I moved to a seat at one of the tables close to the stage.

What was being offered was not a match for what the audience was expecting.  It was like singing opera in a room filled with people who came to watch wrestling.

It’s been about thirty years since I performed in a stand-up comedy club.  I didn’t realize at the time how fortunate I was to have a real comedy club to perform in.  People came to watch comedy and when the show started, they stopped what they were doing and paid attention to what was happening on stage.  The comics still needed to be funny, but at least they had an environment where being funny was possible.

If you’re ever going to give stand-up comedy a try, I highly recommend not commiting to a performance until you first visit the venue to see what a typical open-mike night looks like.  What is the stage like?  How is the sound and lighting?  How about the crowd?  Are the performers having fun?  Or are they shaking their heads in frustration?  If experienced comics are struggling to connect with the audience, would a novice have a chance?  Does it look like a place where you would have fun performing?  If not, look for a better venue.

The attitude of caution applies to all speaking opportunities.  Avoid those which are not a fit for you.

  – Speaking to the wrong audience is not good.  For example speaking on a liberal topic to a conservative audience is probably a bad fit, or visa versa.

  – Speaking in a room not properly equipped with a speaking platform, sound or lights, might not be fun.

  – Speaking outdoors, especially doing humor outside, is often a no-laugh situation.

  – Speaking to an audience who was not expecting a speech, is sometimes not a good situation. 

  – As you attend the School of Hard Knocks, you’ll have some bad speaking experiences which you can add to your avoidance list.

Go into every speaking challenge with your eyes open.  Try to commit only to assignments which give you a good possibility of success.  And remember that in a bad situation, part of the crowd is aware of the challenges you face.  The other part of the crowd is totally unaware of how bad the speaking situation is.  Neither group needs to be reminded by the speaker how awful things are.  So when you find yourself in a bad situation, smile, give them your best, and don’t let them see you sweat.  Some of the audience understand and will enjoy your performance, and the rest of them won’t even know you’re there.  Any lack of response is, most likely, not a reflection on you.

Learn from every experience and you’ll be a better speaker the next time the platform or the audience challenges you.

Contest Observations — The Perfect Pet

What one person finds funny is not the same as the next person.  My favorite line was not picked as a top-three line by the judges.  That doesn’t mean anyone is right or wrong.  That’s just the way it is.  Humor is subjective.

There is more than one angle to a joke.  Just as there are a variety of ways to approach creating a joke…there are just as many ways to receive and “get” a joke.  Not everyone does it the same way.

Let’s look at some of the connections and triggers that helped people write lines for The Perfect Pet.

Key Words:  Words associated with a group or profession.
Stand-up comedian:  Hamster (key word HAM)
Comic:  Mockingbird (key word MOCK)
Bowler:  Alley Cat (key word Bowling ALLEY)
Weight lifter:  Mussels (key word MUSCLES)

Fork (sub-category)
A musician:  A doe, a deer, a female deer (sub-category of DEER–Doe)
Bill Gates:  70 billion male Deer (sub-category of DEER–Buck)

Non-Animals (insects and fish)
Tall fathers:  Daddy long legs (Spider)
Wig fitter:  Heron (Fish)

Non-Animals (but sounds like animal)
Chiropractor:  Charlie Horse
Candy maker:  Chocolate Moose

Similar Sounds
Shakespearian actor:  Two bees (TO BE)
Impatient Uncle:  Antelope (AUNT ELOPE)
Wig fitter:  Heron (HAIR ON)
Master of no trades:  Jackal (JACK OF ALL)

Adding a topper
Shakespearian actor:  Two bees, or not
Noah:  Aardvark, in pairs

Cliche
Shakespearian actor:  Two bees (To be or not to be)
Circus ringmaster:  Dog and Pony (Dog and pony show)
Someone standing on the other side of the road:  A chicken (uses chicken joke cliche)

Implied punchline
Sitcom Producer:  Hyena in a trash can (Canned Laughter–a little work is required on the part of the listener)
Pear farmer:  Partridge (the connector word TREE is not mentioned)
Lingerie designer:  Zebra (Z is an implied cup size)

Song Lyrics
A musician:  A doe, a deer, a female deer (Do Re Mi)
Pear farmer:  Partridge (12 Days of Christmas)

Word with double meaning
Dermatologist:  Mole
CIA Agent:  Mole

Action verb
Boxer:  Slug

Physical object
A baseball player:  A bat
Construction worker:  Crane

Reversal/Palindrome
Dyslexic God:  Dog