I once took a vent friend of mine with me to one of my school shows. This friend watched with interest as I did my 40 minute program and witnessed the routines that I presented to this audience of 400 kids. They roared with laughter at my puppets and the “bits of business” I presented to them, all the while weaving messages throughout about good character and anti-bully traits. After the show and on the ride home my friend mentioned to me how simple I made it for the audience, and how the jokes were presented in a straight forward and entertaining way. I told my friend my secret was keeping it simple! Let me further elaborate on this.

Too many times the set up or informational part of the joke or line is too complicated. Vents tend to want to cram too much background info into the set ups…too much in fact that the audience, especially the kids, can’t remember the information that will later make the joke funny. With too much go remember jokes sometimes fall flat. By working on simplicity you can get more out of your funny lines. I suggest streamlining the set ups so that you can cut to the punchlines with ease. Try not to be too “wordy” and include only info that is necessary so that the joke makes sense.

Remember writing a joke is important, but knowing how to edit a joke is even more important! Take a few minutes and review your routines and see if you can streamline your setups so that the info is smoothly transferred to make the punchline funny! Your audiences will love you for it!

To contact Mark Wade- kidshowvent@gmail.com