Please!
Don’t make me listen to another pun.
Sometime, somewhere, someone started writing vent scripts using puns.
Puns became the staple of many ventriloquist acts.
Some vents I’ve seen do nothing but puns.
Puns and groaners.
Pun after pun after pun. And they consider that comedy.
It gets a chuckle. It gets a groan. But do you really want just a few chuckles or groans?
That said – I do use two puns in my act.
Both are delivered by me.
Which makes my puppet do a slow burn, turning his head in disbelief to look at me.
And everyone starts laughing, at him, because they feel exactly what he appears to. And they roar when he responds to them by saying:
“What the heck is wrong with you?” for the first and
“I will kick your butt …” the second time.
And why do his lines get a huge laugh? They aren’t puns. The puns only get the chuckle or groan.
These lines pull the laugh because everyone in the audience feels the same way.
Entertainment has changed since Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. Heck, it has changed within the last decade. Stuff that used to be considered funny is not anymore.
Yet ventriloquists (and jugglers and magicians) tend to fall back on stock jokes that don’t pull the laughs they did years ago.
Have you watched a comedian lately? I’m going to share one.
Listen to the delivery.
Do you hear any puns?
Analyze what makes this funny.
That’s right – you have to work if you want to draw laughs.
Figure out why he is getting the laughs and you will have a better understanding about how to develop your material into something even stronger!
