Public Speaking and Presentation Skills: The Academy of Communication

A good joke – how to write it and how to tell it

The Hollywood approach to life and jokes
If you find yourself in a café at Venice Beach or Santa Monica, you’ll notice that all the waiters and waitresses look like film stars. Of course, they’re just would-be film stars, waiting to be discovered. But they’re not only would-be film stars, they’re also would-be producers for, alongside their DVD show reel tucked into their jacket pocket is a screenplay. Yes, these young people are going to make it into movies one way or another.

From earliest age, LA kids know how to write a movie. They may not have screen writing courses in first grade but, in a land where every scene in life looks more like a movie than a movie, everyone knows how to write a film. This may be one reason why Californians are so good at telling jokes. They understand that a good joke is constructed just like a movie. A movie has a set-up, where we learn about the lead characters and their situation. This leads into the story proper and we end up with a pay-off, where everything pans out, often in an unexpected fashion. Well, that’s the essence of a good joke.

You start by setting up the situation –
Walking through the jungle, a lone Missionary finds himself confronted by a huge lion
That’s the set up.

He falls to his knees, shuts his eyes and prays –
‘Dear lord, preserve me from this ferocious beast.’
Now we’re into the story.

Hearing no sound from the lion, the Missionary opens one eye and sees that the Lion is also kneeling with his eyes closed, apparently also in prayer.
Now comes the pay off –

The Missionary raises his eyes to heaven and cries: ‘Dear Lord, thank you for delivering me from this ferocious beast!’ To which the lion replies: ‘Delivery nothing – I always say Grace before lunch.’
That’s your unexpected pay-off and that’s what makes the joke.

Ask any of those young waiters and waitresses in LA’s beach-front cafes – they know what makes a good movie and what makes a good joke!

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