Worick - Jokes Every Woman Should Know

2013 by Quirk Productions, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Number:
2012938102

eISBN: 978-1-59474-619-2

Printed in China

Designed by Katie Hatz
Production management by John J. McGurk

Quirk Books
215 Church St.
Philadelphia, PA 19106
quirkbooks.com

v3.1_r1

For all the funny ladies

Women are funny. Like side-splittingly, laugh-out-loud, snort-through-your-nose hilarious.

And you know what? Thats nothing new. Since the dawn of time, there have been funny ladies. Because you know what? Theres a lot of funny shit to laugh at. I mean, have you seen a penis? Thats a one-woman comedy special right there.

Women have the source material and the wit to rock the funny. And you dont have to be a stand-up comic or Tina Fey to make the room laugh out loud. You just need to have good comic timing and some jokes in your back pocket.

And since youre holding this book, youre on the right laugh track. This book is chock-full of jokes both bawdy and sweet, and it includes guidelines for both telling and selling a joke. So lets do this thing.

Whether youre a dude or a lady, telling a joke is serious business and no mean feat. Its important to read your audience and interact with them during your delivery.

Timing is everything. The biggest mistake a joke teller makes is rushing the setup and the punch line. So what do you do? If you want to tell a joke, no matter how short, take a breath and make sure youve got the attention of your audience. Dont compete for the floor. If someone else has just told a joke, let her have her moment. Wait a few minutes before pulling out your zinger.

When the time is right and you have the floor, pause. And then dive in. There are many different approaches to telling a joke, but starting out understated and letting your animation build is one popular way to go.

Watch stand-up comedy skits or listen to recordings of your favorite comics and think about what it is that you like about them. Is it their timing, their voice, their astute observational humor that reels you in? Dennis Miller goes for the Mensa material delivered in a rat-a-tat way, whereas Sarah Silvermans deadpan delivery and potty mouth are her signature style.

When it comes to a joke or funny story that you want to bust out, think about its structure. Do you want to mask the punch line or do you want it to be obvious where youre going, carefully choosing words that are hilarious and on point? Being a great writer can often gloss over other shortcomings, such as fear of public speaking. Figure out your skill set and play to those strengths.

My routines come out of total unhappiness. My audiences are my group therapy.

Joan Rivers, comedian

In addition to playing to your skill set, you should also play to your audience. If youre telling a joke among friends, you already know whats appropriate and what will be well received. But if you plan to bust out a joke in front of a crowd or during a toast, youll probably need to read your audience first. Start out slowly, gauging the pulse of the room. If you make a saucy comment or pop-culture reference, listen for murmurs of approval, head nodding, or a laugh. Joke telling is mostly based on trust. Trust that the audience will get what youre saying and find it funny.

That said, if youre pitching some hilarious stuff about Twitter to a group of senior citizens, odds are they will stare at you blankly. If youd done your detective work and assessed the audience, you probably would have determined that the material was not quite right for that demographic. Adjust as need be. Swap out references for something more appropriate, tone down or amp up profanity as you see fit.

Youre probably funny, whether or not youre a gifted jokester. Think about how you interact with friends and family. Do you make them laugh? Do you regularly chuckle at your own status updates on Facebook? There are more ways than ever to be witty online, partially because you may feel freer to let things rip in cyberspace. So think about some of your best one-liners or comments. Is there a way to turn that material into a joke in a live venue? If you have a great one-liner, think about how to set it up with a premise so that it winds up being the punch line. If you have a funny personal anecdote, try writing it down. Use a slow, innocuous setup that you can turn upside-down with an unexpected climax and funny finish.

If you want to make an audience laugh, you dress a man like an old lady and push her down the stairs. If you want to make comedy writers laugh, you push an actual old lady down the stairs.

Tina Fey, comedian

Rushing through material is something that trips up every public speaker, not to mention the casual joke-teller. Look at professional stand-up routines. Comedians who are performing on The Tonight Show or David Letterman for the first time will typically go too fast. They know theyre on the clock and they want to be sure to get through all their material. But the bigger the context, the more important it is that you pause. Be confident that your material is funny, so funny that you dont need to race through the setup to get to the punch line. The material deserves that you let it breathe. You deserve to breathe.

These days, its easier than ever to rehearse. Recording your performance can be useful, and you can learn things from watching it that you wouldnt necessarily know just from doing well at a live performance. When watching the video, be sure to analyze your delivery. You want to improve on what youre doing, not start imitating the video in your live performances because youve seen it one too many times. You can re-create strong points and eliminate weak ones. This method can also help you appear more animated and polished.

Comedy can be serious business. But that doesnt mean you shouldnt have fun and get a kick out of the joke youre telling. If the material is fresh and still funny to you, its fine to giggle. The audience will probably find your authenticity refreshing, and, with luck, your laughter will be infectious. Just take care not to laugh as you tell the punch line; laughter can interfere with people hearing and taking in your language if you are guffawing all over it.

I take the most wrenchingly painful moments of my life, brush them off, and present them for the amusement of others. Luckily for me, my childhood was torture.

Aisha Tyler, comedian

A man invited a woman for a seven-course meal. Thats lovely, she said. What are we going to have? He replied, A hot dog and a six-pack of beer.

1. While Im up, can I get you a beer?