C Christian,

Consider it done... Scotty and I chat comedy nightly... I will see him tomorrow.

E

I mentioned Slapstick humor, but no one picked up on it as a method of getting LPM. Is it a "cheap laugh"? Is it a wrong direction to go?

Should one work toward leading them down a path then wham the punch line is different than expected route?

Slapstick, in my opinion, is a perfectly legitimate route to laughter. Emo Phillips, Lucille Ball, Red Skelton, Jim Carrey...to name just a scant few...perfected the slapstick level of professional humor. Does it play well in comedy clubs? Ask Drew Carey and his improv crew. Ask Second City, SNL and Mad TV fans. Most kid comedy performers depend on mugging, double-takes, body language, facial expressions, mishaps and other slapstick oriented bits to earn a laugh.

As far as leading the audience down a chosen path then suddenly changing the direction of the thought process...this is the very definition of humor. It's the mental shock of setting your thoughts moving in one direction only to have them physically jerked in another that sparks the big-laugh sensors in our brains.

Skip

Slap stick works a LOT better for kids......yes there are examples of fantastic slap stic performers for adults, but it is becoming a lost art.

In my opinion facial experessions are also a lost art. They can add an entire level of laughs to a routine. I use them extensivly in my hypnosis show as a matter of fact. If you express confusion or humor at the righ time it is great to add to LPM.

To learn facial expressions and how wonderfull a tool they actually are, watch the old Honeymooners episodes. Watch All in The Family. Jackie Gleason and Caorl O'conner had the BEST facial expressions to add laugh time. Watch when Sammy Davis JR. kisses Archie Bunker. That is to this day the LONGEST sustained laugh on TV. He milked it with his facial expression. Your face will help LPM HUGE!

As I said slapstick is a lost art almost. Practiced by a few fantastic practitioners. Very tough to master.

Something else to think about comedy. Buster Keaton, (one of the finest physical comedians EVER to breathe) was slapstick and facial expressive comedy. He said when talking movies started that " Theres nothing wrong with sound, that a little bit of silence couldn't help". He is right. YOUR reactions to things make them funny also.

Wow me rambling sorry but this is really a great topic. ACTUAL COMEDY!!!!! I spent 10 years working at Magic Inc. in Chicago with Jay Marshall. With access to his friends, old film reels from Vaudville and his library. It was an amazing education.

I would recomend the Judy Carter stuff. She is quite well versed in modern comedy club donigs. BUT don't forget where we came from. Learn from those who came before us and you can go further.

Slapstick is just like any other form of comedy. It has to be well thought out to work. It is a great direction to go in, if it's done right. If you purposely hit yourself on the head with a frying pan, it's probably not gonna be funny. If you are looking for another prop, and bump into the frying pan, which then falls on your foot, and when you stand up screaming about your foot, you hit your head on the table... then, that could be funny.

Slapstick is easy to do wrong. It can look very forced... which is gonna kill it. When I was in college, my friends and I would do slapstick routines in shopping malls, restaurants, etc... just kinda improvised it with a final goal in mind... sometimes it worked, and we had lots of people laughing, sometimes it didn't... When it didn't, we knew we forced it.

Slapstick is also about the character. Usually the character is out of his/her element... maybe lost, or confused. Buster Keaton, Chaplin, Jackie Chan, George Carl, etc... they are underdogs. Things usually work out for them in the end, but not the way they expected.

Magic lends itself well to slapstick because of the props we are using. Danny is right, it is better for kids. Kids love cartoon violence, which is very similar to slapstick. Also, kids don't seem to care if it's forced. Adults do... It works for adults, it's just harder to pull off. I would use it sparingly at first, try it out... hurt yourself a few times... see what happens. Once you get a rhythm for it, you will be able to see where it fits easier.

Even though slapstick can come in all shapes and sizes (characters, voices, body movements) as for the actual hitting (three stooges) I feel is turning out to be a lost art. Some things just aren't funny anymore. At times I'll watch old comedians (yes that includes three stooges) telling (and making) jokes that killed at their time and wishing I was still rolling on the floor for the projected....well innocence they portrayed. Granted, I only watch this type of comedy alone as sometimes I feel if I watch it with others they wouldnt truly understand why I enjoy it so much. It was easier to make people laugh then. And so, I laugh.
But here we are in the modern hard to please society where comedy is as easy as
turning to the right channel at the right time. speaking of which ERIC BUSS, congratulations on 100 posts, what an honor, I wont tell anyone about those last three though....enjoy the free trick in the mail

Once again theres A LOT of good information given here.I wish I could give more advice but for now it appears Im the big sponge soaking it in from the pros,
so I'll go with another question if you don't mind.

TO ALL YOU PROS OUT THERE.

IN your comedy club setting, do you have a "theme" to the show or do you transfer form trick to joke which leads to trick. I always felt its important for magic show to have a theme, but what would you do in the comedy club setting??
thanks
(lets keep this wisdom rollin!)

My stage character is the theme to my act. It's a very high-energy, excited character, who wants to play with the audience. "We only have 30 minutes together, and I have a bunch of cool stuff to show you, and I just loaded up on sugar, so buckle up!!!" That kinda sets my show in motion. And once the audiences knows who you are, you can take them in any direction you want.

My character stays consistent, but the tricks are somewhat unrelated. A few of my routines are based on toys anyway, so the tricks lend themselves well to my excited character...

But if you are talking themes i.e. Roaring 20's, Gambling, Western, Sci-Fi, etc... no, my act does not have a theme.

A theme is tough for a club act. Mainly becuase you start slow with 3 minutes and over the years work up to 55. Your charector is the theme. Mine is (and here is a SHOCK!) sarcastic. WOW revelation there. Not all knowing or anything, just a guy who knows a few things to show you and when it goes wrong really is sarcastic about it.

So in that frame yea a theme, but not like a genra or anything.

Like Danny, one of the most common mistakes I see beginners pull is trying to tie their entire comedy act together with segues and a common theme. Watch an act on Comedy Central. They bounce from subject to subject. No one cares. Now, maintaining a uniform character or general thread...such as Danny's Mr. Sarcasm or Jeff Foxworthy's redneck...is a good idea...but, I wouldn't worry about a specific theme.

My comedy routine focuses on my days as a street cop, detective and military vet. I bounce around as though the thought just occurred to me or this or that story just came to mind. When I do any magic at all, it's almost coincidental...for example the cell phone vanish and recovery (that I explain in another section) that happens when an audience member's cell phone rings during my act.

It's a lot of fun...but, Danny can tell ya...it'll beat the hell out of ya. Drunk college kids or 6-year-olds. It's a tough call!!

Skip

Skip I have given up the club route forever I hope.......

It is a great way to establish an act, learn your chops......but 15 years and man I am beat. The drunks don't bother me it is the different city every week that does.

I am lucky now to not have to travel....very lucky. I can travel my 3 off months, but I don't. I do some USO stuff, but that is all.

The road is not for me any more. Only BIG shows get me to leave now and sparringly.

Oh and I never posessed the ability to work for kids......it is beyond my skill set. I did maybe 4 kids shows in the beginning and that was IT!

Some can do it and others of us can't. I admire those of you who can.

I'll take drunk 6-year-olds

I'm really beginning to worry about you, Eric. :o)

Skip

HAHA Eric, I years ago did a strolling magic for a 50 year old birthday party. Apparently 50 is the national age of drinking. That was my first hell gig. I was one of those kids that looked 20 at the age of 14 (that was my age at the time) I reember reversing a card in the deck and after the woman stopped dancing she went "LOOK THAT CARD IS DIFFERENT!!" I knew it would be a long night. Anyway the point of the story is that I noticed a lot of kids my age walkin around getting drunk as can be. I asked one "how old are you?" he says "14 but my mom lets me drink" and boy once kids can actually get permission theres NO holdin back! so 6 and a half isn't far off.
Skip HAH didn't know I was a beginner for wantin a theme. Oh well maybe I wont go to extremes but I just feel theres gotta be something that makes sense when switching from half died silks to 6 card repeat.

God-glorified......it is TOUGH to do is what Skip meant....... ALSO it was spacifically tailored comments to the COMEDY CLUB scene......NOT magic in general.

What you are looking for are the ever popular "transition lines" THEY are what make sense of your act.....

Ever watcha hack comic who goes from one subject to the next with "whats the deal with" and "speaking of Kukamunga!"

Learn your transitions.......they will sew your act together and make or break you.

Skip sorry if I am giving out too much info HAHA.

And remember they don't have to make SENSE.....they have to make "comic sense"

(thanks I'll be here all week, try the veal!)

It's too bad there are only a few of us on this thread... "What's the deal with other magicians.... geez?"

Regarding LPM's(laughs per minute), I don't think he will mind if I mention in the mid-nineties I worked the casino market in Northern Mississippi where Amazing Jonathan was a regular at Bally's. I had the opportunity to time his LPM's during quite a few shows. At that time he was getting 8 LPM's. I've used that as the model for myself ever since. Great post!

Tony Brent
http://www.theliars.com

When it comes to doing straight comedy, I feel like others on the Café saying. "I have a show on Saturday, got any advice or bits of business I can use?" IN OTHER WORDS, I love comedy, but it is virgin territory for me.

Yes, I can make kids laugh with props, but to come out and pull an audience into a stream of laughter, that will take work. I have/am reading books on comedy development and trying it out around the house, but without props, I'm lost.

I do remember seeing, Robin Williams, Howie Mandel, & Billy Crystal all working with a box of props. I still love that type of humor, but I don't see it often any more. (Yes, Gallagher is the guy to beat!)

GG, You know me! I'm about as nonjudgemental and open minded as they come! :o) Themes work for some comics. As I always say, it's matter of personal taste, style and skill. But...themes work against so many beginners that those of us who are brazen enough to TRY and teach stand-up generally discourage it. Trust me...we know YOU'RE no beginner! (Now what the hell did Skip mean by THAT?)

Occlumancy rules!
Skip

DenDowhy,

I think most people get into comedy slowly (I'm talking magicians, not stand-ups)

They do a few shows with their magic, and realize they can make people laugh. They realize it's fun to make people laugh. They get addicted. Etc. Most of my gem jokes came from doing the routine on stage, and something hit me during the show... I said it, it stuck. No body sits down and writes 45 minutes of comedy with out trying out 3 minutes on stage first... Yes, you do work on it one joke at a time... or one routine at a time... Books are great for theory, but there is only so much you can learn from a book. You gotta do it. If you can make kids laugh, you can probably make adults laugh. Just don't talk down to them. Give them respect, and be funny.

I would like to thank everyone that has posted to this thread, I have found this to be the most usefull, thoughtfull and informative thread on this forum. and the fact that everyone (up until now) has stayed mostly on topic and nobody has whined or argued over anything has been a breath of fresh air.
Eric I would love it if you would reconsider performing in Martinez at California Magic Dinner Theater, as I wouold love to see you perform again, (since I rarely make it down to the LA area.