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MonsterMagic Special user 517 Posts |
I'm looking to add more one-liners to my street show. What books would you recommend to read for help.
Has anyone read Aldo's Funny Stuff? |
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Dynamike Eternal Order FullTimer 24148 Posts |
"Sleight Of Mouth" by Harry Allen. It is a hard bound book with 177 pages. It has 32 contents. Some of the contents are for: Openings, Card Tricks, Bad Day, Applause, Rope Tricks, Errors, Endings, etc. About 97% of the book are one-liners.
I also have "Make 'Em Laugh" by Aldo Colombini. It is good book too. I like Harry's more. |
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nonvpro Inner circle 1844 Posts |
I second "Sleight Of Mouth" by Harry Allen. Its been a great source for one-liners.
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MonsterMagic Special user 517 Posts |
Well, You left me no choice.
I've ordered Sleight of Mouth. |
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C.Jakobsson Regular user Sweden 118 Posts |
Reading between the lines by Gazzo is a really good one too.
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Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
How to Be Funny by Steve Allen will give you a better chance of actually being funny. There are very few jokes and/or one-liners. Instead, there is information that will help you write your own material. Why use other peoples' material when you can be original?
Some of Harry Allen's material is pinched. In fact, most of it is. Some of Aldo's material comes from other sources. Write your own and take pride in your originality.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
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T. Sebastian Loyal user Ozark Mountains, USA 223 Posts |
Quote: Thank's for the tip Mr. Palmer. I'm going to take you up on it.
On 2008-07-29 18:17, Bill Palmer wrote: Funny is a funny thing. I use a corny one-liner in my rope routine and noticed after a few times that no one laughed at it. (duh) So, I started saying (after the one-liner) "It's OK. No one laughs at that." All serious like. And they start laughing every time. So it stayed in the show.
So sorry I soiled your precious eyes.
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carbone1853 Loyal user RI USA 239 Posts |
How to Be Funny by Steve Allen
Good choice Bill. Mime Spoken Here : The Performer's Portable Workshop A good book for physical comedy and performing in general. Good Luck Chris |
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Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
Really, it's not as hard as you might think. The first thing is establishing your persona or character. Then get into character and let your persona write for you.
This may sound nuts but it works!
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
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Phil J. Elite user 467 Posts |
That Reminds Me by Michael Close is a cracking good read. Full of stories/anecdotes about magic and magicians there's also some classic jokes and oneliners.
You were born original... Don't die a copy
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MrHyde Special user 810 Posts |
Try the Judy Carter - Comedy Book and Comedy Bible..
as Bill says, the source of the Harry Allen and Aldo books is "borrowed" material ... good for a quick fix but in the long term will not serve you well Timothy ps. the Michael Close book is brilliant |
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Prof. Pabodie Veteran user 318 Posts |
It is best to write your own material if you can. Having been a professional comedian/comedy writer for many years, I became familiar with comedians who could write and those that couldn't. Some of the ones who couldn't were still very funny. There are great singers who can't write a song. I would say give it a go and try writing your own stuff. I wish it were as easy as Bill says; having doen it for years, I can say that being funny on demand is one of the hardest things I've ever done. The days that it's easy are the gravy days.
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deadcatbounce Special user the Wilds of Ireland 863 Posts |
Maybe all this explains why almost ALL of the magic wallahs in Covent Garden sound like they went to the same school...
Honestly.. first time you hear/see one, especially the C&B merchants, you think.. "Oh.. that's a nice line" .. example.. "You can take your parachute off now sir - you've landed" (to someone with a backpack on - of which there are many..".. but when the next character comes on and goes through the same script .. well.. somebody's being plagiarised SOMEWHERE along the line. There was a time, years back, in Covent Garden for sure... where it was frowned upon to use someone else's lines.. but it seems to be normal now. As several members above have already said.. it's really not too hard to sit down and write your own stuff. Take an hour out and examine it. Think.. "ok.. what would be a good question to ask someone from France?" What about an extremely tall guy? (and we can do without "what's the air like, up there... ) And then of course, we have midgets, fat folk, bald folk, single parents, the hard of hearing..(always a difficult one, that.. ) - you get the idea? (only joking - partly..) But.. the idea is to foresee situations .. and write a funny line or two about them. I'm not giving too much away here, but an example of my own would be like this, for example. Limerick, in Ireland, is known throughout Ireland as Stab City, on account of the rival gangs stabbing each other mainly. So.. knives are a big problem. I work in a restaurant/bar about 80 miles away from there, but we get a lot of families in from Limerick. I always ask where they come from.. and if "Limerick" is the answer, I'll say.. "wow ! normally they serve you lot with plastic cutlery" ..or.. if I'm doing cut and restored rope.. I'll say. "anyone here got a knife? C'mon.. you MUST have - you're from Limerick, right?" I always follow it up with.. "Only joking ! -- or am I?" It has to be judged and delivered properly, otherwise, it could clearly offend. Sometimes I'll go up to the table with plastic knives.. and exchange them for the proper knives.. saying .. "they've just discovered wher you're from.." and then move nonchalantly onto the next effect... and then laugh, and switch the knives again. That laugh is crucial! Now.. the above may not seem funny to you all.. but it's local, it's topical, and everyone knows what I'm talking about. And it usually gets a good laugh..because of the cheeky presentation. Incidentally, tables from Limerick are ALWAYS good responders. They're up for it. So - what I'm saying is it's not that difficult, and you'll feel a lot more comfortable with lines that suit your personality. Cheers, DCB
"With every mistake - we must surely be learning..." George Harrison.
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MonsterMagic Special user 517 Posts |
Great advice.
Many Thanks H. |
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Tom Bartlett Special user Our southern border could use 763 Posts |
A friend of mine said he wished he had recorded every performance in front of a live audience. Most of the time, it was the same old thing, but there were times, magic happened, the spectators inspired his patter and it elevated everything above and beyond. Then he said sadly enough, he had not been gifted with a great or even good memory and his great lines have been lost forever.
I think most of us have had some thing like this happen to us, weather it was song lyrics, a poem or a response you had to something and wished we had a recording of it. Just rambling on. Tom
Our friends don't have to agree with me about everything and some that I hold very dear don't have to agree about anything, except where we are going to meet them for dinner.
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johnmagic Regular user 13419 fitzhugh road austin tx 78736 109 Posts |
Thanks Bill Palmer I just order Steve Allen book from amazon .com for $6.00
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Eduardo Veteran user 312 Posts |
Yes is like Judy Carter too...
I read it and now I am more funny... lol |
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Dynamike Eternal Order FullTimer 24148 Posts |
Quote:
On 2008-08-22 13:48, johnmagic wrote: Thanks for letting me know where it is. I just ordered one too. |
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Dynamike Eternal Order FullTimer 24148 Posts |
Quote:
On 2008-07-29 18:17, Bill Palmer wrote: I just got my book today, Bill. I don't know to thank you. |
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DGillam New user 87 Posts |
Steve Allen doesn't reveal the real secret to his ability to be funny. He was the son of Belle Montrose, whom Milton Berele called the funniest woman in vaudeville. When you grow up around funny, it's easier to pick it up. It is much harder to become funny through an intellectual process it you don't already have the knack.
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