HI,
Joe Riding of the Uk has a book about comedy technique for magicains. I also found that the Harry Anderson book has lot's of use ful info and routines which you can learn by.
Phillip

Jeff:

That would be a wonderful thing to do, and I can't think of anyone more qualified to do it.

It would be a great gift to the magic community, and something for which there is a great need.

All the best.

On 2004-09-23 05:22, jeffhobson wrote:

Hi,
Great Idea I would be interested
Phillip

Phil,

Here are my thoughts:

Comedy is personality driven: The sender must hit the receiver's trigger point and that point hinges on one's personality. What I think is funny, at least 50 percent of others would not. This is why comedy does not win oscar awards.

Comedy is culture driven: What one would consider British humor would fly over the heads of other cultures.

Comedy reading from a book doesn't always sound like it will work. It may fall flat, offend or be absolutely great. (Kind of like doing a kid show for adults...It falls flat without the kids.) One need to match their personality to the comedy that fits them. It a matter of trial and error.

Comedy is a skill that require reading and understanding what is funny and why it is funny. One needs to know what to stay away from and why. (Books on comedy format are extremely helpful here so one can diagram a comedy set-up and punch delivery.)

I already bought a disk on comedy for $70 and it was worth $1.00 It really was bad. Same with books, some good some bad.

Now just reading your postings, I'd probable get more out of your work then others because I have grown to know you over the last couple of years, that too makes a difference. (We have similar comedy presentation with kids so that tells me a lot)

Good luck, and Let me know how it turns out.

HI Den,
I think you misread my post I was not planning on writing such a book just commmenting that I would be interested in such a book if Mr Hobson wrote one
Phillip

He way it was origionallay written, I thought you were writing one. Opps.. But the statement does hold true.

For any of you who may not know, and I am sure that would only be a very few, Jeff Hobson is one of the best and most successful comedy magicians in the world, and an extremely versatile and creative man.

A book by him on this subject would be very valuable indeed.

I agree with ya Whit! But until he gets it done, anyone interested in developing comedic material should read "Stand-up Comedy, The Book" by Judy Carter. It is the perfect workbook to take you step by step through the comedy development process. It is actually a book that I recommend all magicians read. Even those doing illusions or bizarre. It will give you practical knowledge about developing original material.

And to Jay Fortune... You my friend have such a naive' view. IF you are at all interested in performing professionally at all, then you must change your viewpoint, and accept that a script is essential. If you only want to be a trick monkey for friends and family, then you are doing all you need to do.