Comedy Time Part 2…

Hey everyone.  I have often thought about how comedy works. I’ve heard a comedian explain it, and I would like to share it with you in summary:

In comedy, there is a setup and then there is a punchline. The joke begins with a set-up, leading you to a story or situation  to ensure you (the audience) is moving in a linear direction; the punchline occurs when the story or situation changes to a  new direction in  a way you are not expecting, hence the punchline. When you catch the change, the results are revelation, fulfillment and joy expressed through laughter.

Of course, when I shared these jokes live, body language, voice, and delivery plays a part in telling the joke. Thus, making the joke funnier live.

Anyway here are more jokes…

• There were two little boys spending the night with the grandparents. Before they went to bed, the boys got on their knees to say their prayers. The younger boy began to pray at the top of his lungs saying, “God, I pray you get me a new bicycle. I pray you get me a new PlayStation. I pray you get me a new DVD.” The older boy said to the younger boy, “Why are you screaming? God is not deaf.” The little boy responded, “I know that, but Grandma is.”

• A little boy was afraid of the dark. One night his mother told him to go out to the back porch and bring her the broom. The little boy turned to his mother and said, “Mama, I don’t want to go out there. It’s dark.”

The mother smiled reassuringly at her son. “You don’t have to be afraid of the dark,” she explained. “Jesus is out there. He’ll look after you and protect you.”

The little boy looked at his mother real hard and asked, “Are you sure he’s out there?” “Yes, I ‘m sure. He is everywhere, and he is always ready to help you when you need him,” she said.

The little boy thought about that for a minute and then went to the back door and cracked it a little. Peering out into the darkness, he called, “Jesus? If you’re out there, would you please hand me the broom?”

• A burglar broke into the house one night. As he grabbed a stereo, he heard a voice say, “Jesus is watching you.” He froze in his tracks; as he shone his flashlight around the room, he noticed a parrot in the corner. The burglar said angrily, “Did you say that?” The parrot answered back, “Yep. I’m just trying to warn you.” The burglar looked puzzled and said, “Warn me? Who are you?” The parrot said, “My name is Moses.” The burglar laughed and said, “What kind of crazy people would name a parrot Moses?” The parrot replied, “The same kind of people that would name a 150 pounds rottweiler Jesus.”

• Jesus said to his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”

And his disciples answered and said, “Some say you are John the Baptist returned from the dead; others say Elijah, or one of the prophets.”

And Jesus answered and said, “But who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Logos, existing in the Father as His rationality and then, by an act of His will, being generated, in consideration of the various functions by which God is related to his creation, but only on the fact that Scripture speaks of a Father, and a Son, and a Holy Spirit, each member of the Trinity being coequal with every other member, and each acting inseparably with and interpenetrating every other member, with only an economic subordination within God, but causing no division which would make the substance no longer simple.”

And Jesus answered and said, “What?”

• A young man had just gotten his driving permit. He asked his father who was a minister, if they could discuss the use of the car. His father took him to his study and said to him, “I’ll make a deal with you. You bring your grades up, study your bible a little and get your hair cut and we’ll talk about it.” After about a month the boy came back and again asked his father if they could discuss use of the car.

They again went to the father’s study where his father said, “Son, I’ve been real proud of you. You have brought your grades up, you’ve studied your bible diligently, but you didn’t get your hair cut.” The young man waited a moment and replied, “You know Dad, I’ve been thinking about that. You know, Samson had long hair, Moses had long hair, Noah had long hair, and even Jesus had long hair!” To which his father replied, “Yes, you’re right, and they also WALKED everywhere they went!”

• A fellow sat under a nut tree once. He pretended to be quite the master of structural engineering. He said, “You know God, you are not very smart. When I think of the way you made this world–a huge tree holding small nuts and a small plant holding huge watermelons; it just doesn’t add up. A big tree, small nuts, a small plant, huge watermelons.” As he waxed eloquent about God’s inability to do things reasonably, suddenly, a little nut hit him on his head. He said, “Thank God that wasn’t a watermelon.”

Proverbs 15:13, “A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.”