Hi, I'm doing a close up show tomorrow and I would appreciate it if anyone could give me some jokes which go down well. A couple of tricks I would like to add humpour to are the colour changing deck and a spongeball routine.

Thanks in advance.

Alex

What age is you audience? WHat type of character do you portray?

Welcome, Ladies and Germs to my show. I hope you enjoy the show and find it funny. Please be kind to me if I mess up any of the gags, because I just got them yesterday, and obviously I should rehearse my whole show for weeks before I accept the gig.

I'm 14, my audiance vary in age. There will be parents there, other magicians, lay people, maybe older people etc. The character I try to potrait right now is a witty character with some obvious intellegents. So...any ideas?

Do not play a witty character unless you have your jokes already, and have proven you can be funny. You can search for jokes on the internet, but we can't give them to you specific to your character because we don't know what you do.

what chris said. not the helpful part, though. just the mean part.

Thanks for the help.

What mean part?

part ( P ) Pronunciation Key (pärt)
n.
A portion, division, piece, or segment of a whole.
Any of several equal portions or fractions that can constitute a whole or into which a whole can be divided: a mixture of two parts flour to one part sugar.
A division of a literary work: a novel in three parts.
(used with a pl. v.)
An organ, member, or other division of an organism: A tail is not a part of a guinea pig.
parts The external genitals.
A component that can be separated from or attached to a system; a detachable piece: spare parts for cars.
A role: He has the main part in the play.
One's responsibility, duty, or obligation; share: We each do our part to keep the house clean.
Individual endowment or ability; talent. Often used in the plural.
A region, area, land, or territory. Often used in the plural: “Minding your own business is second nature in these parts” (Boston).
The line where the hair on the head is parted.
Music.
The music or score for a particular instrument, as in an orchestra.
One of the melodic divisions or voices of a contrapuntal composition.

As someone who has blown more jokes than I care to remember, unless you know you are a good joke teller, don't do them. If you are a natural born jokester, then some people here will help, or you can look them up on the internet. Otherwise, prepare to not be funny. I learned that a long time ago.


Ok, here is a joke I do. I say very loudly to the crowd, during my cups routine, "And the amazing thing is I do this whole routine with absolutley no cheating at all!" At this point I "accidentaly" drop the extra ball onto the ground. I pause and wait for someone to pick up the ball. I look a little embarrassed. After I put the ball away, I say, in the same exact tone, "And the amazing thing is I do this whole routine with very little cheating at all!" Of course this works in my routine, and my whole act is a mixture of getting caught cheating and mixing it with great magic. Your milage will vary.

So the character is what, someone smart? That could worryingly border on "I can do magic because I'm smarter than you, you specatators are stupid because you don't understand this". Why do they try to figure me out? Why? you're not meant to try and guess how it works! I'm the clever one!

I exaggerate of course

Nothing wrong with being witty, it makes you more entertaining, as long as you aren't patronising.
Two ways to come across as being witty:
1. Actually be witty. Ok, this is a mixture of a gift and practice.
2. Practice and learns TONS of jokes and gags, and practice throwing them together to go with your routine until you make them seem effortless and off the top of your head. Hope you don't get screwed when something unexpected happens. You'll have to learn a lot of outs anyway.

Either way, you can't add wit to a performance over a couple of days. You can learn a few extra jokes, and routine them or prepare them as outs.

I find that as I do the mechanics of a trick automatically, and banter with an audience, I use 60% stuff I always say, and 40% made up on the spot to react to the audience, their reaction, outs, etc. Often something from that 40% will go down particularly well, and I add it to my usual script.

What proportions of your speech should be prepared and spontaneous is no doubt the subject of some disagreement, and also depends on the venue. Closup magic where you involve an audience closely needs some spontaneity. Stage shows should be totally scripted. However, you should be able to ad lib if necessary.

Maybe I should ship that to "essays"....

Once again I thank you for your help.

Alex

i suggest buying some sankey videos theres alway good jokes on there and i believe penguin has a book on jokes.