This is to be a workshop for interested 4th and 5th grade Sunday schoolers
Humor is an engaging device, as most all like to share in a good laugh
Humorous Anecdotes, Witty Quotes,
Jokes, and Various Assorted Ditties:
these all target just one part in people,
the funny bone
The humor is not just for class entertainment. Humor can be a very effective tool and technique for many communication situations. This workshop is not promoting "class clowns," but the intent is to empower young speakers to better appreciate and use humor
positively in communication.
Can you guess the punchline of #3-5?
3. A dietitian was once addressing a large audience in Chicago. "The material we put into our stomachs is enough to have killed most of us sitting here, years ago.
"Red meat is awful. Soft drinks erode your stomach lining. Chinese food is loaded with MSG. Vegetables can be disastrous, and none of us realizes the long-term harm caused by the germs in our drinking water.
"But there is one thing that is the most dangerous of all and we all have, or will, eat it. Can anyone here tell me what food it is that causes the most grief and suffering for years after eating it?"
A 75-year-old man in the front row stood up and said, “_________________
4. Rabbi went to the barber shop. After his hair cut, he got ready to pay the barber and the barber said, "No Rabbi, I don't charge the clergy for haircuts." So the next morning the barber found a loaf of Jewish rye bread outside of his door step.
A couple of days past and a Catholic priest came in to get his hair cut. He got ready to pay and the barber said, "No Father, I don't charge the clergy for hair cuts." So the next morning he found a bottle of wine outside his front door step.
A couple of days later the ___________ preacher came in to get his hair cut and when he got ready to pay the barber said, "No Reverend, I don't charge the clergy for their hair cuts." So the next morning, the barber found _________________
5. A little boy and his mom get back from the grocery store, and the boy carries in his box of animal crackers while his mom does the rest. When his mom comes in with the last bag, she sees animal crackers strewn all over the table.
“What are you doing?” his mom asks.
“The box says, ‘Do not eat if seal is broken,'” he explains. “_____________
6. A wealthy retired man asked for applicants for a driving position. He asked how close they could drive on a cliff without toppling over. Responses were the following: one foot, six inches, and as far away as possible. Who got the job?
7. A fan of a nearby university’s teams would sit cheering at the TV screen on game day. One day the team got off to a slow start, and he gave shouts of disgust before going silent. He was asked why he switched channels to an old WWII movie. He replied that at least this was something where he was on the winning side.
#3 and #4 are about the desired length, but for the workshop would ask these to be personalized. #5-7 would also be expanded to visualize all the details. Then these would be analyzed after the presentation, as the rubric below right shows.
S L I P - E P ’ s
These six terms certainly don't encompass all the types of humor, but these are the prime ones to be encouraged in speech-making.
Slapstick— outward, very physical humor (Three Stooges, Jim Carrey– as in Dumb and Dumber)
Ludicrous— silliness, ridiculous, absurd. It would have seemed ludicrous a year ago to see everyone in the world wearing masks before Halloween.
Inconsistency— not following the expected pattern. A dignified man slipping on a banana peel. Also, Irony can include a sort of inconsistent humor, whether verbal (sarcasm), dramatic (known to listener but not character), and situational (the opposite of what is expected happens).
Play on words— as a pun. He’s a mender of souls/soles.
Exaggeration— what is enlarged or increased to an abnormal degree. The cartoonist exaggerated the politician’s facial features. Hyperbole: he was told a 1,000 times.
Parody— spoof, a comic imitation exaggerated for humorous effect. The officious lifeguard used a megaphone while watching the kiddie pool.
The rubric above shows the elements emphasized in the presentation of these humorous stories in each class. Of course, the element of great laughter just after the punchline would be a nice complement to the whole process.
H
U
M
O
R
T
Y
P
E
?
This cartoon seems self-deprecating humor, but Charlie Brown is really not poking fun at himself. He is not smiling with the delivery of the punchline; he is instead sighing. Still, he causes us to laugh. It is ironic and inconsistent, because someone so wise and under-
standing of Linus's phobia of a library we don't expect to be so fearful himself. It's exaggeration, too, because no one is really that uncomfortable. If Lucy at her psychiatrist stand concluded this, it'd be a slight. He says it, and we laugh.
Here's a Combo of Humor & Impromptu:
This has a random choice of single or multi-column strips that is poured over for 10-15 seconds before launching into three steps:
1) describe well what can be seen and heard in the strip using gestures and focal points and vocal variety;
2) tell us what is the major type of humor used and how (why we Should have laughed);
3) finally, tell us what memory or thought this comic impressed on your mind to share in just a minute and then clinch it.
The Bible Has Stories and Scripture with Touches of Humor
Genesis 18:9 Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. . . . Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?”
Genesis 21:5 Abraham was one hundred years old when Isaac was born. 6 And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. All who hear will laugh with me.”
1 Kings 18:27 tells of the 450 prophets pitted again Elijah, prophet for the one true God. They had been unsuccessful in lighting the altar and "at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”
Numbers 22:28 And the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you? Why have you hit me these three times?”
Jeremiah 10:3-5 An idol is nothing but a tree chopped down, then shaped by a woodsman’s ax. They trim it with tinsel and balls, use hammer and nails to keep it upright.
God had to have enjoyed the irony in the situation of wicked Haman, who in Esther 6:4 had just entered the outer court of the king's palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him. So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?”
And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?” And Haman said to the king, “Let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set."
And the king honored Mordecai in just this way.
Psalm 37:13 But the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming.
1 Corinthians 12:15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.
Here Are Two Helpful Techniques for Humorous Speeches
An expression in three parts, called a triad or triple, has a natural rhythm pleasing to the ear that is easy to remember and builds momentum that is ripe for a punchline:
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The ring was sparkling, beyond beauty, beyond my budget.
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The day our boy left home, my soulmate stood at the end of the driveway watching his car, 18 years, and half our grocery bill disappear.
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It was Bed, Bath, and way Beyond!
The twist has your mind moving in one direction when you are suddenly redirected in a completely different direction.
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Say what you like about Facebook, it has totally revolutionized how we waste our time.
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Happiness is having a large, loving, family-- in another city.
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God created the 10 commandments-- man created a billion laws to say the same thing.
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My plane left at 5:25-- and I didn't.
Our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents (and maybe even you), when traveling down the historic Route 66 or other two-lane roads before there was an interstate, would see ditties in the form of a quatrain, a red sign every 100 feet. The punchline promoted safety along with the product on the very last sign.
Our journey in this workshop will promote some laughter with all the learning, too.
Humor Gives Emotional Cues
Just like an emoji in a text, a bit of humor in a speech gets attention and energizes with emotion.
1) . A man in a hurry taking his 8-year-old son to school, made a turn at a red light where it was prohibited. "Uh-oh, I just made an illegal turn!" the man said.
"Aw, Dad, it's okay" the son said. "_______________________________
2) . One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm a mother was tucking her small boy into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice, "Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?"
The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. "I can't, dear," she said. "I have to sleep with Daddy."
A long silence was broken at last by his shaky little voice “ __________________
Each day of the workshop may include at least one personalized and analyzed humor story. Students find a clean joke and put themselves as a character in it and then tell what device(s) of humor are used. To the left are two examples before they are expanded and personalized. Can you guess the two punchlines?
* These Twitter/Facebook links purposefully don't work: we could do with less social media!