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chris mcbrien Inner circle Chicago 1235 Posts |
I am always trying to hone my craft. I love comedy books, not joke books, but books that teach you methods of comedy. Yes, I feel like many here that I have a natural sense of comedic timing and an aresenal of comebacks, openers and leader lines...
As stated above, for something completely different....what comdians do you find in children's entertainment that you feel inspired by. I know I'll get "Silly Billy" a lot, but with all due respect to him, what others are out there? the reason? I like to open my horizons, to walk through new doors of creativity...or, I'd like to go out and look up some new comedians to watch and learn from that may help me come up with new ideas of my own. books (yes I have Silly Billy's and David Ginn's), movies that inspire, dvd's in the magic worlds...I'm looking for new concepts. chris |
Danny Hustle Inner circle Boston, MA USA 2393 Posts |
Check out anything by george carl (if you can find it) on film.
Books: The Physical Comedy Handbook is pretty good as well as truth in comedy by Del Close, Charina Halpern, and Kim Howard. Best, Dan- "MT is one of the reasons we started this board! I’m so sick of posts being deleted without any reason given, and by unknown people at that." - Steve Brooks Sep 7, 2001 8:38pm ©1999-2014 Daniel Denney all rights reserved. |
Quentin Inner circle 1020 Posts |
You really must check out all the books by Gene Perret, especially Successful Stand Up Comedy and The Comedy Writing Workshop. Gene was the head gag writer for Bob Hope.
While most of them are out of print you can find a whole range of books by EVAN ESAR at http://www.abebooks.com George Carl was a circus acrobat who developed a physical comedy stand up act. I have a couple of tapes of him including a 1950s Circus Of Stars performance. His act was extraordinarily good. How To Become A Comedian by Lupino Lane is an excellent book on all aspects of physical comedy. Unfortunately it is very difficult to find. |
Steve Haffner Regular user Kentucky 108 Posts |
This may not be what you are looking for, but my young kids love the comedy of Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean. It's almost all physical humor, but very creative. The movie BEAN is inspiring to me in trying to come up with funny bits for kids.
What might one do if you were in a hurry and needed a cup of coffee and accidentally broke the last coffee cup in the house? Well, first pour the water in your mouth. Then instant coffee. Then the cream and sugar. Then swish it around and swallow. Ideas like that are funny for a number of reasons (maybe not in print), but the simplicity of the idea helps a lot. Of course, Mr. Atkinson has the ability to be funny just by the way he looks physically and his timing is excellent, but his ideas for what is funny are what sets him apart. And because my kids aged 6 and 3 found him hilarious, I thought it was good to try and figure out what made him so funny to us. Then I could use that to come up with my own stuff. Just so you know - his funny stuff is almost 100% physical as he barely talks at all. - Steve |
magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
I think we can all learn a great deal from Red Skelton. Red had an amazing way to not only connect with his audiences on a personal level, but his pantoimime was perfect. Here is a guy capturing the hearts and emotions of the audience with out saying a single word. The entire storyline, plot and comedy is all based upon his movements and pantomime on stage. Simply brilliant.
He also had a way of having the audiences love HIM and not so much the jokes or what he did that evening. People always seemed to be talking about HIM after the shows he did and saying they had as wonderful experience. I think anyone can learn a great deal from his tapes and such. Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
Dennis Michael Inner circle Southern, NJ 5821 Posts |
There are some Comedy MC books and a lot of clown comedy books that can be adapted to children's magical effects.
Dennis Michael
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Andini Special user Columbus, OH 685 Posts |
I hadn't thought of Bean until Steve mentioned it. The television show is definitely worth checking out. But, that reminded me of Fawlty Towers. John Cleese has some great physical comedy in that show that I would imagine kids would like. I'm not sure they'd like the show itself, but I think you all would!
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felix501 Regular user Lewes, England 134 Posts |
I aim to take a kind Billy Connolly type of attitude to performing...
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felix501 Regular user Lewes, England 134 Posts |
'kind of' I meant to say...
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magicgeorge Inner circle Belfast 4299 Posts |
I have an orangatang that talks like Billy Connolly.
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Danny Hustle Inner circle Boston, MA USA 2393 Posts |
@#$*& Brilliant!
"MT is one of the reasons we started this board! I’m so sick of posts being deleted without any reason given, and by unknown people at that." - Steve Brooks Sep 7, 2001 8:38pm ©1999-2014 Daniel Denney all rights reserved. |
JesterMan Veteran user Maryland, USA 319 Posts |
Mr Bean's character is a great one to look at. The strength of it was first brought home to me when visiting my friends in Sweden. Their kids LOVED it, and this was before they learned any English. His humor can play all over.
There are books on prop humor--think Carrot Top, or, even better, Rip Taylor.
JM
Balloons, Magic, Mayhem & More! www.AArdvarkEntertainers.com www.JesterMan.com "... destined to take the place of the MudShark in your mythology... " FZ |
calamari Elite user The San Francisco Bay Area 429 Posts |
For what it's worth I like watching and learning from the masters of the past, for physical comedy watching Buster Keaton or Chaplin can teach you a lot about the art of comedy(if one can learn while laughing YAO) also if you can get your hands on a set of Don Alans Magic Ranch Videos I found it interesting to watch people like the Senator and other late great performers doing bits the way they intended them to be done,
maybe it does not sound to progressive and probably not for everyone but I like looking to the past for inspiration.
"I came, I saw, SHE conquered." (The original Latin seems to have been garbled.)
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ninjaduffy Veteran user UK 332 Posts |
Jackie Chan is a very good example of a modern artist that's takes a lot from Keaton and Chaplin. His movies have many examples.
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