Another newbie question. When developing patter/scripts for skits and effects, does anyone look for classic or cheesy one-liners to add in? Perhaps scoured from joke books and the like? Or is this too cheesy and unoriginal to be worthwhile?

I absolutely scoured many joke books, and the internet, to find just the right "cheesy" jokes for all my shows. Naturally I picked and/or adapted jokes that were not too familiar, so that it wouldn't be something my audiences had heard from another performer.

I read joke books too.

So they are a legit resource, then?

Absolutely. You can get some good deals at used book stores (both brick and mortar and online).

I've searched online for jokes and riddles on a specific subject. If you ask riddles it can be harder because you either have to go rhetorical and answer it yourself or give them a chance to answer, which can slow down the show. I go with rhetorical but not all Kids understand the concept of a rhetorical question

You'll have to read a lot of horrible "jokes" to get one or two you can use.

You can sprinkle a few (one at a time) in between bits to give you time to put things away and get things out.

Sometimes they are more about making the show more comfortable and timing than actual humor.

I make a list of them and see which ones are a good fit where. Like, if a trick uses a Santa Silk, then I'll use a joke that names Santa after the trick (so as not to give away the production of the picture silk.)

For real humor you are better off to think about your show and what you are doing and find the humor in that (without inadvertently pointing at methods). I have a little of that and it does go over better but it is not easy. Listening to the audience can suggest some humor.

If you watch people with real writing (like Mike Finney, Pop Hayden and Daryl) there is a hugh difference but not all of us are good writers.

I do know cheesy jokes can spice up a show (a little).

-Mary Mowder

Another source for funny lines is from kids! They sometimes say the funniest things, without even realizing it.

Good points Mary and Arthur . I guess they can sometimes act as springboards for developing your own material, too

"...I know not what course others may take, but, as for me, give me situation comedy.

I use a few "cute" lines, but most of them are funny because of the situation. Example:I use a couple of 36" picture silks to steal a rabbit, as I do a "curtain speech" as I close the show. (I learned from Roy Shrimplin, my mentor in 1946, how to get laughs from those beautiful Rice picture silks. In his school assembly show, he would produce a 36" butterfly silk, and say: "B-29!" That doesn't sound even remotely funny, but, in the mid '40s, the B-29 was the biggest bomber, that the Air Force had. The kids (even high schoolers!) LAUGHED! ("TOPICAL" is a big factor in humor.) For years, I've held up a 36" clown silk. The line is: "My GRADUATION PICTURE!" It wasn't a show stop laugh, but, it got a nice laugh. The follow up line was: "I was better looking, then!" Another nice laugh. About 20 years ago, WENDY'S RESTAURANT had a commercial in which the little old lady asked, "Where's the beef?" I got a year's use out of that line, when I jerked the Weller Wieners out of a kid's shirt. When the commercial was no longer used, within two months, the line was dead. Back in the early '70s, a mouth wash commercial used a line: "Once in the morning, does it!" When I produced the first dove, I "kissed" it on the beak as I put it in the cage. I would make a face, and say, 'Bleah! Once in the morning, DIDN'T do it!" (High school kids loved it!) When the commercial was "gone" from TV, the line lasted about a month, before I dropped it.

Many lines that I use, are not intrinsically funny. They get a laugh because of some action, The "way" that the line is delivered, makes a big difference too. (TIMING!!!)

In my experience, a "New York" joke generally doesn't play in New Mexico!

I learned early to create humorous situations.

In my book, I wrote up many of the routines that I developed, I included the lines--and HOW TO DELIVER THEM for maximum effect.

In the high school show, I get 5 minutes of laughs with a wand, a brakawa wand, a shooting wand, and, a brakawa fan. The humor is all from sight gags, and situation comedy. The wand bits are funny, the brakawa wand is funnier, the shooting wand is a SHOW STOP LAUGH. The brakawa fan, follows and, builds to a SHOW STOP LAUGH. ON TWO OCCASIONS, IN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS, the FAN, got me a STANDING OVATION! I wrote up the routine with all stage directions, and lines, in the book.

That ANCIENT PROP, THE MUTILATED PARASOL gets a SHOW STOP LAUGH, and, there are no funny lines in the routine! It starts slow, but, the climax, is hilarious.
My Misers Dream closes the elementary school show. The MD follows the 20th Century Silks. There are no funny lines in the 20th Century routine, just several funny situations, and, it finishes with a SHOW STOP LAUGH. The MD starts slow, but, builds to almost continuous laughs for about 3 minutes. I can't follow it. --The PARASOL, the 20th Century, the Misers Dream, are all SITUATION COMEDY.

I wrote up, in detail those routines.

If you are relying on joke books or other people's jokes to be funny, you have a major problem. Not that you shouldn't use other peoples jokes, but you know what I mean I guess. Puns tend to be lost on kids or just be not funny anyway. Jokes can work well, and add to your stuff, but if you try them and you really aren't getting a very good laugh, then keep working on delivery, and if it's still not working, toss it because it's not for you or not funny. Study greats of comedy for timing, body language, etc. Take improv comedy classes.

I agree Dick and Dan ... I'm not thinking of relying upon cheesy jokes as the only, or even main, source of comedy. I just wondered if their use at all was acceptable and 'done'. . Most of the humour I envisage in a kids show would be physical or active in some way, rather than any kind of word play. But wordplay and jokes have their place too, I think.

Watch a bunch of the old Warner Bros. cartoons -- Bugs Bunny, Roadrunner, etc. That was and still is funny. Do a search for The Upside Down Show and watch a couple of episodes. Those guys know how to deliver comedy. Watch Sponge Bob or ready one of the Wimpy Kid books -- that will give you insight to the 6 to 11 ages sense of humor.

Avoid the cliche jokes. As others have said, kids says the funniest things. Learn to react to what they say. Often, you can incorporate that into a later show.

Dick's posts are great. Comedy really is situational and the audience's reaction is in large part dependent on the performers delivery.

Thank you RealityOne!

I only saw Bob Hope once in Navy Boot Camp, but, I had heard him every Tuesday evening on radio, throughout my high school days. He was a "one liner" gag comedian--and quite funny. But, "Fibber McGee & Molly (old "tent show" comedians) were as funny, if not FUNNIER, because their humor, like Jack Benny's, was very situational. Benny had a character that was inherently funny. Ditto, Fibber & Molly. Hope, was funny and good, but, IMO extremely "high energy". Fibber, Molly, and Jack"s shows were "comfortable". You could relax and enjoy without being afraid that you might miss a punch line.

I wanted my program (in the school assembly field, talent presented a "program". --That probably "came" from the Chautauqua era.)to be FUN. (here comes a "but":::
But, I was booked as a magician, not a comedian. I didn't want to be a comedian who did magic tricks, but as a magician, who was FUN to be "around".

I had started out as a teenager, trying to be "swayve & deboner". I wasn't. In my book, I tell about doing a "showing date" for an agent. After the show, he said, "That was nice, BUT, CAN'T YOU MAKE 'EM LAUGH?" I said that I thought I could. He replied, "Make 'em laugh, and, I'll get you work." I did, and, he did.
I can "tell a joke", but, I get far better reception, creating a situation, that's inherently funny.

I bought a DISECTO from Percy Abbott in 1946. The instructions for the routine were quite basic. Various "patter" and "gag" books suggested and recommended sight gags like bloody rags to wipe the blade, and white containers with a red cross on the front to "catch the hand" as it fell, as surefire laugh getters. I was young, but willing to try anything. (I wasn't trying to be suave & debonair yet!) Those prop gags, got smiles and chuckles, but, I wanted LAUGHS!

Eventually, I settled on a presentation of a pitchmen selling the "little Jim dandy, handy, home vegetable slicer". SUCCESS! Well, not totally original, but, it worked for me. Little by little, bits of business, and sight gags developed. For years, it has been FUNNY. It gets screams when I push the blade down, but, they're fun screams. --And, a big MITT at the finish. Jr. and Sr. high school audiences love it. I did it for years for K thru 12 groups, even K thru 6 groups. The only reason that I 'red lighted" it for the little kids, is that I have too much material for elementaries. --And, it had to be carried in, in a separate case. --ENTERTAINMENT has nothing to do with the size or quantity of the props!

I wrote up the routine in my book. No bloody rags, etc. JUST "SCHTICK" SITUATION COMEDY, AND SHOWMANSHIP!

The internet has tons of jokes also. I find that funny situations and actions go over better with kids than straight jokes. The problem with jokes for kids is that a 6 year gets it but a 5 year old doesn't. Unless you perform for the same age you can run into problems. With visual humor it's usually not a problem.

I would like to jump in and recommend Dick Oslund's book "Road Scholar". I would also recommend Judy Carter's "Stand Up Comedy: The Book" and "The Comedy Bible." Judy is a magician turned comedian. As others suggested, using bits from other sources is fine, but these books teach you how to personalize these bits and make them yours.

Comedy relies on truth and creating a bond with your audience. Go too far astray and you sever that bond. Once severed, it is very hard to get it back. If you have a comedy club near you, look into taking a few stand-up lessons or workshops. The experience will open all new concepts and sources for you.

Hello Skip!
I just dropped in here, as I noticed your name. THANK YOU! --for your very kind endorsement! I NEVER dreamed that my scribblings would be being read in Europe, and, Australia! (and, NOBODY has asked for their money back! One part time performer wrote to say that he has read it three times! An old pro. in the UK bought an extra copy, to send to a friend!) My flabber has been gasted! Re: Your note on "personalizing". Absolutely! A performer needs to establish his character, and personality, then, deliver his lines so that the lines "fit".

To the guys reading this: Study JACK BENNY! His career spanned vaudeville, radio, and television! He was a STAR! He got laughs with a dead pan stare! He could play "straight man" to his "team" of comedians! He was so comfortable in his role, that he could let others get laughs. People liked HIM! (--And, as the late Nate Leipzig said, so often: "If they like YOU, they will like what you do!"

Yup! Creating a bond WITH your audience is KEY to entertaining the folks on the other side of the footlights. Just presenting a "watch how clever I am act" aint gonna cut it! I learned early that, reciting gags and jokes from patter books wouldn't do it. When I realized how to be ME, the act "came together"!

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Anything authored by magician David Ginn

The book Laughter Legacy by David Ginn has thousands of jokes and gags in various categories, all specifically tailored for magic shows.