To show a differentiation between "good delivery" and "bad delivery" when telling jokes, could anybody please find two videos telling the exact same joke, but with different deliveries?
I wish to master and perfect the finer nuances, but I can only do so upon seeing the differences between what makes or breaks the delivering of the joke.
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9 Answers
Just look up how Dane Cook ripped off Louis C.K. and youll find the exact same joke delivered two different ways. Dane Cook’s delivery was more popular. Keep in mind Louis C.K.‘s comedy (more dry humour) depends on your mind’s ability to understand the irony of what he’s saying, whereas Dane Cook’s comedy is physical and performance based and doesn’t take any thought.
I don’t discredit either approach: it’s good to activate the mind, which is what some audience members are looking for; and it’s just as good to get in touch with the body, which is the most basic language we all share, regardless of tongue, and is very important to know. Dane Cook was more physical and gained much more mainstream success with the same jokes as Louis C.K. Nothing endears instant acceptance like body language, and yet nothing is appreciated more than an original thought, and thus they are both valuable. Whatever approach you decide on, delivery wise, whether it’s focusing on TONE! and body language, or whether the idea is funny by itself and all you have to do is tell it, If it’s authentically coming from you, from a standpoint that you believe in, then it’s new, and people want to hear new. The same ideas, spoken with the voice and acted with the body, in a new way, gives the joke new life and makes it funny for new reasons. Emulate what you love until you figure out which particular bits make it yours.
Go to open mic night at the local comedy club if there’s one nearby.
You’ll learn all about bad delivery. Most of the comedians we’re exposed to are accomplished professionals with years of experience so in the mainstream media, it’s hard to find someone with particularly bad delivery because those comedians almost never leave the local scene.
You might rent a past season of the show Last Comic Standing. That show displays a wide range of talent.
Actually that’s a perfect example and why Dane Cook has achieved the level he has. He completely puts his entire mind, body and energy behind the jokes which at base level are really not that funny but when he adds his charisma it’s dynamic. I really can’t even say it’s a blatant rip off. Comedians are constantly stealing jokes but I think if the energy behind it is so unique then that’s the true art of a comic. Anyone can tell jokes but to deliver them is the job of a comic.
What you described is an actor more than a comic.
Dane Cook is a fair actor.
Rent that movie “The Aristocrats”. It has a huge number of different comics, all very accomplished, telling the same joke.
It’s a terrible joke. But it’s an interesting movie.
@susanc You beat me to the punch(line?) The Aristocrats is a filthy but effective exploration of comedic delivery.
… though, actually, most of them are very accomplished – it might not provide the contrasting failures sought by @EgaoNoGenki…..
@janbb
Most of all I liked Gilbert Godried’s take on that joke. Only comic I actually saw who ever pulled it off in a public forum.
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