2012-01 No such things as old stale jokes!

In my lecture notes, "Magic for the Working Magician" I blog about using "old jokes" in magic. The title of my lecture notes means that any magician who does shows, knows what I mean when I say, "There is no such thing as (old-stale) jokes'. Those magicians who work, those who perform, understand exactly what I am talking about. Yes there are jokes that are old, that have been around for many years. But I'll bet that every time you use the line in your head chopper routine, "One-Two-Three days ago I did this trick..." will ALWAYS get a laugh. Maybe not from everyone, but the proof of its worth is in the fact that SOMEBODY will laugh. Same thing with the gag, "Place this object in your hand, no..the clean hand". It will get a few chuckles, even though the gag has been around for many years.

At Wizardz, in Kissimmee, it's obvious where the magicians sit from the laymen. Just listen and watch the reaction. At Abbott's Magic get-Together, this summer, all the magicians sat in the center of the auditorium and the laymen, in the school bleachers on the sides. Guess where the best reaction came from? Not the center. Many blogs in magazines, or reviews of acts that the reporter critiques, often mentions "the same old/stale jokes". Trust me, after performing aboard cruise ships for 23 years, I think I have some authority to (hear) what works and what doesn't. Do the old jokes ALWAYS get laughs? Well, no. But then again the best entertainers won't ALWAYS have good shows either. Ask any of them, they'll tell you.

Onboard one of my ships was a comedian who got standing ovations many times. And much of his material I found in Milton Berles Joke book. And Milton Berle probably got them from other comics from years before him. Of course, this ship comedian did update the material to make it sound refreshing and topical. Now comes the most important part. It's the right audience and the TIMING of a joke that makes it funny. Some people don't have the "timing" a joke needs.

I took the "old/stale" vaudeville comedy routine, now a marketed magic trick, the Vanishing Banana/Bandana, rewrote the script, hired a professional voice-over actor to narrate, then, because I don't look like a funny guy, dressed differently. Sometimes the routine gets some of the biggest laughs in my show. On some weeks aboard the cruise ships, I would perform illusions, along with other, smaller effects, and I would get angry for the huge reaction that "stupid" banana routine got. Because the big bucks and back-breaking work was in the illusions, yet that old/stale banana gag got the better reaction...are you kidding me? Is it no wonder that many "working" magicians advertise (comedy) in their show title, even when the show is mainly magic? Too many times, after my show I hear, "I don't usually like magic but...." And guess what, my "comedy" is filled with "old/stale" jokes. Do I use those jokes when magicians are in the audience? Sometimes. Do I use those jokes in all shows? No. Again, it depends on the audience.

 Aboard ships I often did a fifteen minute monolog of old cruise ship jokes. Back in the 1980's there were always more older than younger audiences. And often I would hear from an old timer, "I heard that joke years ago..." Yet, the audience usually howled at the routine because they could identify with what I was saying. It was topical humor...and "themed"...old age jokes and cruise ships...couldn't miss. Oh yes, sometimes a comment card would say "comedian needs new jokes"...but that comment would come from the guy who, in fact, heard the joke(s) before, but not the majority of the audience. Believe me, if there were no or few laughs, I would keep trying different material until the jokes "hit". And that's what I did, so much so, that I put them on tape ("Comedy Live-From Ship to Shore") and sold the souvenir tapes after my show...and lots of them.

Here's my point, unless you only perform for fellow magicians, try some of those old-stale jokes. Update them but know the timing of the joke and I guarantee you laughs, not from everyone but enough to get an idea which jokes or gags you will keep and which are not for you. A few weeks ago I used the (very old) black hand gag. Yes, it got laughs. Not "howls" but enough to use it again, once in a while. Why? Because it's such an old gag-prop that most people have not seen it. Like the Zig-Zag illusion, when in the 1970's every person on the block had one. Not many magicians perform it today. I do....most laymen have never seen a Zig-Zag illusion or even a Sub Trunk or Zombie Ball. I know because I use all three all the time and they never...NEVER...get less than an enthusiastic response. Same thing with jokes....BUT...don't expect "old-stale" jokes OR NEW jokes to get the big laughs all the time. There is a place for all jokes. It's just the delivery, the timing, the audience...and by the way, whom ever said, "There is no such thing as bad audiences, just bad actors/entertainers" never really did shows himself. Don't let him fool you...it's only an old/stale saying.
-Dan Stapleton