Here is a list of some of our members who have chosen to make their profiles public.

Humor is a great element to include in speeches.

Our club members are working with Twists to be able to incorporate that two-step humor strategy in their speeches.  Brian Woolf has a great book called The Non-Humorist's Handbook which we sometimes will read out in place of having an opening joke master.  An example of a twist would be this: Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family-- in another city.

Another substitute for the jokemaster's puns or long-story coming to a somewhat funny punchline is the "Comic-expander.  This takes a comic and has a member try to visualize aloud for the audience what is not seen, deliver the punchline/caption and then launch into a response that puts to mind.

These two jokes  below are the traditional jokemaster role, one with an international flavor and one from a doctor's environment.

https://youtu.be/spBkJTvWDTU   This is the 8-26-15 joke from Namkook Kim about a three-legged chicken.

The humor contest was nixed permanently above the club level due to a TMI edict for 2018.  That means no area or division or district humor contest.  But a local club, if it can administrate all the support team necessary, can hold a contest for its own members and even invite other clubs to participate at a higher level.  

The traditional criteria for the humor contest is on the far left, alongside a new rubric that allows for stand-up comedy.  A new ballot was used by Four Seasons in 2018 and will be used again in 2019.

Wikipedia (so no scholarly work is this) Definition: Stand-up comedy is a comic style in which a comedian performs in front of a live audience, usually speaking directly to them. The performer is commonly known as a comic, stand-up comic, comedian, stand-up comedian, or simply a stand-up. In stand-up comedy, the comedian recites a grouping of humorous stories, jokes and one-liners typically called a monologue, explains pictures in funny way, routine or do act by using his (or her) imagination. Some stand-up comedians use props, music or magic tricks to “enhance” their acts.

In stand-up comedy, the feedback of the audience is instant and crucial for the comedian’s act. Audiences expect a stand-up comic to provide a steady stream of laughs, and a performer is always under pressure to deliver. A stand-up comedy show may involve only one comedian, or feature a “headline” or a “showcase” format. A headline format typically (has a) master of ceremonies who usually warms up the crowd followed by one or two “middle” or “featured” acts, who perform 15- to 20-minute sets, followed by a headliner who performs for longer. The “showcase” format may still feature and MC and consists of several acts who perform for roughly equal lengths of time, typical in smaller comedy clubs.
Many smaller venues hold “open mic” events, where anyone can take the stage and perform for the audience, offering a way for amateur performers to hone their craft and possibly break into the profession, or for established professionals to work on their material. In “Bringer shows” the performer must bring a specified number of paying guests in order to get stage time.

HOW A COMEDY CONTEST SHOULD BE JUDGED     scottlong.wordpress.com
Do you remember a class in school where you had a hard time understanding how the teacher was grading you? Well, that is the problem with many comedy competitions. The best one’s tell you up-front what they are looking for, but too often you are left wondering. The best competitions break it down to originality, stage presence, and audience reaction. Those are fair enough. The worst contests are when it’s 100 percent audience reaction, as those contests should be called “Let’s Make Big Profits for the Club and Not Have to Pay Anyone Night”. Some contests can suck because the majority of people at the show are friends of each comedian who have been instructed by said comedian to only laugh at his/her stuff. It makes for a crappy show and while a popularity contest might be the fairest way in politics, it sucks to do it that way in comedy.
A 3 judge panel seems to work best in these contests, with at least 2 of the judges being people who are in the business. The panel this night 3 comics, all with different styles, so it was a good mix.

The most important part when performing in a comedy competition is when you go on. The best contests automatically disqualify comics who go long. The only comic out of the four who was at any disadvantage was the first person who had to hit the stage while the crowd was still getting warmed up. I tried to keep this in mind when I was judging his performance, especially since I should have done a better job of opening. This first comic seemed like a lot of comics who get into comedy. Angry, white, and without much stage presence. I totally get why someone with these traits finds standup a place to vent their frustrations. Anyone who hits the stage has a case of look-at-me disease, so if you are person that is generally ignored by society, the stage is a therapeutic place.
The best way to have unique material is to tell stories about your life. A lack of audience response hurts your rhythm and timing. Right from the beginning you notice the stage presence. If it is someone very comfortable with him or herself, this type of presence makes the audience connect right from the start. The may be only a difference of a point on a judge’s scorecard between the Top 3.

Judging a comedy award is no laughing matter www.independent.co.uk
I have watched someone in a pig’s head miming one-liners, a man singing songs on a cross-trainer and a woman polishing off a story about her ex by eating a light bulb. I have sat stony-faced through superhero sketch shows and fallen off my stool laughing at a mime of someone kicking a football. I have listened to stories about porn addiction and grandmothers, racism and dinner parties, true love and break-ups, ventriloquism, and too much flesh. The comedy striptease is the new mother-in-law joke.
Why am I doing this? I have been tasked with finding comedy’s “Next Big Thing”. So it is an honour and a responsibility to join a panel of seven fellow newspaper critics, comedy editors and television and radio commissioners (plus three members of the public) in the hunt to find the funniest man, woman or gang.
The first official panel meeting at the weekend was a grim-faced half-day where every single show was discussed – some dismissed with a single chorus of “no”, others debated at passionate length. In 90 minutes, we had whittled 578 contenders down to 45 before voting on a longlist. My inner Cheryl Cole came out as I talked about star quality and why my favourites should “100 per cent go through”. It is democratic, straightforward and intensely personal, too. When someone disses your champion show, it feels like an attack on your sense of humour – which, of course, it is.

Wikipedia (for those stuck at the screeen with nothing better to do) History of Stand-up Comedy   In the United States this has its roots in various traditions of popular entertainment of the late 19th century, including vaudeville, burlesque or early variety shows, minstrel shows, humorist monologues by personalities such as Mark Twain, and circus clown antics. With the turn of the century and urban living, the structure, pacing and timing, and material of American humor began to change. Comedians of this era often depended on fast-paced joke delivery, slapstick, outrageous or lewd innuendo, and donned an ethnic persona—African, Scottish, German, Jewish—and built a routine based on popular stereotypes. Jokes were generally broad and material was widely shared, or in some cases, stolen. Industrialized American audiences sought entertainment as a way to escape and confront city living.
The founders of modern American stand-up comedy include Jack Benny, Bob Hope, George Burns, Fred Allen, and Milton Berle a who came from vaudeville. Nightclubs and resorts became the new breeding ground for stand-ups with acts such as Danny Thomas, Martin and Lewis, Don Rickles, and Joan Rivers.

In the 1950s and into the 1960s, stand-ups such as Mort Sahl began developing their acts in small folk clubs and added an element of social satire and expanded both the language and boundaries of stand-up, venturing into politics, race relations, and sexual humor. Lenny Bruce became known as ‘the’ obscene comic when he used language that usually led to his arrest. Arrests for obscene language on stage nearly disappeared until George Carlin was arrested on 21 July 1972 at Milwaukee’s Summerfest after performing the routine “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television”; the case against Carlin was eventually dismissed. Other notable comics from this era include Woody Allen, Shelley Berman, Phyllis Diller, and Bob Newhart. Some Black American comedians such as Redd Foxx, George Kirby, Bill Cosby, and Dick Gregory began to cross over to white audiences during this time.

In the 1970s, several entertainers became major stars based on stand-up comedy performances. Richard Pryor and George Carlin followed Lenny Bruce’s acerbic style to become icons. Stand-up expanded from clubs, resorts, and coffee houses into major concerts in sports arenas and amphitheaters. Steve Martin and Bill Cosby had levels of success with gentler comic routines. The older style of stand-up comedy (no social satire) was kept alive by Rodney Dangerfield and Buddy Hackett, who enjoyed revived careers late in life. Don Rickles, whose legendary style of relentless merciless attacks on both fellow performers and audience members alike kept him a fixture on TV and in Vegas from the 1960s all the way to the 2000s, when he appeared in the wildly popular Pixar Toy Story films as Mr Potato Head, who just happened to share Don’s grouchy onstage mannerisms. Television programs such as Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show helped publicize the careers of other stand-up comedians, including Janeane Garofalo, Bill Maher and Jay Leno.

From the 1970s to the ’90s, different styles of comedy began to emerge, from the madcap stylings of Robin Williams, to the odd observations of Jerry Seinfeld and Ellen DeGeneres, the ironic musings of Steven Wright, to the mimicry of Whoopi Goldberg, and Eddie Murphy. These comedians would serve to influence the next generation of comedians, including Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Dave Chappelle, Dave Attell, Patrice O’Neal, Greg Giraldo, Doug Benson, Bill Hicks. . . .

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