When the Dinosaurs Decided to Call It a Day

When the Dinosaurs Decided to Call It a Day
By Larry Santers

Summary: ‘‘ A fond memory of typewriters. They are now extinct, just like the dinosaurs. Is that good, bad or indifferent? Musing-not very seriously-about the up and downsides of technology ‘‘

The dinosaurs when phht... over 60 millions years ago.

And then, someone invented the typewriter.

If, like yours truly, you're old and decrepit, and you're afflicted with osteoporosis or a receding hairline-as the case may be-, failing eyesight and/or hearing, then you'll remember the ruddy contraptions. Of course, the internet generation has no idea.

When I was a kid, we had a German portable Adler. And when I say portable, I really should say transportable. Anyway, it was really a wonderful piece of German grundlich engineering. Solid and stolid, I suspect it was made of cast iron. With some lead in the bottom, for added gravitas. I know where my father got his hernia from. Plus, it was your regular knuckle-bender. Getting any letter on paper required determination, stamina, and a healthy breakfast. Today's keyboards are for wimps. In actual fact, fifty years on I still strike the keys so hard that more often than not, my Apple keyboard either misses the strike, or forms the letter twice.

The case was really nice, too: some sort of reinforced cardboard, with an imitation fabric imprint, and one of those nice, hand-stitched leather, oblong handles on two swiveling eyelets that you only find on vintage suitcases these days.

Typing (of course, we still typed letters in those days) was a feast, at least for the trained typist. Every time you struck a letter, a little hammer would swing out, and just before it hit the paper, the machine would lift an inked cloth (not inappropriately called the ink ribbon) in the way of the hammer, so that the latter would not strike the paper directly but the ribbon instead, leaving on the paper a mark, with a nice little "tat" sound. If you were good, it would be a readable letter. If you were bad, or just feeble, it would leave a vague smudge. Anyway, lest you continue typing at the same spot, the machine would move the whole carriage one notch to the left, readying the paper for the next impact.

The most fun was when you reached the margin (which you set with a little metal bracket on top of the carriage): the machine would ring a little warning bell. Ding! And that was when you got to do a real carriage return: there was a long lever on the left hand side of the carriage, which you would firmly flip inwards. And lo and behold: the carriage would slide all the way back to the right, and turn the paper one line up, making a wonderful whirring sound, and again ring that little bell. Ding! Mind you: this again required determination and a firm hand. Any hesitation, and your carriage would come to a standstill halfway its journey. But by then, you probably already had moved the paper one line up. Problems, problems, problems.

All this is to say that writing a document was an intellectual, a physical, and a tactile challenge and pleasure.

There were downsides of course. Things would get really messy if you typed too fast, and the hammers would collide in mid-flight, and stay stuck. Or if the ink ribbon had to be changed in the middle of a document. Correcting typos was not easy. And if you wanted extra copies, you made carbon copies (that is what the cc. in your email comes from) by inserting a carbon sheet in between two sheets of paper: Xeroxing was still a pretty expensive proposition.

I remember when I started out in private law practice. You'd have a secretary (secretary was still a respectable trade back then) type out a brief, and then you'd revise it. And then she'd re-type it all over. And maybe even a second time if you still didn't like it. And then you'd send it to the client, and maybe he didn't like it either. You get my drift? It all was in a day's work and in the client's bill of course, so we didn't particularly worry, but can you imagine? Think of all the literature created on typewriters, until about thirty years ago. Try and picture say, John Steinbeck, struggling away at the Grapes of Wrath. The noise of the "tat, tat, tat, ding, whir, ding, tat, tat, tat,... " and so on and so forth, for hundred of pages. And the re-writing. And then the editor's twenty page letter would come in, and off he'd go again, for re-typing umpteen dozens of pages, and maybe even the whole darn thing. The mind reels... You'd get a case of writer's block for less than that.

I guess what I really want to say is that writing used to be a struggle, literally a struggle with matter. With the typewriter, with the paper. It exercised not only the mind, but also the body. On the other hand, we still had twenty-four hours in a day, back then.

Of course, we now have Microsoft Word, or should I say Microsoft Word �, and it's all much more convenient. It's a bit like MP3 versus vinyl. Playing an LP involved many steps that had to be performed with precision and in a specific order, before you could sit back in your chair and listen. And after twenty minutes, you'd have to get up to turn over the record. Now, you just tap a few keys on your keyboard, or rather, you tap the screen of your tablet or smartphone a few times, and Spotify, oops!, I mean Spotify�, starts playing any of the millions songs and tunes it has stored in its server farms somewhere. Convenient. You can feel asleep now without freaking out at the thought of your pick-up needle reaching the end of the record, and going plop... plop... plop... plop... while you're off to Never-Never Land.

It' all so convenient.

And a good thing too. Because there is so much more work now. And the days no longer have twenty-four hours.

Check out Larry's blog on http://www.larrysanters.com!

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When the Dinosaurs Decided to Call It a Day
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Stand Up Comedy Writing - Being Honest and Vulnerable

Stand Up Comedy Writing - Being Honest and Vulnerable
By John Halas

Summary: ‘‘ Where stand up comedy writing is concerned, the more honest and vulnerable you are in your comedy shows, the more the audience will connect with you. Letting what you know and feel take control of your stand up comedy writing will open many more paths for you to find your jokes. Using personal experience in your stand up comedy writing and improvising through the narrator and you as yourself views will help you uncover your true opinions ‘‘

Where stand up comedy writing is concerned, the more honest and vulnerable you are in your comedy shows, the more the audience will connect with you. Letting what you know and feel take control of your stand up comedy writing will open many more paths for you to find your jokes.

Using personal experience in your stand up comedy writing and improvising through the narrator and you as yourself views will help you uncover your true opinions. Sometimes you may even find that you are more opinionated about the subject than you originally thought. This will happen because you can say what you try feel without having to endure the consequences. Use the comedian in you to say all those things you have been thinking, but holding back.

You will discover that using other characters points of view when stand up comedy writing will allow you to say and do things that you would never dream of actually doing or saying in public. When the audience finds it offensive, you can blame the other character point of view. In most cases, using the right strategy, comedians can get away with a lot.

Once you have created your other characters in your stand up comedy writing, you can use them to say and do things that may get you into trouble with certain audiences if you were to do or say them yourselves. However, your character is someone who will most likely say or do those things without thinking about the consequences. By using this point of view for stand up comedy writing, you will often discover the opinions that others spend their lives hiding. As a comedian, it is your duty to express these opinions through your jokes framework.

Layering Points of View

The point of view concept of stand up comedy writing is simple in itself, but there are multiple variations that can be layered into a complex routine. Sometimes when writing stand up comedy, you may want to tell a joke as yourself with the narrator leaving sarcastic remarks, or you may want to be another character with a narrator explaining the situation. Another version of stand up comedy writing is that you can be a character becoming another character within the joke. There are a multitude of combinations using the three points of view, using just two or using all three. The more you experiment, the more you will discover.

Use While Practicing

When you talk about your real life experience in stand up comedy writing, the audiences will tend to find you the funniest. So when you practice a joke as an experience you will practice using the you as yourself, you as the narrator, and you as other characters points of views. Using these three points of view during the practice method will create a very vivid memory of the experience rather than just memorizing your joke. In the next chapter you will into more depth on how to use the different points of view while practicing and polishing your routine.

Style is not an issue when it comes to points of view in stand up comedy writing because you can always find one to fit your style. The more you use them the more you will notice how they apply to your routine through helping you with staging, acquiring new material, using present tense, personifying other characters, sharing your opinions, practicing and presenting. Knowing about the points of view and how to use them expands your possibilities as a comedian and brings fun to your routine.

For help with stand up comedy writing or to hire a comedy writer,

VISIT: http://StandUpComedyWriting.Com/,

CALL/TEXT: (323) 570-4473, or

EMAIL john@writingstandupcomedy.com

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Stand Up Comedy Writing - Being Honest and Vulnerable
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Stand Up Comedy Writing - Points of View

Stand Up Comedy Writing - Points of View
By John Halas

Summary: ‘‘ This article explores stand up comedy writing points of view. In stand up comedy writing, the jokes that you tell using the different points of view give experiences within relationships and environments that build associations. When you delve into a new environment as another person, animal, or object, take advantage of the new role to create even more material for future jokes ‘‘

This article explores stand up comedy writing points of view. In stand up comedy writing, the jokes that you tell using the different points of view give experiences within relationships and environments that build associations. When you delve into a new environment as another person, animal, or object, take advantage of the new role to create even more material for future jokes.

When you need to become another character, really take the time to study the character and decide what his or her personality and life is like. Use that to get into your character and allow the character to have a part within your joke that is meaningful to the outcome of the joke. For stand up comedy writing, create jokes not just by writing them down, but by truly imagining how your character may act in a specific situation. This can lend itself to a whole new arsenal of jokes. To acquire new material by using different points of view, take the time to delve into the life of your character and use improvisation to explore the different situations.

Use Present Tense

The audience will have an easier time connecting and following your stand up comedy writing if it is presently happening. This is common teaching for actors and actresses; in a way every comic is an actor or actress. Take everything, even if it is written in past tense, and create the allusion that it is happening right now.

When utilizing this suggestion within your points of view of stand up comedy writing, it may be best to allow the character to be in the present and the narrator to remain where they are. Most narrator points of view are in the past, future, or fantasy tense since they are only observing and not participating. (When the whole routine is in narrator point of view, nothing can be related to right now.) However, when you take on the roles of a couple different characters (in most cases you and the other character) you become a participant in the experience and share it as if it is happening right now in front of the audience.

Personifying the Other Character

You will soon find that as far as stand up comedy writing is concerned, the more you begin to personify all the other characters in your material -- including personalities, descriptions, actions, and mannerisms -- the greater the depth and extent of your material. One of the most effective ways to get laughs, which is often overlooked, is showing the audience who or what your other character is or is doing. The trick is to not tell the audience what that someone or something says or does, but to keep it to yourself.

Other characters do not always have to be people; they can also be animals, trees, or emotions. Since most people already tend to put thoughts and emotions into words for their animals, this is an easy personification for stand up comedy writers. Using objects or emotions can be a little more difficult but by using what you already know you can express yourself as these other characters; you are only limited by your imagination.

For help with stand up comedy writing or to hire a comedy writer,

VISIT: http://StandUpComedyWriting.Com/,

CALL/TEXT: (323) 570-4473, or

EMAIL john@writingstandupcomedy.com

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Stand Up Comedy Writing - Points of View
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Humor Makes Our Life Easy

Humor Makes Our Life Easy
By Mohan Thulasingam

Summary: ‘‘ Humor makes our life simple and enjoyable. It fosters friendship and unites the people ‘‘

Humor rejuvenates our life akin to what the humus is doing in the soil. Seldom you can find people without it. Humor is the thing which a person can freely share with anybody, next only to an advice. Some people have a natural instinct of humor that makes them great hits. Charlie Chaplin is one such personality. However, the presence of mind and timely delivery of words or actions, make a huge difference in creating the humor. Spontaneity and skill also determine its quality.

Sense of humor exists in each one of us. Rarely, we appreciate and develop it as we have many other preoccupations. Let's refresh this valuable sense by reading jokes, watching cartoons, etc.. Humor and laughter are complementary in nature, but the latter is the product of the first one.

Types of Humor: Two types exist as Verbal and Visual humor. Comic books come under the first category. Comedy movies, puppet shows, and cartoons belong to the second type. The visual variety generally evokes instant laughter from the audience, whereas the verbal type produces a smile in the reader or listener. What appears to be humor to one person, may not be same to another. A cartoon movie makes a kid laugh though the elders shrug it off as nothing. Nevertheless, silent actions of Laurel and Hardy attract the adults also.

Benefits of Humor: The personal benefits derived from humor are 1) Relaxes tense situations 2) Relief from stress and anguish 3) Enhances creativity and efficiency and 4) Increases the lifespan. The social advantages are 1) Bonding with friends and relatives 2) Cohesiveness in the workforce 3) Greater problem-solving ability and productivity and 4) Reinforcement of general relationships.

You can join a Humor club in your locality to enlarge your social connections and enhance the health of yourself and others. The great author and humorist Mark Twain once remarked as "Humor is Mankind's greatest blessing." Henry Ward Beecher, a great social reformer and speaker said, "A person without s sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It's jolted by every pebble on the road."

Some jokes are presented here for your viewing.

1. During the Intermission of a movie show, I met a friend. He asked, "Came for the movie?" I replied, "No! No! Just to meet you."

2. Wife: You tell a man something, it goes in one ear and comes out of the other. Man: If you tell a woman something, it goes in both ears and comes out of the mouth.

3. Son: Dad, how much does it cost to get married? Father: I never calculated; I am still paying for it!

Remember, Humor makes our life simple and enjoyable. And the most important, it fosters friendship and unites the people irrespective of their creed, faith, and nationality. In short, it augurs well for a Happy and healthy life to everybody.

Get more insights on life at http://www.mohanspage.com

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Humor Makes Our Life Easy
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Stupid Things

Stupid Things
By Michael Muehleisen

Summary: ‘‘ We all do stupid things; after all we are only human. I think the only really stupid thing is to do them a second or third time ‘‘

I am dangerous with a knife in my hands. My fingers and other digits cringe in fear whenever I decide I need to cut or slice something. Sometimes, I forget which side of the blade I need to cut with, and which side I need to push down on. Other times I forget to get my fingers out of the way when I close the knife; and other times I just forget that I have a knife in my hand. Fortunately my propensity for doing stupid things with a knife is off set by my ability to heal quickly.

I also do other stupid things, such as lock my keys in the car, leave my head lights on, (thank God for that little buzzer), leave the stove on, lean back on kitchen chairs, and run on wet tile floors. I have downloaded programs that aren't compatible with my version of Windows, left my cell phone in my shirt pocket, then bent over to flush the toilet, and lit my back yard gas grill with a match when the gas was on high. My miraculous healing abilities, high endurance of pain, hard head, quick growing eye brows, and the Triple A have helped me recover from some of these.

I have been known to run my mouth without engaging my brain, walk into objects that are in plain sight, light my nose on fire instead of my cigar (I have a big nose), walk into opposing stadiums wearing Oakland Raider's clothes, throw my white clothes in with the colored laundry (I went through college wearing pink underwear), wear sneakers to a dance on a gym floor, and hammer my thumb instead of the nail.

I have done other stupid things like told my wife she looks fat in that dress, microwaved a TV dinner in an aluminum foil tray, tried to rewire a switch without turning off the breaker, bathe my cat, change a light bulb without someone holding the ladder, and forget to put oil in my lawn mower.

We all do stupid things; after all we are only human. I think the only really stupid thing is to do them a second or third time. With the exception of wearing Oakland Raider's gear to opposing stadiums, I do my best to learn from my mistakes.

My guardian angel is busy enough with the mistakes I make the first time around.

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Keywords: guardian angel,Oakland Raiders,stupid things,doing stupid things

Stupid Things
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How Improvisation Is Used Well in Comedy

How Improvisation Is Used Well in Comedy
By Melanie Hope

Summary: ‘‘ Whether you are a working on becoming a standup comedian or a humorous keynote speaker, the ability to improvise can often save your bacon. Luckily for you, improv can be learned and honed. These three techniques will show you how to get started ‘‘

The ability to improvise - or make something up on the fly - is a useful tool to have in your arsenal no matter what task is at hand. If you are a standup comedian or humorous speaker, however, improvisational skills are critical.

As a comedian, the most beneficial time to be able to improvise is when you have a joke fall flat. It's never a good thing to ignore when you've lost your audience or you've dropped a dud. With a few improv techniques, you can go from crickets to giggles or groaning. Either way, you'll have them back on your side.

Following are a couple of comedy techniques that lend well to improvisation:

Self-effacing humor

When you are delivering a comedy routine, the goal is to get the audience on your side. The more they agree with you, feel your pain, or just like you, the more they are willing to laugh. When you tell a joke that no one laughs at, you can poke fun at yourself and get them to laugh at that instead.

One of the masters of this technique was Johnny Carson. During one of his famous monologues, when he realized he wasn't getting any laughs, he told the audience, "Come on folks, it's better to give than receive." When someone laughed particularly loud, he looked bewildered and said, "Where did that laugh come from?" He then looked off stage and laughed to himself, saying, "Oh, the staff!" He got the audience back on board, laughing with him. For the rest of the monologue, he poked fun at his own inability to deliver it, from acting like he had a mouthful of peanut butter to saying, "Well, I'm just going to keep plugging away at this." He got more laughs at poking fun at himself than at any of the pre-written jokes.

Folks would rather laugh with you than at you, so don't be cruel to yourself. It's a tough line to straddle. Keep it real, but keep it light.

Observational humor

You may have seen or heard something on your way to the stage that you can use somewhere in your set - and this spur-of-the-moment comment may get the biggest laugh of the night. What you are looking for is a shared experience between you and the audience, a large-scale inside joke, if you will.

One of the best examples of observational humor is Robin Williams. He could walk into a room and do nothing but talk about aspects of the room and have people rolling in the aisles with laughter.

As a keynote speaker, doing a bit of homework will help. Know the names of your hosts, the names of the bosses, and a quirk or two about the organization you can build on. Get a feel for the room, what people are saying about the food or climate, and keep your eyes open for anything out of the ordinary that may happen along the way.

As a comedian, it's a good way to handle a heckler or technical issues. Make the jokes lighthearted and inviting. The more inclusive, the more fun your audience will have. Try to take them by surprise, but make it easy for them to recognize what you're doing. People love being in on the joke.

Callbacks

If an earlier joke went particularly well - or particularly bad - you can call back on it later and recycle the laugh, sometimes even heighten it. Again, you are going for the shared experience with your audience. If you can refer to something someone else who came on before you said, all the better! It will both get a laugh and make you look like a genius.

Improvised callbacks only work in that moment, however. These aren't jokes that you can use later at another venue because no one will understand them. You could try to explain it, but the setup might take too long, and it won't be fun anymore. If you find yourself thinking, "You had to be there," leave it there.

I was the last act in a standup expose at a club in Las Vegas, judged by some big names on the Strip. When the first comedienne was bashed by the judges because she didn't move the microphone stand and almost tripped over it during her set, may of us incorporated the microphone stand into our sets, from using it as a cane to make it across the stage, to hiding behind it when a joke didn't get laughs. Even when the joke preceding it didn't work, the callback did.

The trick to this improv technique is to make it both flow naturally, and yet still be unexpected. If it sounds forced, is overused, or is esoteric, it just won't be funny.

Practice and combine!

As you can see, these techniques can overlap in several areas, yet all rest in your ability to have confidence to make something up in the moment. Much like your comedy routine, improv is a skill that you can develop. Give yourself assignments to practice making things up. Watch other comedians and how they react to unexpected situations. Try it out as often as you can, and it will get easier and more natural.

M�lanie Hope is an award-winning humorous speaker and the author of "Improv Your Bottom Line: Surge your sales and strengthen your team with the secrets of improvisation." Contact her via http://hopespeaking.com

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How Improvisation Is Used Well in Comedy
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