To save his mates from KFC! XD
All of us tell a joke or two to get a laugh out of our friends or our audience at a standby comedy show. However, there are a few people who may not have known the reference because KFC may not exist in their community or country. Short and sharp jokes may induce uncontrollable laughter but it risks mockery, sheer embarrassment, loss of self-dignity leaving a bad impression on the audience. That is why I steer clear of knock knock, racist or chicken-crossing-the-road jokes because I cringe when people either don’t understand the joke or weirdly gaze at me like I spoke Russian to them. There are infinite variants of those jokes and it hurts my mind understanding every single variant. After watching numerous comedy shows from the UK, USA and Australia like “Mock The Week”, “Whose Line Is It Anyway”, “Last Week Tonight”, “The Office”, “The Chase”, “Good News Week”, “8 out of 10 cats”, “Never Mind The Buzzcocks” and “The Last Leg”, I have noticed many common themes in the thousands of jokes being shared by comedians. They often reference:
— Male & Female Genitalia or any sexual references
— Impressions of ridiculous scenes that seem impossible to happen
— Overreactions to subtle situations
— High use of swear words
— Foreign and local accents
— Contraceptives and sexual diseases
— Romantic relationships
— Bloopers from breakfast TV shows, game shows, news bulletins and comedy shows
— Controversial people like Kerry Katona
— Their own TV hosts like Drew Carey, Bradley Walsh and Dara O’Briain
— Accidental sexual references like substituting anything long, sturdy and/or sharp for that medical term television morally bans but not live in the studio
— Common jargon depending on the context like travel, sports, fashion, education and entertainment.
— Droppings and Defecation
— Impressions of different people, animals and everyday activities e.g. A baboon’s behind
— Nipple piercings
— Restroom signage and toilet training
— Foreign cultures like Indian, Mexican, Chinese, Vietnamese, French, Korean, Spanish, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, Sri Lankan, New Zealander (Kiwi), Somalian etc.
— Popular games, cartoons, movies, TV series and soaps depending on the country like:
(a) UK — Coronation Street, Eastenders, Hollyoaks, Downton Abbey, Emmerdale
(b) AUS — Neighbours, Home and Away,
(c) USA — Days of Our Lives, The Bold and The Beautiful, Brothers and Sisters
Seeing how detailed this list is, it is evident that comedians possess vast general knowledge of many topics in order for them to construct their standup performances effectively and often with hilarious results. Take Paul Sinha for instance, a British standup comedian and a professional top quiz brain on UK’s “The Chase” is ranked 14th in the 2015 World Quizzing Championships. With a brain the storage size of a computer hard drive big enough to store terabytes of general knowledge, it’s no wonder comedians have the confidence and the time of their lives to tickle anyone's funny bone for extended periods. But how do comedians construct many punchlines in their brains before we (the audience) have finished laughing at the last joke? Why do we humans have the urge to entertain our friends or audience through hilarious one-liners or standup comedy? Furthermore what triggers us to laugh after hearing those punchlines? As a matter of fact, laughter apparently is a complex neuropsychological phenomenon that is poorly understood which no one of us can comprehend with a clear and clean head. I'll attempt to answer that question hopefully without bursting into a laughing hyena in a another post.
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