Perfect Comedic Timing

So...one of the recent topics of conversation in our house has to do with comedic timing. 

I, of course, am teaching this to my son because...well, do I really need to explain the why?

If this needs explanation for you, you should probably just stop reading this blog right now. And no, not just this post. All of them.

He's struggling with the concept of "not every joke makes it to the album."

Sure this would necessitate that he knows what an "album" is...but I digress. (For the record, he does. And that between albums and CDs, there were things such as 8-tracks as well as cassette tapes. And he also knows that we didn’t always have remote controls for the TV. You know…in the Stone Age.)

For those of you who have all of a sudden gotten lost, what I mean by is this: old school comedians would put out an album of their material…often it was live. But always was edited.

Most assuredly, not every joke they told in their act was "for the album"...they just weren't good enough.

Everyone clear now on what I mean?

I must pause and give credit to Mr. Always Random for coining that phrase. Or if he didn’t coin it, he stole it convincingly enough for me to think he coined it.

And we’re back: the other thing we discuss in the context of our comedic timing is that if you tell a joke and don't get a laugh, it isn't necessarily because the other person didn't hear you.

It's probably that it wasn't funny.

You do not need to repeat it.

Or, if they did laugh the first time, they won’t necessarily laugh again (or more) if you tell it a second time.

One and done.

Actually, I didn't say it like that. Instead I said, "You don't need to beat a dead horse."

"That's exactly right mom."

Stunned, I said, “It is?"

"Yes, if I was beating a dead horse, no one would be laughing for sure."

Now THAT was funny.

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