Laughing Men In Suits

*Clap*

Either way, I gave you an upvote and a view, with meme comment.

I couldn't have delivered it any better. At least it was a new one for me.

Now you can say this joke to any of your masochistic acquaintances who have male genitalia... and won't kill you for saying it...

Sorry. I was concerned you'd take offense. The punchline was the saving grace. The setup was too wordy, or clunky. Try this: " My friend told me he's a masochist. I told him..." Tighter wording helps. Doing stand-up it probably doesn't hurt to explain what a masochist is, but in writing a joke, assume they know the term. If they don't, there's always Google.

Your setup will keep this from going to front page. I just rejoined imgflip, but compare where I'm at after two weeks to your stats. Try it again with the wording I suggested. This way you reach a wider audience.

Now I'm offended...

But in the morning you will be alive go either be royally pissed at me, or realize this former comic is Passing on some of the tricks he learned the hard way.

I hate dropping names, but I will. Back when I started doing stand up, Jay Leno caught my act. He was already a headliner. His advice was thaty material was good (it was) but I needed to work on my timing. He didn't tell me how to do that, but I studied other comics. I saw what they did wrong and right. Writing was the same.

Meanwhile. Ask your friend if he broke up with his current partner, would he find it painful: painful enough to like it?

Are you trying to convince me that you really talked to Jay Leno? Really?

Tickles Comedy Club, Warren, Ohio. 1982. He'd been on the talk show circuit and was a scheduled headliner. I was just starting my comedy career and he was in the audience on open mike night and owner introduced us. Talking with other comics over the years, they've told me that he tells that to most new comics. It's good advice. I sped up my delivery and tightened my script. That meant keeping the wording concise.

You've seen people tell a joke that were terrible at it. "There lnce was this guy. I think his name was Sid. Or was it Martin? No, it was Sid. Anyway, Sid was walking down Second street in Titusville when he stopped in front of a barbershop...no, wait, it was a beauty parlor...anyway Sid, oh crap, it wasn't Sid, it was his neighbor, Gladys..."

Too much information can ruin a joke.

Yes, I did stand-up from 1982 to 1995. I switched over to writing, although I did a little radio work as "the listener that called in" as well as interviews. I considered putting a comedy troupe together some years ago and discovered why a lot of funny people would never make a living at it. It requires a lot of discipline. A comic can spend an hour developing a three second zinger. Or they can get it right the first time, anytime. One reason why I like writing.

In a TV Guide interview back in the early 70s, Flip Wilson commented that comedy is a serious business. Take the Smothers Brothers. The brains behind their success is Tom. Look at Robin Williams background and you'll discover he studied at Juliard.

Sorry for the boring lecture on comedy. Next one will be how to build on a joke.

I'm not reading all of that, I have a life to get back to...