Adults think that it is more difficult to make them laugh than children, so you get more credit as

an entertainer if you are able to make them laugh while entertaining the kids as well. However,
David thinks the opposite is true. Just throw in a more sophisticated joke aimed at the adults
here and there and you’ll be viewed as a more talented, more valuable entertainer.

 Follow Art Linkletter’s Kids Say the Darnedest Things format. Have the children answer
questions. You’d usually get fresh—and funny—answers.

 Important tip: Video your own shows for your review, reference, and of course,
promotion. You’ll never know when you’re going to have a golden moment, so be sure
to capture everything.

 Jot down your ideas for jokes or new materials.

 Don’t be afraid to do trial and error. That’s the only way to know which works and
which doesn’t.
  Setup: the information needed to make the punch line funny. You want this to be
as short as humanly possible—but don’t make it shorter than what it needs to be.
Use only the necessary words and get to the funny as quickly as possible.

 Punch line: the funny part.

To squeeze in as many laughs as possible (professional comedians aim for 10-15 laughs per
minute), you need your setups to be pretty short. In fact, if the setup can be one word
shorter, then that’s how it should be. Remember: more punch line, less setup.

 When something funny is happening, the characters just freeze and stare with their
emotion showing on their face. The audience find this hysterical because they know
exactly what the characters are feeling even without the characters saying anything.

 The takeaway is if you have a strong enough attitude, emotion, and character, and
the audience know how you feel about something, you can just come in and freeze
and stay very still in that emotion and the audience will be laughing and laughing.

 If you’re onstage and you got a big laugh from something you said, just freeze and
stay still in the emotion and let the audience laugh. Don’t go on to the next line
because if you do, the audience will stop laughing. They will cut themselves off
because they want to hear the next line. Pausing this way might feel weird at first
but it won’t look weird to the audience—just let them laugh. Only when the laugh
starts to die down do you say your next line.

 “If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original.” -
Sir Ken Robinson, education specialist

 Try enough things to see what works and what doesn’t.

  What David does is he inserts an experimental segment right in the middle of his
show where for 5 minutes, he tries out his new materials. This way, in case the new
materials don’t work, he still starts strong and finishes strong and no one will likely
remember the bits that didn’t work in the middle.

 According to David, nine out of his ten materials don’t work, but the one thing that
does will find its way to the start or end (the strong points) of his show. The
accumulation of these new materials keeps his show fresh.

 David does this experimental segment only when he has a good, receptive crowd.
You don’t want to try something new in front of a not too responsive crowd because
their weak reception won’t help you find the ‘gold’ in your new materials.

 Always move forward. By being willing to try new things, your show won’t be perfect
every time, but it will pay off in the long run as it will keep you from being stale. And
besides, new stuff makes performing more exciting for you.

 You’ll be able to charge more for your show and bring in more bookings the funnier
you are. The harder you make people laugh, the more they are likely to remember
you and hire you.

 Your actual show is your best advertisement to the people right there watching your
performance. This is especially true for birthday shows.

KEA
David DeVito’s KEA lecture Funny = Money
David’s website