A B C D E F G H I J L M N O P R S T Z
The Reversal or Twist - Not an early 60's dance craze but the twin of the Punch Line or Payoff. It is THE essential moment in comedy. There is no laugh or smile without it. The audience have been taken one way with the set up and then taken in totally the opposite direction by words or images.The moment of realisation that they have been duped mysteriously causes the brain to signal that it is necessary to open ones mouth and bray. The body relaxes and is suffused with well being. You couldn't make this up. The reversal is the bodies' drug of choice; it seeks more from a reliable supplier i.e. a good comedian.
The reversal can only be as good as the setup. The Holy Grail of stand up is an engaging setup and a near believable reverse. It is indeed the way he/she tells 'em.
Jason Manford a highly skilled Mancunian comedian recounts a story of driving a car on a motorway and having to urinate in an empty water bottle while holding the steering wheel at 80mph. He then pours the urine out of the window. He suddenly looks angry and downcast and do you know he failed me for that. With each word he had carefully painted a picture of his actions. The image was alive and progressing in the listeners mind, and importantly was entirely plausible and amusing in its own right, then, the sudden reversal re-framing the story - he was in the middle of a driving test.
WHY this causes laughter no-one really knows. The trick for the aspiring stand up is to create a set up worthy of a reversal which is also mostly believable.
A gag depends on a swift set up and short reversal. A lady moth is a myth. It stands alone. A stand up in the present decade is expected to avoid gags and theme their set ups so for instance Jason Manford themed his jokes around cars. The audience will remember a string of jokes around a topic area. The theming places the stand-up in time and place that relates to their character, their story as opposed to the gagster who places one unconnected gag after another.
Riffing - To verbally banter or talk to the audience. This can be to build a rapport or, to stumble upon something where humour can be found - e.g. job, home town, dress-style, accent... You can also force a riff to make purposely introduce a subject that you can then tell jokes about e.g. (general shout to audience) "Has anyone ever been to Wales on holiday?"... Get the reaction... if no-one has, follow it with something derogatory such as "Not a surprise - the weather is crap and it's full of sheep"; if someone has, then you can answer with "Why? Couldn't you afford to go to Blackpool?". Either answer can look spontaneous.
Rip (or rip in to) - to angrily insult something - usually an audience member or some subject matter. Annoyingly to 'rip an audience' also means to have a highly successful gig ... finally you should not be trusted with a large knife on stage unless you are Martin Bigpig...
Roll (on a roll) - delivering a string of jokes to keep the audience laughing continually. One analysis of a Ken Dodd joke deep into his four hour set (he is cutting down now he is in his 80's) pointed out how a roll can sustain a non-joke: "Did you all get your sausages on the way in? Well don't worry you will get them on the way out!". This gets roars of laugher. Why? 'Cos he has 'em on a roll.
Routine (or Set) - Your set of material collected and performed. Usually, the material is linked together with logic to the flow and links... Audiences and comedians seem happy with this tradition but, there's no reason why this has to be the case. Go and see Charlie Chuck for a real-life example of a non-set that works brilliantly.
Running gag - a joke with repeated call-backs
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