If you wish to hone your skills as a joke teller, in order to sharpen your wit and keep a nice database of great jokes for any occasion in your head, it’s a good idea to, well, do a little studying, you might say. You’d be surprised how many new ideas can come your way while just flipping through a humor book or two. Here’s where to start.
The Classic Comedians
The classic stand up comics have put out some interesting work, both as biographers and in simply collecting their favorite jokes. Recommended would be How to Tell Dirty Jokes and Influence People by Lennie Bruce as far as non-fiction goes, while anything with jokes by Rodney Dangerfield or Don Rickles is fantastic for humor’s sake. Anything by Steven Wright is gold, too.
Niche Joke Books
The goal here is to discover those diamonds in the rough. Most joke books are three hundred recycled yuks that were barely funny the very first time you heard them, but there are some good niche joke books out there. 100% Blond Jokes is like an encyclopedia of jokes you could rephrase and make use of to possess a laugh at the expense of the foolish folks a highly effective life!
Comedy on DVD
This is often helpful for studying delivery. The golden rule is that: The joke is is what’s funny, not you. A bad comic can ruin a good joke, but it’s the rare comic who can save a bad one. Check out a few of the works of Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby for some excellent delivery. Mitch Hedberg is another one who has mastered delivery and can make the most of some pretty corny (but still quite funny) material. It’s all in the delivery, so study up.