Whip Jokes?
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darksideman13
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Whip Jokes?
I want to preform in a show with my whips and I thought it would be nice to have some funny or stupid jokes/ on liners. Anyone got any?
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Indiana County Jr.
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Re: Whip Jokes?
What kind of shirt does Indy wear during summer at the beach?
Answer:
A "whipped" T!
Ugh... I know, I know..
Answer:
A "whipped" T!
Ugh... I know, I know..
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winrichwhips
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Re: Whip Jokes?
As a whip performer, I'd tell you that it's really best to write your own jokes, or have someone help you write your own material. Using other people's material (especially without permission) is not a good way to go.
It may help to answer a few basic questions for your audience, such as why does a whip crack, why are you interested in whips, have you hurt yourself with a whip, what are whips made from, etc. You can probably come up with your own punchline or twist on each of those answers. Have you tried swinging from you whip? You might relate that story to your audience.
-Adam
It may help to answer a few basic questions for your audience, such as why does a whip crack, why are you interested in whips, have you hurt yourself with a whip, what are whips made from, etc. You can probably come up with your own punchline or twist on each of those answers. Have you tried swinging from you whip? You might relate that story to your audience.
-Adam
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darksideman13
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Re: Whip Jokes?
Well im having to settle for a talent show. So I have 5 minutes. I just wish I was funnier. ](./images/smilies/Indy_wall.gif "Brick wall")
Re: Whip Jokes?
5 minutes...that can feel like a lifetime onstage!
The thing with jokes in a whip act is they are less "whip jokes" and more jokes at the situation.
Please don't use this line, but it's one out of the show that I do in Casinos and Comedy Clubs:
"When a whip cracks it breaks the speed of sound, so the crack of the whip is actually a mini sonic boom. To give you an idea of how fast that is, if you've ever seen the Blue Angels or Thunderbirds at an air show those planes aren't allowed to break the speed of sound of the city...so when the whip cracks it's going faster than those planes. What that means to you is whatever it hits it's going to F*%# up...I need someone to help me out"
So in that statement I've told them why a whip cracks which is interesting. Then I get two solid laughs.
Here's a video of an early version of my whip act: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 925030658#. That runs about 4 1/2 minutes, right now the whip act runs 8 1/2 minutes and has a much higher laughs per minute. Once again please don't take any of my lines, I've worked really hard to get the act where is it...and to not use any "stock" type lines.
However you see how the lines are situational. Like saying: "I really should be aiming with my glasses on" isn't super funny when you read it, but it's much funnier when I'm trying to aim a whip at someone.
The best advice would be to try to write your own lines. To get started all you need to come up with is one laugh per minute, then build from there. By having one solid "anchor joke" every minute or minute and a half, you'll find that less funny lines will start to get bigger laughs.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
What's more important than getting laughs is being relavant to the situation and/or to be interesting. I throw away a lot of good jokes because while they are funny, they just don't fit in.
The best piece of advice for learning to perform comedy is that if the audience doesn't laugh at a joke and are quiet...at least they are listening. It's when the don't laugh and they are talking that you are in trouble.
The thing with jokes in a whip act is they are less "whip jokes" and more jokes at the situation.
Please don't use this line, but it's one out of the show that I do in Casinos and Comedy Clubs:
"When a whip cracks it breaks the speed of sound, so the crack of the whip is actually a mini sonic boom. To give you an idea of how fast that is, if you've ever seen the Blue Angels or Thunderbirds at an air show those planes aren't allowed to break the speed of sound of the city...so when the whip cracks it's going faster than those planes. What that means to you is whatever it hits it's going to F*%# up...I need someone to help me out"
So in that statement I've told them why a whip cracks which is interesting. Then I get two solid laughs.
Here's a video of an early version of my whip act: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 925030658#. That runs about 4 1/2 minutes, right now the whip act runs 8 1/2 minutes and has a much higher laughs per minute. Once again please don't take any of my lines, I've worked really hard to get the act where is it...and to not use any "stock" type lines.
However you see how the lines are situational. Like saying: "I really should be aiming with my glasses on" isn't super funny when you read it, but it's much funnier when I'm trying to aim a whip at someone.
The best advice would be to try to write your own lines. To get started all you need to come up with is one laugh per minute, then build from there. By having one solid "anchor joke" every minute or minute and a half, you'll find that less funny lines will start to get bigger laughs.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
What's more important than getting laughs is being relavant to the situation and/or to be interesting. I throw away a lot of good jokes because while they are funny, they just don't fit in.
The best piece of advice for learning to perform comedy is that if the audience doesn't laugh at a joke and are quiet...at least they are listening. It's when the don't laugh and they are talking that you are in trouble.
Re: Whip Jokes?
Oh, I forgot to mention that you really to know what "whip tricks" you are going to do in your 5 minute set before you can start working on jokes. Usually if you start with a jokes the work the trick to fit it, the whip trick tends to end up as a "blow off". Where if you have the trick first you can really sell it and get laughs.
Also something to consider is there is comedy time and there is whip time and typically they should never overlap. For example telling the punchline to a joke a the same instant you knock the monacle from the monopoly guys eyesocket will detract from both the trick and the joke.
A very good example of keeping comedy time and joke time separate is Chris Camp. I've only seen him on youtube, but he does very good job at getting maximum impact and in general would make a slightly better role model than tiger woods.
see how me putting the stupid tiger woods joke in there detracted from what I was trying to say.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
Also something to consider is there is comedy time and there is whip time and typically they should never overlap. For example telling the punchline to a joke a the same instant you knock the monacle from the monopoly guys eyesocket will detract from both the trick and the joke.
A very good example of keeping comedy time and joke time separate is Chris Camp. I've only seen him on youtube, but he does very good job at getting maximum impact and in general would make a slightly better role model than tiger woods.
see how me putting the stupid tiger woods joke in there detracted from what I was trying to say.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
Re: Whip Jokes?
This is an interesting thread. Having performed a couple of times in front of small and large groups, I think Louie nailed it. You must tailor your show to the audience. Teens are often hard to make laugh unless its a stupid joke (I said often, so I didn't include everyone!) If it's an older generation, regular humor is great. Little children really won't care about your jokes because they laugh at anything. Whenever I show up for a show, I know what I am going to talk about. If something comes to my head that's funny, I share it. Having lines already made up can be much harder to use.
Chris Camp is a good example. I've seen his show many times now. He has some of his jokes already created but I believe he'll throw in lines that fit the timing and audience.
Make sure you are relaxed. If you try too hard, it'll fail. When it comes to speech's, humor is a tough tool. Use it well, your audience remembers you more and they enjoy it. You fail, it can hurt the entire performance.
Chris Camp is a good example. I've seen his show many times now. He has some of his jokes already created but I believe he'll throw in lines that fit the timing and audience.
Make sure you are relaxed. If you try too hard, it'll fail. When it comes to speech's, humor is a tough tool. Use it well, your audience remembers you more and they enjoy it. You fail, it can hurt the entire performance.
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winrichwhips
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Re: Whip Jokes?
Chris definitely has his whip comedy down, and his act has great broad appeal.
Another thing to consider is your audience. If you're doing a talent show in front of your classmates at school, you should plan to aim your humor at them. There's a video out there of me with an IOAB bullwhip doing a routine known as 'Whip as a pet'. I'd say it's really a groaner of a routine, and I always have to remember to push the pace of it so people don't get bored. I personally think it works best in front of 5 year olds and families that include that age group. For any other audience I think there are stronger choices for material. (Read that as: If you are doing this talent show in front of a group of teenagers, I don't recommend doing whip as a pet. But if you do perform it, let me know how it goes.)
As far as whip time and joke time being separate, I often tried to put the two together. Using the whips to do oddball songs, such as the theme to Robot Chicken, can get a laugh with the right audience. I also have a routine that includes tap dancing in the middle of it, which is essentially a device used by jugglers in cigar box routines. Do a few hard things in a row and give 'em a twist--a consistent laugh with just about every crowd I've done it for.
Back to knowing your audience, I'm planning on taking out the "Robot Chicken" theme from my current show, as it only hits a very specific audience and it's also the only place in my show where I see people getting up to leave. Mainly I see I'll lose a family or a group of teenagers with short attention spans who seem to have no idea that I will be lighting whips on fire in 12 minutes or so.
That's another thing to consider: at the start of your 5 minutes tell the audience about some of the things you are going to do, so there can be a sense of anticipation. Also, as you go through each trick that you told them about, the audience can see that you are moving forward. I think it was Dextre Tripp who told me tell your audience what's going to happen in the show, that way when you make those things happen, you seem like a prophet of sorts. The language is kind of heavy, but you get the idea.
I'm not sure what you're going to do for tricks, but I think in a school setting the money trick involves using a teacher or principal as an assistant to hold targets. I don't know how good you are at targeting, but if you have to you can make this trick safer by including a heavy leather glove, a large target, safety goggles, a cup, etc... maybe a motor cycle helmet. I'll leave it up to you what you have the teacher wear. (Does that count as a joke, Louie?)
-Adam
PS: I've been working on including humor in my show, though my humor never seems to be as good as the whip cracking. In any videos of my show that I've seen people post on YouTube, most of the humor is edited out.
I spent a fair bit of time this past week writing and rehearsing new lines for cutting a can with a chainmail bullwhip, which I do in every show. What I've got is a bit zany and off the wall, fun for me to perform, and I guess we'll see how it goes over this coming weekend. Hopefully this doesn't end up as an example of where people just want to see the trick and could do without a wannabe stand-up comic.
I've spent some time with Vince Bruce, the great trick roper and whip cracker. Vince is a funny guy, and quite a character. He always likes coming up with new gags, and has some good ones he pulls on audience members, though I'm personally just happy to watch him spin ropes. He doesn't have to be funny for me to like his act.
Then if you consider Anthony Delongis, I can't recall that he has much humor with his whip cracking, but he has such great charisma with everything that he says that he doesn't have to be funny. If he threw corny jokes in there it might decrease the value of his charisma. So there's one more point: don't settle for humor that is of lower quality than the tricks you're performing.
Another thing to consider is your audience. If you're doing a talent show in front of your classmates at school, you should plan to aim your humor at them. There's a video out there of me with an IOAB bullwhip doing a routine known as 'Whip as a pet'. I'd say it's really a groaner of a routine, and I always have to remember to push the pace of it so people don't get bored. I personally think it works best in front of 5 year olds and families that include that age group. For any other audience I think there are stronger choices for material. (Read that as: If you are doing this talent show in front of a group of teenagers, I don't recommend doing whip as a pet. But if you do perform it, let me know how it goes.)
As far as whip time and joke time being separate, I often tried to put the two together. Using the whips to do oddball songs, such as the theme to Robot Chicken, can get a laugh with the right audience. I also have a routine that includes tap dancing in the middle of it, which is essentially a device used by jugglers in cigar box routines. Do a few hard things in a row and give 'em a twist--a consistent laugh with just about every crowd I've done it for.
Back to knowing your audience, I'm planning on taking out the "Robot Chicken" theme from my current show, as it only hits a very specific audience and it's also the only place in my show where I see people getting up to leave. Mainly I see I'll lose a family or a group of teenagers with short attention spans who seem to have no idea that I will be lighting whips on fire in 12 minutes or so.
That's another thing to consider: at the start of your 5 minutes tell the audience about some of the things you are going to do, so there can be a sense of anticipation. Also, as you go through each trick that you told them about, the audience can see that you are moving forward. I think it was Dextre Tripp who told me tell your audience what's going to happen in the show, that way when you make those things happen, you seem like a prophet of sorts. The language is kind of heavy, but you get the idea.
I'm not sure what you're going to do for tricks, but I think in a school setting the money trick involves using a teacher or principal as an assistant to hold targets. I don't know how good you are at targeting, but if you have to you can make this trick safer by including a heavy leather glove, a large target, safety goggles, a cup, etc... maybe a motor cycle helmet. I'll leave it up to you what you have the teacher wear. (Does that count as a joke, Louie?)
-Adam
PS: I've been working on including humor in my show, though my humor never seems to be as good as the whip cracking. In any videos of my show that I've seen people post on YouTube, most of the humor is edited out.
I spent a fair bit of time this past week writing and rehearsing new lines for cutting a can with a chainmail bullwhip, which I do in every show. What I've got is a bit zany and off the wall, fun for me to perform, and I guess we'll see how it goes over this coming weekend. Hopefully this doesn't end up as an example of where people just want to see the trick and could do without a wannabe stand-up comic.
I've spent some time with Vince Bruce, the great trick roper and whip cracker. Vince is a funny guy, and quite a character. He always likes coming up with new gags, and has some good ones he pulls on audience members, though I'm personally just happy to watch him spin ropes. He doesn't have to be funny for me to like his act.
Then if you consider Anthony Delongis, I can't recall that he has much humor with his whip cracking, but he has such great charisma with everything that he says that he doesn't have to be funny. If he threw corny jokes in there it might decrease the value of his charisma. So there's one more point: don't settle for humor that is of lower quality than the tricks you're performing.
Re: Whip Jokes?
Very good point Adam! DeLongis has a certain edge to him. If you can perform really well, then you don't have to have humor. Not everybody is good with humor so that's something to consider. If you are great at your stunts, leave the humor out and give it an edge. This will make the audience somewhat frightened of the whip but after every successful trick, it's a major relief. They will leave with a sense of awe (not that shows with humor can't achieve that.)
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RaidersBash
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Re: Whip Jokes?
That was funny! thanks for thatlouiefoxx wrote:5 minutes...that can feel like a lifetime onstage!
The thing with jokes in a whip act is they are less "whip jokes" and more jokes at the situation.
Please don't use this line, but it's one out of the show that I do in Casinos and Comedy Clubs:
"When a whip cracks it breaks the speed of sound, so the crack of the whip is actually a mini sonic boom. To give you an idea of how fast that is, if you've ever seen the Blue Angels or Thunderbirds at an air show those planes aren't allowed to break the speed of sound of the city...so when the whip cracks it's going faster than those planes. What that means to you is whatever it hits it's going to F*%# up...I need someone to help me out"
So in that statement I've told them why a whip cracks which is interesting. Then I get two solid laughs.
Here's a video of an early version of my whip act: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 925030658#. That runs about 4 1/2 minutes, right now the whip act runs 8 1/2 minutes and has a much higher laughs per minute. Once again please don't take any of my lines, I've worked really hard to get the act where is it...and to not use any "stock" type lines.
However you see how the lines are situational. Like saying: "I really should be aiming with my glasses on" isn't super funny when you read it, but it's much funnier when I'm trying to aim a whip at someone.
The best advice would be to try to write your own lines. To get started all you need to come up with is one laugh per minute, then build from there. By having one solid "anchor joke" every minute or minute and a half, you'll find that less funny lines will start to get bigger laughs.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
What's more important than getting laughs is being relavant to the situation and/or to be interesting. I throw away a lot of good jokes because while they are funny, they just don't fit in.
The best piece of advice for learning to perform comedy is that if the audience doesn't laugh at a joke and are quiet...at least they are listening. It's when the don't laugh and they are talking that you are in trouble.
Re: Whip Jokes?
Adam,
I rock schools when I include whip act (did two school assemblies this morning). Basically it's the same format as the comedy club one but very edited. I do a flower out of the hand of a male teacher that teaches the highest grade. Lately I've notice a lot more guy teachers.
The "disclaimer" line I use is half way through it I say, "Now if you've got a whip at home, don't go swinging it at Mr. Holert" Which usually gets a BIG laugh. "or anyone else" Then I talk about safety and the welding mask comes out....
In most cases a good joke needs one of two things:
1. A surprise
2. A strong visual
so in the Disclaimer line I create a visual of the kids whipping their teacher. So that line does double duty, it's my "don't try this at home", but it also gets a laugh. The laugh has a function and is relavant, it's not just a joke that I threw in because I thought it was funny.
While this may be getting into more advanced Variety Performance Theory (however this is something I've very passionate about), but eventually you need to consider if you are either:
A Skill at that is funny
or
A comedian that has Skill(s)
They are two very different things and put the focus on different elements of your show.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
I rock schools when I include whip act (did two school assemblies this morning). Basically it's the same format as the comedy club one but very edited. I do a flower out of the hand of a male teacher that teaches the highest grade. Lately I've notice a lot more guy teachers.
The "disclaimer" line I use is half way through it I say, "Now if you've got a whip at home, don't go swinging it at Mr. Holert" Which usually gets a BIG laugh. "or anyone else" Then I talk about safety and the welding mask comes out....
In most cases a good joke needs one of two things:
1. A surprise
2. A strong visual
so in the Disclaimer line I create a visual of the kids whipping their teacher. So that line does double duty, it's my "don't try this at home", but it also gets a laugh. The laugh has a function and is relavant, it's not just a joke that I threw in because I thought it was funny.
While this may be getting into more advanced Variety Performance Theory (however this is something I've very passionate about), but eventually you need to consider if you are either:
A Skill at that is funny
or
A comedian that has Skill(s)
They are two very different things and put the focus on different elements of your show.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
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winrichwhips
- Professor of Archaeology
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Re: Whip Jokes?
Hey Louie,
I've already been told several times that I'm a skill act that is funny. Though the goal with ren fair shows is to eventually be a funny guy that has a skill, so the character and comedy take up most of the time in the show. The main reason is that if a ren fair performer ends up with a solid circuit of ren fairs, the physical tolls of being a comedian are fewer than being just a skills act.
-Adam
I've already been told several times that I'm a skill act that is funny. Though the goal with ren fair shows is to eventually be a funny guy that has a skill, so the character and comedy take up most of the time in the show. The main reason is that if a ren fair performer ends up with a solid circuit of ren fairs, the physical tolls of being a comedian are fewer than being just a skills act.
-Adam
Re: Whip Jokes?
I know what that is like trying to come up with something funny for a show. When i crack a whip in front of an audience and "Crack" (pun Intended) jokes they tend to be dumb... like the one i just used...
more often than not i have told stories about how i have hit myself on the head with the whip (when i was bald by the way... and try explaining the mark on your head at work the next day too...) and oddly enough that gets a chuckle or two.
sometimes my audience tends to match my age and intelligence (which really isnt saying much...) so i will make a few S&M jokes, just for the sake of novelty.
Sometimes the crowds will say something about Indy and I will say that I am in fact trying to be Catwoman (The visual punchline being that I am a 6'3 Muscular dude...)
some jokes work... most don't but I am always trying!
Keep up the good work!
Cheers!
Dan
more often than not i have told stories about how i have hit myself on the head with the whip (when i was bald by the way... and try explaining the mark on your head at work the next day too...) and oddly enough that gets a chuckle or two.
sometimes my audience tends to match my age and intelligence (which really isnt saying much...) so i will make a few S&M jokes, just for the sake of novelty.
Sometimes the crowds will say something about Indy and I will say that I am in fact trying to be Catwoman (The visual punchline being that I am a 6'3 Muscular dude...)
some jokes work... most don't but I am always trying!
Keep up the good work!
Cheers!
Dan
Re: Whip Jokes?
Adam,
Developing a performing character was the best thing I ever did. My performing character is basically me how I'd like to be. So I've taken away my "negative" traits and rewritten some (a lot) of my history.
S.H. Sharpe who was a magician a long time ago said something like: You need to have strong entertainment for people that don't know how easy/hard the trick you are doing are...but you need to have some things that are technically not easy to show you have some above average skill to those that know a little or a lot about the tricks you are presenting.
That applies to a whip act.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
Developing a performing character was the best thing I ever did. My performing character is basically me how I'd like to be. So I've taken away my "negative" traits and rewritten some (a lot) of my history.
S.H. Sharpe who was a magician a long time ago said something like: You need to have strong entertainment for people that don't know how easy/hard the trick you are doing are...but you need to have some things that are technically not easy to show you have some above average skill to those that know a little or a lot about the tricks you are presenting.
That applies to a whip act.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
-
darksideman13
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Re: Whip Jokes?
Well I took mixed opinions to my audition today. Yes, I did sit down and think through my act what would be funny and wrote my own material. Funny you mention that thing about cat woman because I said the exact same thing during my act. From the mixed panel of adults and teens I got a good amount of laugh. REALLY scared the principal when I was cutting flowers out of his hands. I gave him a "protective vest" that had one sleeve cut of and some fake blood spread around it. Ill see if I cant get a recording of the actual performance. Its really cool to read through the comments of other performers. Thanks a lot guys!
Re: Whip Jokes?
I like the idea that you came up with for the "Protective vest" and i am glad to hear that it worked out well for you. I do hope to see a video of that, it would be amazing! well keep up the good work man!
Cheers
Dan
Cheers
Dan