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 You’ve
interviewed the client for the purpose of delivering a humorous speech
to his group. You are ready to kick off your presentation with some
hilarious jokes. In fact, you’ve already pulled together a couple of
witty set-up lines. Now all you need to do is fill in the punch lines
and, boom, your jokes will rock! But how do you drum up a punch line out
of the blue? As a comedian and professional speaker, I launch almost all
my humorous keynotes with comedy aimed at the group I’m speaking to
(such as corporations or nonprofit organizations). Let me share a few
techniques for creating targeted punch lines:
你曾經面對一群來賓，為了進行一場幽默演講。你正準備好以一個有趣的話，來開始你的簡報。事實上，你已經收集合了數個詼諧的笑梗，你所需要作的是把這些笑梗，令人不經意情況下說出，這樣你的笑話就打動全場。但是要如何在令人不經意下，有力地說出一個笑梗呢？身為一位喜劇演員與專業演講師，我幾乎所有的幽默演講開場都帶著喜感，且以我正要演說的群體為目標，例如企業團體或非營利組織。讓我來分享幾個技巧來，創造可獲得預期結果的笑梗。
1. Make it a problem.
製造問題法
Look at your set-up line as if it’s a problem you need to solve, and
then make your punch line an extreme solution to that problem. Comedy is
all about extremes – somebody isn’t 100 pounds, they’re one
thousand
pounds; they aren’t 120 years old, they’re 246 years old. You don’t even
have to word the set-up line as a problem, just envision it that way,
and then come up with ways to solve it. In one of my hospital jokes, I
mention that “new hospitals are now being built so that each patient’s
window faces a garden, because some designers believe that this helps
the patient get well faster.” Then I drum up a whacky solution: “Hey, if
you want the patient to get well faster, why don’t you have his window
face a cemetery?” Okay, maybe a little too extreme, but funny.
檢視一下你安排的笑梗，如同一個你要去解決的問題。然後把你的笑梗、這個問題提出一個極端解決方法。喜劇本身就是一個極端 – 某人不是100磅重，他們是1000磅重;
他們不是120歲，而是246歲高齡。你甚至不必去解釋這是一個問題，只要讓人能想像即可，然後想出這些梗來解決這個問題。在我的一個有關醫院的笑話中，我說：「新醫院正在建造中，新醫院落成後，每一個人病人的窗戶外，都面對著花園，因為有些設計師相信，這樣作有助於病人較快康復。」然後我回應了一個古怪的解決方法：「如果想要這些病人早日康復，為什麼你不把病人的窗戶面對著墓園呢？」也許這有一點太過極端，但是很有趣。
2. Be naive.
裝傻法
Most industries have their own language and procedures that those of us
“outsiders” are totally unfamiliar with. Use this to your advantage by
taking some of their words or standard practices and make up comments
about what you think they’re talking about. I was able to use this
recently at a pediatric nursing conference when I found out they use
Botox on kids.
在大多數行業中，都有它這一行的行話，與一些程序步驟，而且這些行話是身為「外行人」所不熟悉的。藉由用內行人的話，或標準作法，來作為你的優勢，或者針對他們正在談論的話題，發表一些意見。最近在一個小兒科照護會議上，當我發現他們使Botox(消除臉上皺紋藥)用在兒童身上時，我就運用上這個方法。
I’m sure it’s not to
make them look younger, the way Botox is used for adults, but I had some
fun with that angle anyway. I feigned naiveté, asking, “What’s it for?
So a 5-year-old can look like he’s 3?” And then went from that premise
to several more jokes. Even if you are familiar with the subject, try to
put yourself in the shoes of someone who’s not familiar with it, and
think about what that person might think.
過去Botox是用在成人身上，我確定Botox不是用來讓兒童看起來比較年輕。但是我對這點有些有趣的看法。我假裝天真的問：「這樣作代表什麼意思呢？一位5歲小孩可以看起像一位3歲的小孩嗎？」然後從這個假設引申出幾個笑話。即使你對某個主題非常熟悉，試著站在不熟悉這個主題的人的立場去想一想，並且思考一下這些人如何是如想的。
3. Confuse it.
混淆法。
Along with being naïve, you can also take something you’ve never heard
of and confuse it with something that you are familiar with. For
example, I did a show in which the group did “speed networking.” I can
guess what that is, but I had more fun spending the whole networking
time asking dating questions, pretending that’s what I thought you were
supposed to do. “Oh, it was speed
networking?
I thought it was speed dating. I think I owe some of you guys an
apology.”
除了裝傻法外，你也可以拿你沒聽說過的事，或你把某些你熟悉的事弄混淆。例如，我曾為一群商業人士辦一場讓他們能快速認識其他商業人士的活動。我可以猜的到這是一個怎麼樣的活動，但是我就開玩笑的花整個活動時間，問有約會時才會問的問題，假裝我認為這些商業人士是來約會的。「喔，這是一個商業人士交流活動(speed
networking)啊？我以為這是快速約會(speed
dating)呢。我想我應向在場的人道歉。」
4. Sound it out.
發音法。
Sometimes the subject of your joke sounds like something else. When you
learn the name of a company or product, give some thought to what it
sounds like or reminds you of, or even rhymes with. I recently did a
show for a group who made security software for computers, and its
company name was extremely odd – basically just a mix of letters in the
alphabet. So I pointed out that while the company may make security
software, its name sounded like a computer virus. It got a good laugh
and an “ah-ha” moment for the owners!
有時候你的笑話主題，聽起來像是在說其它事情一樣。當你知道某一家公司或產品時，公司的名字怎麼念，會給你一些想法，或讓你想起一些事。最近我為一間作安全防護軟體的公司辦一場秀展，它的公司名稱非常的奇怪，基本上是幾個英文字母的所拼湊成的。我指出這間公司也許是在作安全防護軟體，但是它的名字聽起來像是一隻電腦病毒，這引起很好的笑果，而且這間公司負責人也發出會心一笑。
5. First impressions.
第一印象法。
What is your first impression of a product the company sells or an
activity at its event? What do you think someone else’s first impression
might be? Take a step back from your writing and really look at the
subject. One group I spoke to told me that its conference registration
gift would be grooming kits with tweezers, nail clippers and the like.
By looking at what my (or anyone’s) first impression would be when they
received that out of the blue, I came up with a great opening line:
“Before I get started, I just want to be sure I’m not the only one who
showed up at registration and was given a grooming kit!”
對一間公司所賣的產品，或在某一事件中的一個活動，給你第一印象是什麼？你認為別人對同一事物的第一印象可能是什麼？離開你的講稿一步，並且認真的看著標題想一想。有次我對一群人進行演說，這群人告訴我「這個大會的報到贈品是一組鑷子、指甲剪等等的修指甲包。看著當每個人收到這份出呼意料的報到贈品第一個表情，我想到了一個好的開場白。「在我開始之前，我想要確認我不是那個唯一在報到台收到修指甲包的人吧！」
6. Look for the obvious.
簡易明白法。
There’s a fine line between doing a joke about the audience that they’ve
probably heard before, and doing one that’s obvious but may not have
been done. Telling lawyer jokes to a bunch of lawyers is not a good
idea, but sometimes you can take a chance if you think they may not have
picked up on something obvious. I successfully did this when I spoke to
a company that makes boxes and found out the company owner’s name was
Jack. Get it?
對聽眾開一個他們從沒聽過的笑話，與開一個簡單易懂，但是從來沒人講過的話笑，只有一線之隔。對一群律師講有關律師的笑話，這不是個好主意；但是有時如果你認為，他們從來沒有聽過這麼簡單易懂的笑話，你倒可以利用這個機會。當我有次對一間作盒子的公司演說，發現到這間公司負責人的名字叫傑克，我成功地如此試過，猜的到嗎？
After talking with
several employees, I realized that no one ever mentioned that
connection. I kept wondering, “Why not – do they not see this?” Usually
clients will point out the obvious jokes, but no one did. So I tossed in
the Jack-in-the-box [toy] observation and got a huge laugh. As a saver,
I made sure that I had a quick follow-up joke in case people groaned
about it!
在告訴幾個員工有關負責人名字，與盒子的關係後，我發現從來沒有人說過盒子和傑克有關係的話笑。我持續假裝的問「為什麼你們都沒有看到呢？」通常聽眾會明白這個容易明白的笑點，但是這次卻沒有人知道。所以我就拋出Jack-in-the-box的玩具，然後獲得滿堂大笑。但是萬一有人抱怨的話，身為一個救星，我確定我會很快的接著講下一個笑話。
So next time you’re
working on some killer, customized comedy for a group, run your subjects
through these scenarios to make your humor a hit!
下次當你在為一群人想一些絕佳笑梗，或為聽衆量身訂作的笑話時，徹底的想一下標題，與週遭情境來讓你的演說更加幽默。
Jan McInnis
is a comedian, professional speaker and comedy writer based in Southern
California. She’s the author of
Finding the Funny Fast: How
to Create Quick Humor to Connect with Clients, Coworkers and Crowds.
Jan can be reached at
www.ComedyWriterBlog.com.
作者：Jan
Mclnnis,
喜劇演員、專業演講者及喜劇作家，居住於南加州。她著有Finding
the Funny Fast：How
to Create Quick Humor to Connect with Clients, Coworkers and Crowds一書。www.ComedyWriterBlog.com
可得更多有關Jan的資訊。
譯者：張景賀 Hank Chang,
Hsinchu Toastmasters Club
新竹英語國際演講會 |
