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Greetings everyone, Thanks to all who entered the Halloween script writing contest. I was happy to help judge the entries and enjoyed seeing what many of you could offer up on short notice within a specific topic. But before we get to the winner, I must say that I learned a few things while going through your writings. First of all, I noticed that most of the entries were written with a purpose rather than simply being entertaining. In other words, a message was usually intended besides trying to satisfy the goal of being funny. I tend to be isolated within the areas of the entertainment business where the only goal is to try and make people laugh... And I pride myself in telling people that my act has no social redeeming value whatsoever! But while reading your entries, I was reminded of a survey we took at the Vent Haven conVENTion a few years ago when trying to determine who was coming to our conventions and why. We found that a very large number of attendees used ventriloquism for more noble purposes: Many voice-throwers use their skills to teach and/or present a message. Be it a gospel message, or one to teach kids the pitfalls of smoking, people used their puppets to enlighten. As a result, I had to pull back on my original intentions when judging this writing contest. At first I was simply going to go through the scripts and find the one that I thought would make an audience laugh the most. If I did that however, I'd be missing some of what many of you try to accomplish. So I had to add a few more parameters to the contingencies of judging. Still though, I feel that when an audience sees a dummy, they expect to laugh. If they're not treated to some good jokes and lively escapism during the show, they usually walk away disenchanted. So now I'm back almost to my original expectations: Write your scripts as you need to, to put your message across, but maintain the audience's interest by making the show as funny as you can. In stand-up comedy, if one is going to really keep the audience's attention and keep them rolling, a laugh needs to come every ten to fifteen seconds. I've said this before in some of the lectures at our conVENTion: Time any really good stand-up comic on TV. If he's killing, he's getting at least five or six good laughs a minute. That's not easy, but it's the true key to success in the stand-up world. Okay, now let's be more realistic when you're presenting a message within your act. All I can say is, keep things MOVING. Keep the dialog snappy, non-preachy, and bright. When I say bright, I mean hard to not listen to. Also, there must be power in both you and your puppet's voices, commanding attention and thus forcing the audience to watch and listen. Bergen used the old vaudeville adage on his instructional vent album that said, If it's loud enough and fast enough, it will be over before they know that it's lousy! The same holds true today! So with all the above in mind, I found one script that had the potential to accomplish our goals. It deals with subject matter appropriate for a mature audience, but it address excessive drinking in a humorous manner and has the ability to keep an audience's interest. So Diane Bruder, congratulations. My favorite part is the setup to the whole bit. Very funny idea. My last word on all these scripts is to add JOKES; not just amusing lines... But tried and true JOKES. When one writes a script, it should never be finished. The script and routine and act should always be evolving into something MORE FUNNY. You can get your message across, but stuff that dialog full of jokes! This will MAKE your audience listen and they will walk away thinking you are brilliant. Jeff Dunham |
