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1. 

   shitsu_tonka
   

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   Not mine. I know so much about comedy that after nearly two years of stand up I have yet to do a paid gig. No, the rules are from Jonathan Lynn co-writer and creator of Yes, Minister and well worth checking out.

   Link.

   Posted 1 year ago #
2. 

   jp1885
   

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   Very interesting, although he failed to mention rules 14 - 16 (Fart noises, swears and knob gags respectively).

   Posted 1 year ago #
3. 

   rikkor
   

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   JP, PFFFFT!! Yours are the only rules. All else are merely commentary.

   Posted 1 year ago #
4. 

   Al OPecia
   

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   I particularly like Rule 6 Rik.

   Posted 1 year ago #
5. 

   rikkor
   

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   To wit:

   6. There is no such thing as bad taste.

   Something is funny, or it’s not funny. When comedy is funny, it tells a truth that might otherwise not be told. ‘Bad taste’ is simply a way of describing when a joke has crossed the line into ‘not funny’.

   Al, I bet if you told a truly funny joke about this guy's grand-daughter having brain cancer, he would suddenly change #6.

   Posted 1 year ago #
6. 

   Textbook
   

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   According to these rules, Monty Python is not funny.

   I call fail.

   Posted 1 year ago #
7. 

   Vertically Challenged Giant
   

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   Textbook - if Monty Python doesn't fit the rules, then it's not funny. You can't argue with science.

   Posted 1 year ago #
8. 

   Oxbridge
   

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   6b. Nothing is funny to everyone. We all have subjects that are off limits to comedy. That doesn't give us the right to tell others they are allowed to find it funny. And it has already been proven beyond doubt that there is nothing but nothing so serious/tragic/etc. that someone won't make a joke about it.

   Q: What's the difference between a cow and 9/11?

   A: Most Americans have never milked a cow.

   Posted 1 year ago #
9. 

   borednow
   

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   I have to say I found yes minister rather dull, then again i'm not old enough to remember it first time round.
   As pointed out in the text above the rules they are his rules of comedy not the rules so by definition our own rules are all probably as different to each others as our other various likes and dislikes

   Posted 1 year ago #
10. 

    beau-jolly
    

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    Bored: If you read your comments in a haughty tone it sounds just like Sir Humphrey. Brilliant.

    My favoutite line in Yes Minister is when Sir H confesses that the guilty party was "the person to whom I am in the habit of referring by use of the perpendicular pronoun"

    Posted 1 year ago #
11. 

    Al OPecia
    

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    Aye.

    Posted 1 year ago #
12. 

    Runestone Cowboy
    

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    I guess you start writing rules about comedy shortly after you stop writing comedy.

    Posted 1 year ago #
13. 

    Stan Laurel
    

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    I liked Yes, Minster and Yes, Prime Minister was even better. Must admit that the franchise declined with Yes,Back Bencher.

    Posted 1 year ago #
14. 

    Golgo13
    

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    Yes, Special Peace Envoy...?

    Yes, Touring Public Speaker...?

    Posted 1 year ago #

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