Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/01/18/how-louis-ck-tells-a-joke.html
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With his mouth?
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This is really, really well done.
I was skeptical that they could do a good job of dissecting the joke because explaining a joke is like an autopsy. When you’re done, the patient is definitely dead. But the video and Louis’ craft is so good that, even though I’ve seen this monopoly bit 10 times by now, I still started giggling when he says “That’s mine now.”
There’s also some good practical advice in here for how to be funny, like staying in the bit to keep the energy going.
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I’m pretty well spent on folks dissecting every detail of how the sausage is made. It feels like analysis for the sake of analysis. You don’t need to know these details to appreciate and laugh at a good joke. Conversely, it probably won’t help you write a good one either.
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God, I hate YouTube voice.
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That’s disgusting! 
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I mean, is there a different body part he should tell jokes with?
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Same as “This American Life Voice.”
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Same as “This American Life Voice.”
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And now on Radio 4, Ira Glass presents a Ted talk about social psychology as it relates to modern politics, but first, the news…
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I subscribe to this guy’s channel. Aside from the panhandling at the end, his videos are consistently incisive and interesting.
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Or just “NPR voice” in general.
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Telepathically shared jokes have the worst timing.
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I found this helpful. I am very interested in learning public speaking,and I’d really love to take improv classes. I think it was useful to see how does someone set up a joke, and I like how he gets to the deeper layer in this joke about how a 6 year old doesn’t get capitalism at its worst, how it’s something we learn.
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I liked the joke better without the explanation.
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I’ve heard it said by a number of comedians that it takes a good 10 years for a new comedian to find their voice. I’m sure there is a lot of inside baseball talks amongst new and veteran comedians before and after shows in which these exact sort of dissections take place (in particular why something bombed and what the newbie could do differently).
So I think it is exactly the repeated dissection of the delivery of jokes in repeated shows the allows an artist to hone their skill.
You are right that the audience doesn’t need it, but I do appreciate the amount of time these veterans have put in to get to that level of skill.
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What is that thing in radio-land where they pump up the bass in everybody’s voice/turn the “boom” factor up to maximum? I sound like a god whenever I’m on the air, and IRL, I sound rather high-pitched with no bass whatsoever.
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We need one of these explanations, except with no joke.
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Haven’t watched the video yet, but I came across this post literally in the middle of watching this highly relevant video.
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