First official Review Of 2020
I thought that The Joke Machine: Create Your Own Jokes and Become Instantly Funny! by Theresa Julian was going to be a lot of dull facts and a school book. I figured there would be long explanations that were academic and hard to understand. And while, yes, there are fact sand there are explanations, for the most part they are easy to understand. I say for the most part, as the book says it is for the 8 to 12 crowd. I would lean towards 10 to 14 for understanding without help.
Therefore, this book has the potential for all sorts of uses. Teachers can use it to teach writing techniques. You learn terms such as simile and metaphor. You learn about exaggerations, taking facts and turning them around, spoonerisms and more. You will learn how to be punny and so much more. Some tips could actually help you be a better conversationalist. I was seeing where using a “joke” could move the conversation along.
And while this book is aimed at kids and the budding comedian in them/us all, I was thinking of all the ways for authors needing to write a funny character could use it. And as mentioned above, while it could help conversations, I think this could also help you be a better writer over all. The points are not just for writing jokes, they are key points on how to write. This is since while many of the jokes are verbal, there were many jokes that relied on visual delivery.
There a few images by Pat N. Lewis to compliment visually what you are reading about. The introduction was amusing, but the acknowledgments were a blast. Even if you are not interested in learning to write jokes, or have a child interested, you should pick this up for the jokes alone. Some are hilarious, others will be funny to the right reader and others down-right-scratch-your-head-huhs? But regardless, it was one heck of a way to start off the new year!