The Serious Guide to Joke Writing: How To Say Something Funny About Anything pdfdrive com

Exercise 8: Finding Set-Ups
Read this article twice and pick out the lines that might make good set-ups. You
don’t have to write a joke straight away you are just looking for potential. When
I do this with my class, I put them in twos and make one of them read it to each
other SLOWLY, so their brains can marinate the words.
It’s Sum Task to Find a New Carol
By Elisa Roche
CHANNEL 4 is set to be inundated by mathematicians after yesterday launching a nationwide search to
find the next Carol Vorderman.
The station is looking for a man or woman of any age with ‘charm and charisma’ to appear on the quiz
show Countdown from January 2009. Vorderman, 47, announced in July that she would step down from the
show after 25 years, saying she had refused to accept a 90% pay cut. Interested applicants – who must have
‘excellent’ numeracy and literacy skills – can apply via the Channel 4 website from today. Short-listed
applicants will be invited to attend televised auditions in October and November. The closing date for
applications is September 19. Vorderman was part of the original team on the words and numbers quiz – the
first programme broadcast when Channel 4 began in 1982. She quickly won a large fanbase as the pretty
maths expert and became a sidekick to late presenter Richard Whiteley. Countdown’s current host, Des
O’Connor, has said he will leave the show in November after presenting more than 500 editions. His
replacement will be announced later this year.
O’Connor and Vorderman will be honoured with a Christmas farewell special. Meanwhile, Vorderman
is rumoured to be writing a tell-all book about her years on the show. The show is very popular.
Troubled singer Amy Winehouse recently told OK! magazine that she was a huge fan of the quiz.
Producers are said to have offered the star an ‘open invitation’ to appear as a celebrity guest on the new
series when it airs next year.
The most interesting lines are...
They are interesting because...
(this gives you a chance to explore your lines and their joke potential)

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