The Blessing of Brevity! and Timing

Riding to school this morning my 11 year old asked me if I wanted to hear a joke. Obviously I said yes but not without some apprehension.

You see my son is, at times, one of the funniest people on the planet. I take a great deal of pride in the fact that he is a rather quick wit. In the midst of a conversation he can lay out a well-timed zinger with the deftness of a Catskills stand-up. I am also convinced his inability to withhold such zingers will one day result in a black-eye from somebody with a lesser sense of humor. But that is another story for another time.  The fact is that regardless of how funny he can be he hasn’t mastered the art of telling a joke.  It can be pretty bad but he's working on it.

A nice, simply structured joke heretofore is an enigma to him. It may be due to his talents as an artist. He is an amazingly, detailed illustrator.  I think this attention to detail leads him to include an abundance of information in a story and it clouds his ability to tell a joke well. Maybe it is a genetic trait that didn't pass down. But it will be OK I guess. My sister can't tell a joke worth a hoot and she has led a relatively happy life. Somehow! I mean we didn't shun her because she could tell a joke.  Well, we didn't shun her much.  

Oh well, back to this morning and he tells me his joke.

"Two guys are flying with Jet Packs and it is awesome.

They are going all around and flipping and dipping and having a great time

Then one of the guys asked the other guy, the one who built the back packs, he made them in his garage cause he wanted to fly and he used spare parts. He has him how to land.

The stunned inventor says he isn’t really sure and that maybe they should just turn off the backpacks and they would fall.

The first guy calls the second guy an idiot."

(See what I mean?  Painful!)

This was followed by my terribly excited and obviously, proud son laughing and asking me if it was funny.

I chuckled that fake Dad laugh that I have had to master due to my son's affliction.  I gritted my teeth and said it was funny. Then I thought, hey, teaching moment!

“But do you want to know how to make if funnier?”

Ever the performer my 11 year old said yes.

So I told him to try it like this.

Two guys are flying experimental Jet Packs.

The first guy asks the other guy “Hey, How do we land these things?”

The inventor replies “LAND?”

My son didn’t laugh. 

Uh Oh!  

He just got a quizzical look. 

Did he not get it?  
This may be worse than I thought.  I briefly wondered if there may be a surgical solution.

Then it hit him. 

The light bulb came on and it was followed by a huge grin.

You see, I said.  "All you need is the funny.  Once you hit the funny stop talking."

As we turned down the road to my son’s school we started our morning ritual of saying a prayer for the day. It was my turn to pray out loud. I finished as we neared the end of the drop-off line.  I asked my son if there was anything he was particularly thankful for today. He pulled on his backpack and started to get out of the car. Then he looked back over his shoulder and said,

“I am very thankful that you taught me how to make my joke better!.”  Then he flashed a toothy smile and ran into school.

Now that's what I call timing!