7th grade jokes

Daytime Monkey rehearsal's cramping my writing routine, but it's worth it. I had a moment at rehearsal this morning when I thought, "There is nothing I would rather be doing right now," and I almost said it out loud, which would have been rude since folks were showing off their adaptations.

Monkey means Barrel of Monkeys. One of our recent postcards captures it well: "Written by kids. Performed by grownups. Enjoyed by all." We teach writing workshops and then perform the students' stories for their schools, and on Mondays at the Neofuturist Theater, we do a review of favorites from the past years for an all-ages audience. Sweet.



So, the show we're rehearsing right now is for our after school program, which includes older kids than we normally get to teach. This is how I've learned that 6th or 7th grade is when you get how to write an original joke. Younger kids write goofy characters, cool surprises, hilarious circumstances, but around middle school, the number of intentionally constructed "funnies" goes way up. Satire too, like an ad for "Farticine," the new medicine that can help you with your embarrassing problem as long as you, "Do not take with any solids or liquids."

My favorite from rehearsal today: Villainous Victoria says, "See ya at Niagara Falls! Ha! Oh I forgot - Victoria Falls. (Villainous laughter) I'm not going to destroy the GEM I'm going to keep it and Boom I will rule all the Gems and diamonds and . . . Whatever, I get the point."

I'm going to try to work, "Whatever, I get the point," into conversation at least once this week. If you do it too, we can start a revolution.

Writing goal for tomorrow (read, I got jack done today) -- At least 1,000 words revision and some good note-taking for an essay.
Currently reading: Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer