Remembering Jokes and Stories

Topic 10: Remembering Jokes and Stories - Tutorial 16

You have already learned the systems which will enable you to remember any joke or story. The Key Thought idea, the Link System, and the Peg System can all help you to remember Jokes and Stories.

How Professionals Do It

Have you ever wondered how professional comedians can tell jokes for an hour or more, and repeat the same act night after night, telling the same jokes in the same order? Well, many professional comedians Link a Key Thought of one joke to the Key Thought of the next, and so on. The comedian knows each of the jokes - he simply needs reminders of the jokes and their sequence.

Irishman

Hamster

Doctor

Figs

So, a Link of Irishman to hamster to doctor to figs would be sufficient to remind a comedian to first tell the joke about the Irishman, then tell the one about the hamster, then the one about the doctor, and so on.

Creating Your Joke Chain

If you would like to remember a number of jokes, simply form a Link of Key Thoughts which will remind you of the jokes. To start your Link, you can picture any simple joke or gag, and associate that to a mental image of yourself dressed as a circus clown, telling jokes.

Example: Classic Newspaper Joke

Suppose you pick a very old gag such as 'What's black and white and red all over..... a newspaper'. The Key Thought from this joke is newspaper, so you would associate newspaper to that picture of yourself telling jokes as a clown.

🎯 Key Thought Selection

Selecting a single Key Thought or Key Word to remind you of a joke is easier than you might think. After all, when you hear people talking about jokes, they usually say things like 'Tell us the one about the elephant', or 'Did you hear the one about the nun'. Each joke is summarised by one, Key word. Also, concentrating on the joke to come up with a Key Thought will make you concentrate on that joke, and be Initially Aware of it.

When you are forming your 'Joke Chain', use the principles you have already learned to make your visual associations strong ones. Be sure that your mental pictures are ludicrous and humorous. See them clearly in your mind's eye for just a fraction of a second, and you will not forget them.

To recall the jokes you have memorised, you simply run through your Link mentally, and stop at the Key Thought for any joke that you wish to tell or recall.

Practical Examples

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Short Gags

For short gags, you can extend the Link idea by associating the punchline to your Key Thought for the joke.

Egg Joke Example

Two eggs were in a saucepan. The first egg said 'I'm fed up with this - it's boiling in here'. 'Just wait till you get out' said the second egg, 'They smash your head in!'

Key Thought: eggs → smashed head

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Longer Stories

For longer jokes, anecdotes, and stories, you simply associate your Key Thought for the story to a series of 'minor' Key Words that will remind you of the sequence of the story.

Duck Library Story

A duck walked into a Public Library. It went over to the counter and said to the librarian 'Book Book...Book Book...Book Book'. The librarian grabbed a broom and shooed the duck out of the library...

Key Thought: duck

Duck

Library

Broom

Angry Librarian

Book

Pond

Frog

This sequence would remind you of all the points in the duck library story, in proper order.

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Peg System Alternative

An alternative method to Linking the jokes you want to remember is to use the Peg System. If you know Peg Words 1 to 100, then you have the means to remember a hundred jokes, in and out of sequence.

Simply associate the Key Thought of each joke you want to remember to a Peg Word. You then have an easy method of recalling jokes at random.

Peg System Example

Suppose you associated a joke about a donkey to net, which is the Peg Word for 21. If you subsequently think of 21, you know that the Peg Word for that number is net, which will remind you of donkey.

Practice Exercise

📝 One-Week Joke Challenge

Before leaving this tutorial, go over the ideas discussed and think how you might apply them to the sort of jokes, gags, anecdotes, stories, etc., that you would like to be able to tell.

As an exercise, try the following over the next week or so. Every time you see, hear or read any type of joke, wisecrack, funny story, etc., decide on a Key Thought for that joke and associate it to a Peg Word. Start at Peg Word 1, and continue until you have exhausted all the Peg Words you know.

The joke could be heard or seen anywhere - television, radio, at work or school, in a newspaper or book - absolutely anywhere. Make sure that the associations you form are strong and clear, and you will not forget those jokes.

When you have completed the exercise, go over each of the Peg Words you know, and you will be amazed to find that you have memorised that number of jokes within a week. You will be particularly impressed if you know 100 Peg Words, and so a hundred jokes!