Uncle John draws upon his many years of observing others and noting what made them funny or what made what they said funny. Uncle John is the youngest in a family of four children and according to birth order books, the youngest kids like to be the center of attention and the class clowns. Uncle John loved mingling with the guests at his parents boarding house in Jewett, New York, and he found a lot of humor in some of the characters he encountered. Some of the more memorable ones were the hunters from the Bronx who caught an owl and thought it was a “chicken with big eyes.” The other was a guest who’s dog was bitten by a skunk and he had to take him to the “vegetarian”….
All of these jokes have managed to find their way into Uncle John’s pre-show warm up act as he introduces the audience to his animal puppets and tells some brief stories about them. Keeping adults and both children entertained is fine art which Uncle John believes he has mastered, drawing upon years of experience as a professional puppeteer.
1. Keep each skit under three minutes, and do a lot of them in the same show to keep the audience & kids focused, engaged & entertained.
2. Use a lot of familiar animal and funny insect puppets from story books & nursery rhymes. Only use the classic, clean & popular songs the kids already know the lyrics to. PS: Uncle John is also happy to customize his playlist for any theme your party may have.
3. Keep the humor clean, yet sophisticated enough for the adults to be entertained as well as the kids!
4. Avoid “bathroom” humor. This type of humor makes the kids convulse with laughter, it may alienate the adults who you need to impress as well.
What Type of Characters Do You Use ?
Uncle John has discovered the secret to keeping the short attention span audience (little kids) engaged and mesmerized. He uses characters that are familiar to them. Hershey the Chocolate Lab Retriever is a favorite. He’s dressed like a kid and dances with them after the show. Additional appearances by television, movie, storybook and nursery rhyme puppets give the children a thrill since they’ve seen the characters before.
For those who want to know what the show is about, Uncle John says, “it’s about nothing”….just like the popular long-running Seinfeld show was. By following stand-up comedy format, Uncle John has more choice in custom tailoring the show to the audience. Uncle John has found that Characters that are familiar to kids will hold their attention longer. Also, his puppets carry on conversations with the audience all throughout the show. This approach pleasantly surprises everyone since they don’t expect the show to be interactive. Soon the adults and children alike are carrying on spirited conversations with the puppets and everyone forgets the puppets aren’t real.
Tell Uncle John About the Birthday Child and the Audience !
Uncle John will create a custom form for you to fill out which gives you the opportunity to list a lot of cute, funny & well known information about the birthday child which is mentioned throughout the show, for a truly customized & memorable event. This form also lists who’s who in the audience so he can draw upon it during the show ! Uncle John’s puppet shows are known for their personal audience participation.
Uncle John’s puppets appear to be real live puppets!
His puppets are frustrated entertainers. If nobody is laughing, they will ask the audience, “hey, are you an audience or an oil painting…I know you’re out there cause I hear you breathing….hello ?”
Many classic one-liners, puns, corny jokes, and classic comedy routine styles are used. Uncle John believes that you don’t have to”re-invent the wheel” when it comes to comedy.
Uncle John routinely recycles old jokes, copies them off the internet, and makes up some of his own based on his life experience and secret desire to be a comedy writer for Conan and the Letterman Show.
