A lesson in comedy

Earl entered the classroom full of life. “Sorry I’m late.”

“Find a seat at once!” snapped the teacher Professor Charbonneau-Broussard, who looked rather unamused. “So class, continuing from where I left off, I expect that a number of you wish to know what today’s comedy course entails. From this course, we hope that you will gather an understanding of how to manipulate stimuli or speech in order to arouse a state of amusement from fellow mankind. You will learn how to spawn humorous material, both written and spoken, for a variety of markets. You will be expected to gain an insight into various types of wit used throughout different comedy outlets such as sitcoms and stand-up comedy.”

Earl interrupted, “In other words we have to make people laugh. That’s a given isn’t it?”

“You can speak once I’ve finished,” snapped Professor Charbonneau-Broussard before continuing, “After this course, you should all have gained a theoretical and practical understanding of what it takes to make one chortle. Ideally in a stadium or arena setting for example.”

Somehow Professor Charbonneau-Broussard managed to look more and more downtrodden between each sentence.

Earl whispered to the person next to him, “Is Professor Charbonneau-Broussard always this serious? I mean, no offence but I was expecting something a bit more light hearted in a comedy class. Excuse me if I’m expecting too much.”

“No you aren’t, I was the same. You should hear when he reads out quotes from Fawlty Towers in a matter-of-fact way,” said Norah, a fellow classmate.

Earl began laughing at the seriousness of the situation.

“Now is not the right time for inappropriate laughter,” snapped Professor Charbonneau-Broussard.

“When is there ever a right time for inappropriate laughter?” retorted Earl.

Professor Charbonneau-Broussard glared at him. “I would appreciate it if you refrained from making jokes. We are all here to learn. Please open the textbooks provided to page 148, where we will now turn our focus onto comic timing.”

Earl began to feel more excited. This was where the fun was about to begin. Perhaps he had picked the right day in which to join the class.
 The professor continued, “Comic timing often helps to grab your audience’s attention. I will now give you a couple of minutes to absorb page 148. Once you have finished, I will put the emphasis on all of you and I would like you to give me a few examples of good comedy timing. Please jot your ideas onto paper, and I shall read them after class. Please complete this task without any talking.”

Earl sighed. Today was going to be a long day…