Jokes For All Occasions

Jokes For All Occasions, by
Anonymous

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Title: Jokes For All Occasions Selected and Edited by One of
America's Foremost Public Speakers
Author: Anonymous
Release Date: April 15, 2007 [EBook #21084]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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FOR ALL OCCASIONS ***

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JOKES FOR ALL OCCASIONS
SELECTED AND EDITED BY ONE OF AMERICA'S FOREMOST

PUBLIC SPEAKERS
[Illustration: Publisher's logo]
NEW YORK EDWARD J. CLODE
COPYRIGHT, 1921, 1922, BY
EDWARD J. CLODE
Printed in the United States of America

JOKES FOR ALL OCCASIONS

PREFACE
The ways of telling a story are as many as the tellers themselves. It is
impossible to lay down precise rules by which any one may perfect
himself in the art, but it is possible to offer suggestions by which to
guide practise in narration toward a gratifying success.
Broadly distinguished, there are two methods of telling a story. One
uses the extreme of brevity, and makes its chief reliance on the point.
The other devotes itself in great part to preliminary elaboration in the
narrative, making this as amusing as possible, so that the point itself
serves to cap a climax. In the public telling of an anecdote the tyro
would be well advised to follow the first method. That is, he should put
his reliance on the point of the story, and on this alone. He should
scrupulously limit himself to such statements as are absolutely essential
to clear understanding of the point. He should make a careful
examination of the story with two objects in mind: the first, to
determine just what is required in the way of explanation; the second,
an exact understanding of the point itself. Then, when it comes to the
relating of the story, he must simply give the information required by
the hearers in order to appreciate the point. As to the point itself, he

must guard against any carelessness. Omission of an essential detail is
fatal. It may be well for him, at the outset, to memorize the conclusion
of the story. No matter how falteringly the story is told, it will succeed
if the point itself be made clear, and this is insured for even the most
embarrassed speaker by memorizing it.
The art of making the whole narration entertaining and amusing is to be
attained only by intelligent practise. It is commonly believed that
story-sellers are born, not made. As a matter of fact, however, the
skilled raconteurs owe their skill in great measure to the fact that they
are unwearying in practise. It is, therefore, recommended to any one
having ambition in this direction that he cultivate his ability by
exercising it. He should practise short and simple stories according to
his opportunities, with the object of making the narration smooth and
easy. An audience of one or two familiar friends is sufficient in the
earlier efforts. Afterward, the practise may be extended before a larger
number of listeners on social occasions. When facility has been attained
in the simplest form, attempts to extend the preliminary narrative
should be made. The preparation should include an effort to invest the
characters of the story; or its setting, with qualities amusing in
themselves, quite apart from any relation to the point. Precise
instruction cannot be given, but concentration along this line will of
itself develop the humorous perception of the story-teller, so that,
though the task may appear too difficult in prospect, it will not prove so
in actual experience. But, in every instance, care must be exercised to
keep the point of the story clearly in view, and to omit nothing essential
in the preparation for it.
In the selection of stories to be retailed, it is the part of wisdom to
choose the old, rather than the new. This is because the new story, so
called, travels with frightful velocity under modern social conditions,
and, in any particular case, the latest story, when told by you to a friend,
has just been heard by him from some other victim of it. But the
memory of most persons for stories is very short. Practically never does
it last for years. So, it is uniformly safe to present as novelties at the
present day the humor of past decades. Moreover, the exercise of some
slight degree of ingenuity will serve to give those touches in the way