blues than a round of Boppity Boppity Bop And just try thinking Shakespeare is stuffy and boring after exploring the excerpt from Twelfth Night In the words of Theodore Geisel Dr Seuss I like non sense it wakes up the brain cells Fantasy is a neces sary ingredient in living Humorist Bennett Cerf once wrote A person who can bring the spirit of laughter into a room is indeed blessed Clearly Lisa Bany Winters has been blessed with this gift How fortunate for teachers and youth leaders and camp counselors and drama directors that she has chosen to share her gift with all of us in this well written user friendly resource book Funny Bones will make a welcome addition to many a library empowering adults to help children experience the richness and joy of comedy Few gifts could be more valuable perhaps as we face the future we would do well to heed the advice of Mark Twain and Laugh until our cheeks hurt The human race has one really effective weapon and that is laughter Rives B Collins Northwestern University Department of Theatre Head Theatre for Young Audiences
Acknowledgments am indebted to the following people and organiza tions Stephanie and Joe Albright Josh Andrews Arnold Aprill Bree Baney Martin Bany Nancy and John Bany Megan Baskin Brian Boller Margo Cher vony Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education Geoff Coates Martin de Maat Drama Disciples Jayme Ern steen Paul Finnigan Bryce Friedman Richard Fried man Melanie Gordon Barbara Heaton B J Jones Michele Klemm Jason Lubow Dan Macsai Dana and Anthony McKinney Emily McNish Mari Meyer Emily Mott Northlight Improv Comedy Kids North light Kids Players Northlight Teen Players Sheldon Patinkin Darlene Pearlstein Jerry Proffit Danny Robles J R Rose Rebecca Rubenstein Philip Schus ter Mara Silver Neal Simons Cheryl Sloane Joyce Sloane St Athanasius Roman Catholic Church in Evanston Amy Weiss Brian Winters and Gavin Witt The following people were coadapters of the plays included in this book character names are in paren theses All plays were originally directed by me for
Emanon Theater Company For Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind rd like to thank Barbara Kanady Sally Chas Vrba Pa Mike and Davey Marcy Konlon Ma and Bear and Joe Albright Lucy and Tree For Alice in Wonderland both the tea party and court scenes adapted from the book by Lewis Carroll'd like to thank Stephanie Repin Alice Joe Albright White Rabbit Danny Robles Caterpillar and Cook Ed Nishioka Cheshire Cat Geoff Coates Duchess and Dormouse Brian Winters Mad Hatter Anthony McKinney March Hare and Klahr Thorsen Queen of Hearts For Rapunzel adapted from the story by the Brothers Grimm I'd like to thank Amy Harmon Demon Radish Bird Julie Lockhart Witch Janet Tuegel Rapunzel Rapunzel's Mother Ashley Hugen Bingo Rapunzel's Father and Joe Albright Prince Ogre For Jemima Puddle Duck adapted from the book by Beatrix Potter Danny Robles Jemima Joe Albright Fox Stephanie Repin Farm Dog Geoff Coates Narrator Ensemble and Laura Holli day Laura Pruden and Rick Schnier Ensemble A very special thanks to Barbara Kanady and Brad Larsen who have taught learned and laughed along side me and to Northlight Theatre for providing the creative playing
Introduction hen my daughter was two years old she dumped her cup of apple juice on her head one day at preschool When I asked her why she did that she said Because it was funny It was difficult to argue with her reasoning Later that same year she told me Mommy it's funny when I sing Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead with my tongue out She showed me and I had to agree it was indeed funny I have seen firsthand a child discovering humor Dr Patch Adams strongly believes that humor and laughter are healing to humans He founded the Gesundheit Institute where he practices the belief that fun friendship and joy are important parts of health care and that fun and laughter are medicine Many children develop self confidence and overcome shyness when they realize they can be funny This book is designed to bring out the humor in all young people and will give them a lot of ideas for having fun and being funny You don't need to know jokes to make people laugh This book is full of ideas for cre ating your own comic routines and comedy
