Brick Joke/Recorded and Stand Up Comedy
- In the classic Firesign Theatre bit "The Further Adventures of Nick Danger, Third Eye", Nick receives a call from a guy who thinks he's called a pizza place, and says "I want a pizza to go, and no anchovies," to which Nick replies, "Sorry, you've got the wrong number. I spell my name 'Danger'," and hangs up, causing the caller to say, "Wha?" On their next album, "Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers", the main character, George Tirebiter, calls to order a pizza, saying, "I want a pizza to go, and no anchovies," and then, after a brief pause, he says, "Wha?"
- In his stand-up special "I'm Not Fat... I'm Fluffy", Gabriel Iglesias related a story about how it was before he became more renowned, getting treated rudely after coming to his hotel at 1 AM due to a missed flight. The lady (who he imitated using a sassy black voice - think Wanda Sykes), finally asked him what his name was.
Gabriel: Gabriel Iglesias.
"Woman": Okay, so that's E, G, L,
Gabriel: No no, it's spelled with an I.
"Woman": ...you spell that with a "I"? Then you should have said I-glesias, not Ee-glesias!
- Then, in the closing segment of the special, he talked about how his car was stolen from an IHOP parking lot, calling OnStar after being reminded that they can track his car by his friend.
OnStar: Thank you for calling OnStar. For customer service, press 1. Para hablar en Espanol, presione numero dos. If your car has been lost or stolen, press 3. *Beep*
Woman: Thank you for calling OnStar, this is Kim speaking. How may I help you?
Gabriel: Yes, my car was just stolen, could you track it down for me?
Kim: Yes sir, but I'll need your OnStar number.
Gabriel: Oh... well, I don't have that on me. Could I just give you my license number, Social Security...?
Kim: Well, just tell me your name and that'll do it, sir.
Gabriel: Oh, well my name's Gabriel Iglesias. *pause* Hello? Kim? Kim, are you still there?
Kim: *Beat, then in the sassy black lady voice* Do you spell that with a "I"?
*Gabriel looks at phone in a panic, hangs up, redials*
OnStar: Thank you for calling OnStar. For customer service, press 1. Para hablar en Espanol, presione numero dos.
*Gabriel enters the Spanish option, grinning*
Kim: I speak Spanish too, motherfucker!
- In another special, "Hot and Fluffy", he got a double brick joke. In part of a larger bit about how if you know you're going to jail you might as well take the opportunity to make a few jokes, he noted early on that he once made a cop laugh so hard he almost pissed himself, and then imitated the cop's voice admitting as much--your standard Southern state trooper drawl for a quick chuckle. Shortly after, he related a story about how he turned the wrong way out of a Krispy Kreme, got pulled over, and offered the officer in question some of his donuts. Then, at the end of the show, he told a story about how his getting recognized--and his sense of humor--got him out of a traffic ticket once. The voice of the state trooper was the same as he used earlier... and then the state trooper reveals that he almost pissed himself at Gabriel's antics. The trooper then adds, "This will go down in history as one of the funniest traffic stops of all time--the only one better'n this one is a buddy of mine in California pulled over some fat guy who gave him donuts." The close of the routine also includes what is effectively a brick joke extended from a regular joke from another one of his shows.
- In Bill Cosby's bit "Old Weird Harold", he relates an incident where he and his best friend Harold spent all day at the movies watching horror flicks, then, upon realizing they've been there all day, ask the usher what time it is, and he says "It's ten o'clock," and Bill and Harold panic because, "That's when the monsters come out." So, they're walking home, in the dark, eyes and ears peeled for monsters, when a wino comes out of an alleyway, scaring the hell out of them, and they trample him trying to get away. Later in the same album, Bill talks about Fat Albert, and how a prank involving a statue of Frankenstein's monster ended with Fat Albert trampling him trying to get away. He then says, "They took me to the hospital, and put me in a bed next to a wino who'd been run over by two kids."
- Ron White managed to pull a Brick Joke on himself with his famous "Tater Salad" story. Short version: he was arrested for DUI when he was young. Since it was a small town (as White puts it, "We lived three houses apart in a town of less than four hundred people"), he had known the cop personally for a long time. When the cop asked him if he had any aliases, Ron sarcastically responded "They call me...'Tater Salad." Twenty years later, while being arrested for being drunk in public in New York City, the officer ran his record and asked him "Are you Ron 'Tater Salad' White?"
- Eddie Izzard routines are often one long sequence of brick jokes. Characters from earlier sketches pop up in later scenes, characters with the same "voice" (usually James Mason or Sean Connery) end up being the same person, and sometimes jokes carry on between different shows completely. Part of this is due to Izzard's lack of an actual script - he uses more of a vague outline and makes it up as he goes along, and the audience is subjected to a rambling self-edit in progress. As a result, it can be hard to understand why most of his jokes are funny when heard out of context - you really have to watch the whole show to experience the hurricane of bricks.
- Dane Cook has a NSFW routine where early on he mentions how cute it is when girls can't find the door handle to get out of the car. He does an impression. At the end of the routine, he describes the first blow job he's ever gotten...well, just watch it.
- Kyle Cease lampshades this in one of his acts. He makes a "throw-forward" to Pirates. Sure enough, half an hour later he catches his own reference and goes into a bit on Pirates.
- Dara O'Briain started one of his shows with a routine about an audience member he'd encountered who'd once been the Milky Bar Kid. At the very end, he similarly approached an audience member and, after a few moments of chatting to him, had him reveal that he had also once been a Milky Bar Kid.
- He uses a lot of Brick Jokes in all of his shows and also manages to include lots of stuff he got from talking to random audience members.
- This troper remembers one summer camp skit of a group of guys spitting into the air and catching it in a pan with a "clank" noise. The final spit went really high and they moved on, and a few minutes later there was a "clank" and the guy that caught it in the pan brought it to everyone's attention.
- Stewart Francis is a genius at doing this, despite being a one-liner comedian. See for yourself.
- In Jimmy Carr's DVD Telling Jokes, an early joke was: "The worst thing about learning you have Alzheimer's, is that it doesn't just happen the once." His last joke (as an encore) was... "The worst thing about learning you have Alzheimer's..." (audience laughing) "...is that it doesn't just happen the once."
- Demetri Martin pulls one off on the album These Are Jokes. Leo, a friend of Demetri's, is put on stage with a microphone, with the joke being that he'll explain Demetri's jokes to listeners at home who don't see the visuals. This only lasts a few minutes before Will Forte comes onstage to do something else with Demetri. Once that routine ends, Demetri just goes back to his normal routine, which goes on for a while until suddenly Leo pipes up with "I'm still awkwardly on stage." Demetri finally, mercifully, sends him off.
- Brian Regan likes to end his shows by revisiting something mentioned earlier. For example:
- In one of his early shows:
TEACHER: You know, Brian, maybe you could have put some seeds in the dirt and give them water, and the seeds will grow.
BRIAN: Well, my uncle doesn't grow corn.
- And in All By Myself:
BRIAN: "Good luck in all of your future endeavors. Godspeed.
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