Rimshots Of The Gods or . . . The Mysterious "M. Payne"

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .("boom-boom CHISSSSS!" M. Payne)


Several of you (four) have asked: "Who is this 'M. Payne' that plays drums on all of the jokes that you make up *entirely* in your own head?"

"M. Payne" is Michael "Mike" Payne, the drummer from my son's band Andrew and the Pretty Punchers.

Michael is amazing.

I couldn't imagine a drummer easier to work with than Michael, or "Mike." No matter what kind of joke I bring to him: whether it is a "word play" joke; a longer narrative one; or perhaps a joke that ends with a clever wittism or rejoinder, Mike seems to almost immediately pick up on the internal rhythm of the piece and then suggest, or simply play, a perfect drum bit, or "roll," to match the joke's ending.

It is truly uncanny. It is as if Mike is reading my mind - or there is some type of telepathic communication going on.


(Mike listening to one of my new jokes ("tapping into my muse" if you will) trying to find that rhythmic connection. We sometimes refer to this as "part of The Process" or simply "The Process")


The bottomline for me is this: I know that without Mike's very tasteful rimshots my jokes would not be the jokes they are today. I know this for a fact because without Mike's cue most of my readers would not have any idea that the joke has ended and it's time to laugh. That is because, for aesthetic reasons, I eschew - or steer away from - the standard "punch line." I simply feel that the "punch line," or "funny part," is too gimmicky and that most comedians simply use it as a crutch: to get laughs.

Comedy that only makes people laugh is one-dimensional, and if history has taught us anything it is this: an art form that is one-dimensional is doomed. If comedians continue to fall back on the gimmick of the punch line as their "be all and end all," I see the day coming soon when comedy will not be treated as the serious art form that it is, and comedians will simply be laughed off stage.

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh - and if so, I'm sorry - but that is simply the way I feel, and to abandon that would be an abandonment of the way I feel, or "that."

But I digress.

Mr. Payne sir? I have but one thing to say to you and that is: "Thank you!"

"Thank you" for your ability to recognize and embrace the muse that lies at the root of my comedic vision. And also "Thank you" for your willingness to so generously lend your creative rhythmic talents in service to that muse - to nurture it and guide it towards it's complete and full frutation, where it can frutate, or "bear fruit" . . .

the comedic fruit of laughter.


"boom-boom CHISSSSS!"
(M. Payne)



. . . . . (This is Mike saying: "That's perfect dude. We nailed it")


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