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Dorny's Comedy Blackouts

Dornfield, Werner "Dorny"

Magic, Inc.

(Based on 1 review)
Only book of its kind. Collection of comedy blackouts for magicians and others. A 'Blackout' is a quick bit of stage business, usually verbal, that ends in a snappy punch line on which (if possible) the lights go out.

Reviews

Christian

Dec 29, 2002

This is a 64 page pamphlet written in 1964. It is nicely printed and easy to read. I suspect that many of these routines are throw backs to the vaudeville era. They are meant to be done on a stage usually with more than one person. Most likely, they will not be useful in a stand up or close up act.

There are a variety of good M.C. bits. If you do a lot of M.C. work, I think this book would be of some use to you. There are some bits that are worth consideration, such as:

Man comes walking across the stage carrying a cat.
MC asks where are you going?
The man replies, I am returning Mrs. Smith's parakeet.
I see, but you are carrying a cat.
Ahh, well, the bird is in the cat.
Ta dom dom.

Ok, this will not make it on Saturday Night Live, but in the right situation, there is some stuff in these pages that could generate a few laughs. Sure, there is some really bad stuff and some really, really, corny stuff. (I had to use really twice so you understood how corny it is) However, there are a few routines that could still be used if updated slightly. Come on, you can't be spoon fed everything. Sometimes you have to work a little.

I think there is some gold in these pages if someone is willing to do the mining and refining.

2 1/2 stars
Sergeant
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