Comics say AI fails to tickle funny bone as live stand up has revival

“Bums on seats” may be the cure for “heads in screens”, as experts and live comedy performers suggest AI and young lives lived online won’t fit the bill when it comes to developing an all-important funny bone – kids need live human beings and literacy skills for that.

With almost 60,000 students already registered in the Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee, run by Kids News and with two weeks to go before the Years 3-8 school round closes, the ever-versatile* comedian, presenter, director and author Peter Helliar remains proud of the classroom shout-out one primary school teacher bestowed* after reading his film review of ET, circa 1982.

“I still remember the feeling it gave me,” Helliar said. “That may have inspired me to construct sentences and spell as correctly as possible.

“At school, you need those champions, teachers who can see you. I was inducted into my school’s Hall of Fame earlier this year and (teachers Anne and Mark Natoli) inducted me and talked about my journey … they were my champions.”

After decades spent creating and performing stories across multiple mediums*, Helliar said that “spelling is the backbone”.

“When you’re telling stories, the most important thing is your imagination … and if you can become a good speller early, it just gives you that confidence,” he said.

The author of new children’s book series Detective Galileo said that comedians with polished spelling skills can keep pace with their famously wide-ranging thoughts as they write new material.

“The more you can focus on the creative and storytelling parts (once) spelling becomes second nature, the better,” Helliar said.

He always “loved reading”, particularly Enid Blyton’s timeless classic The Magic Faraway Tree, and started writing books in Years 4 and 5 that he would then read in front of the class.

“It was really encouraging to me in terms of writing stories but there was also this idea of performing in front of an audience.”

For young jokesters who dream of doing it for a living some day, Helliar’s advice was to “start writing everything down.”

“Every funny thought you have, write it down,” he said. “ And if you’re of an age where you think you’re ready to perform, the Melbourne Comedy Festival runs the Class Clowns (program), which is awesome.

“Like anything, it takes a long time to get good … you need to really want it and you have to be prepared to work hard.”

Helliar also had a message for kids yet to find friends who share the same frequency.

“Your (crew) is waiting for you,” he said. “Anyone reading this who feels a bit isolated at school and maybe they haven’t quite connected, you will find your friendship group. Truly, I found my circle of friends through comedy.”

As for AI, it just isn’t funny – not yet, anyway – and Helliar thinks it’s because a sense of humour “is like your fingerprint: it’s specific to you.”

“Your specific sense of humour is so entwined* with who you are, it’s kind of part of your DNA*. We want to know there’s a human experience behind the story,” he said.

“I did a gig last night, I’m doing another gig tonight, I’m travelling around … cities and regional places around Australia and you feel what a night of comedy does.

“There’s something about going to a comedy room and laughing. There’s a togetherness about it. I really feel it. The feedback we get (after gigs) … is, ‘I really needed that’.”

A second career slaying* as a breakout stand-up star can likely be traced to comedian Chris Ryan’s early childhood in India, where she lived until the age of nine.

Later graduating from ANU with Honours in English, Ryan was a journalist before answering comedy’s call, but she most vividly recalls life-defining lessons in India.

“There were children who would have loved (to go) to school (and) children who went to school … dressed immaculately* in primary school, because they knew it was an honour and a privilege to get an education,” Ryan said. “It gave you a chance at life, better than what your parents had.

“So I have always been aware that to be able to read and write, and then as you get older, to be able to express yourself, is an enormous privilege.

“I’ve been able to read incredible books and poetry that have shown me what it means to express yourself and the various ways people have throughout time. There is no limit to what we can do if we only put pen to paper.”

As for other lasting lessons in the power of wordplay and people, Ryan had some simple advice for budding young stand-ups: pay attention to everything.

“Pay attention in class. Try your best. Learn how to write. Read all of the stories you can possibly read,” she said.

“The best comedians … are observers of life. Then they learn to distil those observations in new and exciting ways through words, so pay attention. Learn how to write, learn how to read.

“Remember, it’s not the showy show-offs … they’re not always the best comedians. In fact, my favourite comedians are quiet people who maybe find it difficult in this world to feel like they fit in. The way they see things is brilliant and hilarious.”

But whether or not you fancy yourself as funny, Ryan said that, “You need to learn to be able to express yourself, whoever you are.”

Run by Kids News, registrations and the school round of the Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee close at 5pm AEST on Friday 22 August. Visit spelling-bee.com.au, kidsnews.com.au

Detective Galileo (HarperCollins), by Peter Helliar, is out now.

ABOUT THE BEE

• The Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee is a free, online competition for students in Years 3-8.
• Students compete at their school in three levels: Green level for Years 3-4, Orange level for Years 5-6 and Red level for Years 7-8.
• They get 30 randomly selected words from their competition level and have 25 seconds to type each answer. The students with the most correct words in the fastest time progress to finals.
• Teachers can register their students until August 22, when the school round ends.
• State and territory finals will be held September 1-5 and the national finals on September 10-11.
• The national champion in each age group wins a trip to Canberra to meet the Prime Minister, an iPad, HarperCollins book pack and a $1000 voucher for their school.
• Details: spelling-bee.com.au, kidsnews.com.au

POLL

GLOSSARY

• versatile: able to do many different things and adapt to new challenges and environments
• bestowed: gave something as an honour or gift
• mediums: different ways of communicating and channels for conveying your ideas
• entwined: closely connected or unable to be separated
  DNA: he molecule inside cells that contains the genetic information needed for a person and most other organisms to develop and grow
• resurgence: something starts to grow, develop, or become successful again
• slaying: slang for being very good and impressive at something, as when you say “she was killing it on stage tonight”
• immaculately: in a way that’s perfectly clean, neat and tidy

EXTRA READING

Bee blasts NAPLAN woes away

Spelling skills rev kids’ engines

Albo celebrates Bee’s big birthday

QUICK QUIZ

1. What is the name of comedian and author Peter Helliar’s new children’s book series?
2. Where did stand-up Chris Ryan spend the first nine years of her life?
3. Why does think AI isn’t funny?
4. Chis Ryan said there’s no limit to what we can achieve if only we do what?
5. Which iconic movie was the subject of Pete Helliar’s primary school film review?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
Funny crossword
Challenge yourself to create a “Funny Crossword” by following these steps:

a. Choose your words – make a list of 10-12 words you want to include.

b. Arrange your words – on a sheet of grid paper, fit your words together horizontally and vertically like a real crossword.

c. Number your words – each word needs a number in the corner of the first letter.

d. Write your clues – write a clue that will help puzzlers to work out each word. Challenge yourself to make the clues funny and, of course, focus on spelling these correctly.

e. Copy your grid – make a copy of your crossword that shows only blank spaces and clue numbers but not the answers.

f. Test your crossword – can your partner solve your puzzle correctly? Did your clues give them a laugh?

Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English

Extension
Work with a partner to create some of your own silly nonsense words. This could involve blending sounds that might not normally go together or combining parts of different words.

Both partners should try writing down the made-up words on your own (no peeking) and then compare your spelling attempts.

If you spelled the word the same way, give each other a high five!

If your spellings are different, talk about why. Which letters or sounds could work based on what you know about spelling rules and patterns? Work together to reach an agreement on the correct spelling.

Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English

VCOP ACTIVITY
Creative vocabulary
Find a bland sentence from the article to up-level. Can you add more detail and description? Can you replace any ‘said’ words with more specific synonyms?

Have you outdone yourself and used some really great vocabulary throughout your writing? Firstly, well done. Secondly, let’s ensure everyone can understand it by adding a glossary of terms. Pick three of your wow words and create a glossary for each word to explain what it means.