A joke is usually constructed of two parts: "the set-up" and "the punchline." Generally, the set-up is constructed in such a way that it creates an expectation, however false or misleading, as to what the eventual punchline will deliver.
The key to creating an operable and efficient joke is to create a set-up that seems to send the joke in one direction, then suddenly veers in another direction ("the turn") for the punchline. Here is an example of a good joke...
Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side.
Simple, yet effective. It's obvious that the chicken's goal is to get to the other side of said road, but the joke-teller has set up the question as if it were an inquiry of reason, rather than outcome.
Gordon Keith's jokes do not follow the rule of the turn. In a proper joke, the turn is everything. A Gordon Keith joke is usually either all set-up, all punchline, or some inbred by-product of the two. There is no turn and no actual investment in the joke paying off.
Often, a Gordon Keith punchline is simply a reference to something that a wide audience would recognize as having some sort of humorous attribute or association, but is not in and of itself actually humorous within the context of the joke. This is the exact opposite of how a joke should work. The context dictates the turn. Here is the Gordon Keith "non-joke" version of the chicken joke...
Why did the chicken cross the road? Jessica Simpson.
This is not the correct way to construct humor. The laughs that a non-joke might elicit are either accidental or painfully forced, an unnatural reaction to benign stimuli.
Gordon Keith being not funny on TV.On a recent episode of Gordon Keith's horrible television show, he made reference to a charity clay shoot he was involved in. He then went on to remark that he accidentally shot Harry Whittington in the face. I'll wait while you finish not laughing.
This attempt at humor failed for a number of reasons, foremost being that there was no actual set-up to a near-nonexistent punchline. Mentioning his participation in a charity clay shoot does not set-up the turn. If anything, it predicts the punchline simply due to the fact that Gordon Keith is a hack and if he starts talking about shooting guns, you can almost guarantee that he will use a punchline that references the guy who Dick Cheney shot in the face 2 years ago. The only way the joke could have contained a turn is if you were expecting the joke to be funny. Then the joke is on you.
You should not laugh at poorly constructed jokes. You should expect actual, natural results from someone who is being paid to practice a craft. If you hired someone to build a house, you would expect them to build the entire house, not just the roof.
This is not necessarily Gordon Keith's fault, as the massive popularity of "non-jokes" is undeniable. Non-jokes are seemingly harmless viruses that destroy true comedic workmanship and place all blame at the feet of the audience. If you fail to laugh at a non-joke, then it is your fault because you did not "get it." The inherent problem with this is that without a proper set-up, turn, and punchline, there is nothing to get. The human intellect is not being engaged, it is being misdirected.
If you laugh at Gordon Keith's "jokes," you are not reacting naturally. You are producing an expected response to something that is made to appear funny, but in actuality is very, very lame.
