And, Your Honor, that's why my client is not guilty. The event was part of a continuing comedy festival sponsored by the Department of Theatre, Speech, and Dance. Scripted jokes, he said, are often seen as a lesser form of comedy, when they are really quite important. With that said, Allen proceeded to pepper the audience with various types of burlesque jokes, some of which were from his works, in order to demonstrate the importance of rhythm and style in jokes. Allen said that the most important thing when telling jokes is to create a rhythm and make the audience feel comfortable.
Ritual repetition helps create rhythm.
Rhythm is part of timing - judging the audience's flow of laughter is very important. It's good to let the audience feel superior to the comedian. Allen then proceeded to talk about style and the way that it is manifested in burlesque jokes. He said that certain types of subjects are good sources of material. Penis size is a great subject for jokes.