Workshop: Jokes as a Toolkit for Lateral Thinking

By Ingrid Kreksch

Brussels: 8 February 2017

The marriage of poor Kim Kardashian
Was krushed like a kar in a krashian.
Her Kris kried, "Not fair!
Why kan't I keep my share?"
But Kardashian fell klean outa fashian.
—Salman Rushdie

Lateral thinking was defined by Edward De Bono as a way of solving problems through an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that is not immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic.

A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to make people laugh. It takes the form of a story, usually with dialogue, and ends in a punch line. It is in the punch line that the audience becomes aware that the story contains a second, conflicting meaning.

In this workshop we are going to explore jokes as a means to decode reasoning that is not immediately obvious. After exploring the main concepts and theoretical background of jokes, we will analyze a number of them to see how they function. We will further try to write a limmerick, a form of poetry in five lines, which is sometimes obscene with humorous intent (like the one above by Salman Rushdie).

Please bring along 2-3 jokes that made you laugh, suspend your disbelief and political correctness, and let's exercise our zygomatic muscles.

 

About Ingrid Kreksch

Ingrid Kreksch has been working in the area of training for the last twelve years. She has also written a crime novella now available at Amazon (Ingrid K. Westermann, New Age of Treason). Her interest in jokes dates back to the time when she lived in Venezuela, where they are a basic ingredient of daily life.

Practical Information

When? Wednesday, 8 February 2017 from 18h45-21h00

Where? Timesmore Boulevard St Michel 47, 1040 Brussels

Public transport: Metro: Montgomery; Tram: Boileau

See map below or here...

How much? A contribution of €12 to cover expenses including materials, drinks, snacks, etc.

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Want to come?

Please reply to your invitation e-mail or follow this link to sign up for for this workshop.

Participants

1. Jeffrey Baumgartner
2. Andy Whittle
3. Ingrid Kreksch
4. Cécile Joris
5. Peter Whippy
6. Carolyn Moody
7. Monica Dimitriu *
8. Frank Turley *
9. David Franks *
10. Michel Wils *
11. David Franks *
12. Olivier Dierickx *
    
    
13. Roberta Cacciaglia **
14. Matteo Schuer **
15. Clea Crimson **
16. Sascha Siegmund **
17. Vaneltina Caimi **
18. Benoit Watteyne **
19. Sarah Sherriff **
20. Gordon Buhagiar **
21. Zlatimira Beckham **

 

 

Notes

* Registered on Facebook

** Registered as "Interested" on Facebook which, in practice, means they probably won't come. But we appreciate their enthusiasm and support nonetheless.

 

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