Run-on Jokes

A run-on joke is used in Pack Meeting as a way to keep the audience focused and interested during delays, because more than half the audience probably has a very short attention span - so you wanna keep it.

The delay might be the Den Leader giving quick last minute instructions before a presentation.  The delay might be the Cub Master asking the Committee Chair a question or digging around trying to find something.  The delay might be the time it takes for a den to gather up front.

A run-on joke is a one-liner joke, usually more "punny" than funny.  It can be one person delivering the line or question and answer, or it can be two - one asking the other.  Either way they run on stage very quickly, deliver their joke, then run off very quickly, almost as to not interrupt or delay by the Cubmaster at all. The dens in my pack take turns being prepared with run-ons for each pack meeting.  They love it!

Other times they may coordinate to randomly walk on stage while the Cubmaster is talking (but not during a ceremony), the Cubmaster asks a "what are you doing?"-type question, and the line is delivered.  For example, a cub walks on stage pulling a rope.  The Cubmaster asks, "why are you pulling that rope?", to which the cub answers, "Have you ever tried pushing one?"  These are my favorite run-ons, but there aren't many out there as compared to riddle or knock-knock jokes.

Three of the best places I have found for quick and clean jokes are http://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/joke/show-jokes-wolf.asp (just click "clean jokes" above), the back two pages of Boy's Life Magazine -- a section called Think & Grin, and my Cub Leader Pow Wow books.  At boyscouttrail.com and in Cub Leader Pow Wow books the jokes are organized by topic (for example, Astronauts, Cows, Elephants, Halloween, Knights, What Do You Call A Scout Who....).

Last night our Cub Leader Roundtable's value was Courage (July), so we chose the them Knights of the Roundtable.  Here are the puns used, which was taken from boyscouttrail.com:

Where do knights go to grab a bite to eat? To an all-KNIGHT diner.
Why did every castle have a bank with an automated teller?  For making KNIGHT deposits.
What did King Arthur listen to every evening at six? the KNIGHTLY news.
What do you call it when all the knights trade places at the roundtable?  The KNIGHT shift.
What do you call a mosquito in a knight's suit?  A bite in shining armor.
Why were the early days of history called the dark ages?  Because there were so many KNIGHTS.
What do you call a knight who's afraid to fight?  Sir Render.