Nokamura
n.— «“A Nokamura”: When a large number of jokes are all predicated on a single, earlier joke. This can entail great risk. Based on a Cheers episode. A day-player was named “Nokamura.” A vast chunk of the second act’s jokes were based on people mispronouncing, repeating, etc. the name “Nokamura.” But the problem was, on tape night—the first mention of “Nokamura” didn’t get a laugh. This meant the rest of the jokes wouldn’t work. The rest of the show was shanked.…(Note: We have recent e-mails suggesting the origin of this term was actually The Bob Newhart Show. We are investigating)» —“Writing: Jargon Preservation” by John Rogers Kung Fu Monkey Apr. 15, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The adjective corny describes someone or something “unsophisticated” or “naive.” This sense of corny goes back at least as far as the 1920s. Seed catalogs of the time often contained bits of goofy jokes and broad humor...
National Book Award winner Barry Lopez had wise advice for young writers. First, read widely and follow your curiosity. Second, travel or learn a foreign language. And third, find out what you truly believe, because if you’re not writing from...