THE SHORT SET: EVERYONE’S A COMEDIAN

Kids aren’t funny. Oh, they think they’re hysterical, but when it comes to telling jokes, it’s no laughing matter. Here’s Nipper’s idea of a good one: “Knock knock!” “Who’s there?” “Blood!” “Blood who?” “Blood all over you!” I mean, that’s more troubling than clever. Luckily we live in a town full of trained comedy pros eager to teach the art of improv to our young.

Nipper and I attended “Giggle Gaggle” at North Hollywood’s Joy Theatre. Kids ages 4 to 11 put on shows as part of their comedy class. Sure, family and friends were ready to guffaw, but would these tykes be able to get an easily bored 6-year-old and his even-more-easily bored 46-year-old mother to laugh? The kids, led by Josh Minnick (pictured), play many of the same improv games as on “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” and the results are often delightful. An onstage chicken fight in full-throttle chicken voices had Nipper doubled over with -- of all things -- a gaggle of giggles. Next up, the 12- to 18-year-olds perform in “Detention Span,” in which the results are slicker and more sophisticated. One kid’s Jerry Seinfeld impression was spot-on, and “Tag Team Comedy” -- in which the cast is divided into two teams with a “loser” sent to the back of the line -- saw the kids at their sharpest. What gets them sent to the back? Not being funny. Or being funny with their back to the audience.

Janiece Jary (pictured back right), who runs the theater with husband Minnick, says: “We get them to take a chance, and tell them it’s OK to fall on your face. Falling on your face can be hysterical.” And if all else fails, she adds, “Thanks to those ‘Ace Ventura’ movies, all kids know how to talk out of their butt.” Giggle Gaggle, 2 p.m. Sat.-Sun.; Detention Span, 5 p.m. Sat.-Sun. $8. Joy Theatre at the Raven Playhouse, 5233 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. (818) 505-9355; www.joytheatre.com

-- YoMama@latimes.com