Top Ten Gallagher Jokes

Leo Anthony Gallagher, Jr. was an American comedian who was at peak popularity in the 80's. Gallagher graduated from the world renown Notre Dame Clown College before he experimented with prop comedy in the slums of Thailand. In 1974 at Tommy Nguyen’s Comedy house, Gallagher found his calling when he smashed a heckler's head in with a comically oversized mallet. After moving back to the U.S. Gallagher replaced the human head with fruit in his act and created a routine that would become well known around the world. So, without further ado, here's Gallagher's top ten comedy routines.

10. Gallagher Smashing a Pumpkin

 

When Gallagher was young and still working on his routine he started out using pumpkins. It wouldn't be until after several years of experimentation that Gallagher would find what fruit produces the most laughs.

9. Gallagher Smashing a Papaya 

 

In 1978, Gallagher ditched the pumpkin idea and moved on to papayas. In December of 1978, a papaya seed blinded an audience member, causing the FDA's ban on papaya's in prop comedy.

8.Gallagher Teaches Spelling

Since the papaya incident, Gallagher took a dramatic turn away from smashing fruit and tried his hand at other forms of prop comedy. The only problem was, Gallagher was an idiot. Some of his earlier attempts at comedy involved teaching the audience how to spell four letter words and how to write in cursive. Despite the act's lack of creativity or humour, audiences paid to see his shows nonetheless. 

7. Gallagher Jumping on a Couch

Mad with power, Gallagher thought that having people pay to see him jump on a giant couch would be funny. However, Gallagher would soon see the fault in his ways and go back to smashing fruit.

6. Gallagher Smashing a Human Head

Looking back to that night in Thailand, Gallagher tried smashing a person's head on tour in Texas. However, Americans did not receive this joke as well as audiences overseas. Gallagher would take one year off touring, evading the American justice system.

5. Gallagher Putting a Hat on a Watermelon

After a one year hiatus Gallagher returned to the American comedy scene. However, his year on the run had made him weak and unpracticed. In a desperate attempt at reclaiming his former fame, Gallagher marketed the idea of putting hats on fruit as comedy.

4. Gallagher Plays With Watermelon Puppets

Desperate to avoid type casting as a one trick pony, Gallagher turned to puppetry. Constructed out of watermelons, Gallagher had created the loving parents he never had.

3. Gallagher Smashing a Watermelon

After realizing that puppets haven't been cool since the 1800s, Gallagher smashed his beloved watermelon puppets and started a trend that would later come to dominate his routines.

2. Gallagher Smashing a Watermelon

No matter what Gallagher tried after this, it would pale in comparison as this gag became a staple in his act.

1. Gallagher Smashing a Watermelon

 

For the next decade, people would pay to watch this homeless man smash fruit with an oversized mallet. However, American's would eventually realize that paying to watch someone do something you can do at home was a waste of time and money. Technology was rapidly changing the comedic landscape, making Gallagher's prop comedy obsolete. Gallagher would spend his retirement sailing the world in an oversized watermelon husk, no one would see him ever again.