We watch him chuckling gleefully and it's not long until we're clutching our stomachs and wiping the tears from our eyes beside him.
When it's all over we give him another 20p to hear him again.
There are no roller-coasters or Tower of Terror here but there's plenty of fun to be had at the Black Country Living Museum's 1920s fairground.
Our little hysterical friend is a puppet sitting in a glass case.
It's a simple enough concept - give him money to watch him laugh - but it's absolutely hilarious.
Standing nearby is a giant colourful spiral helter-skelter and the Ark Speedway - a kind of turbo merry-go-round that was the latest in high-speed rides when introduced in the 1920s.
The travelling fair is among historical Black Country homes, shops and businesses moved or rebuilt at this museum to give visitors the chance to experience life in the heart of industrial Britain as it once was.
Electric trams and trolleybuses operate on the 10ha site while costumed demonstrators and working craftsmen bring the place to life, acting as living, breathing exhibits, full of local knowledge and humour.
The Black Country gained its name in the middle of the 19th century when thousands of furnaces and chimneys filled the air with smoke and heavy mining created large expanses of dereliction.
Often the mining of the "Staffordshire Thick Coal" - a seam averaging 9m in thickness and often just a metre or two below the surface - caused fires and transformed vast areas into smoking wastelands.
Of course the scenery no longer looks this way, but the Black Country Living Museum still gives an authentic taste.
Visitors can venture underground where coal, limestone, fireclay and ironstone were mined in 40 old shafts.
A maze of roadways and working areas exist in the drift mine where 1850s miner 'Lija Wedge leads the way, explaining how coal was extracted and how boys started work at the age of 10 or 11 in the cold, damp conditions.
Their job was to open doors to circulate air and prevent gas collecting and causing explosions.
Ponies were also put to work pulling tubs of coal to the pit bottom, where 'Lija tells of the number of deaths caused by mining accidents.
Later, we take a tour of the canals that linked up with mines like this and provided transport of commodities across Britain.
The caverns are spectacular and couples can book them to say their vows.
Back outside, old-time shops line the main street where visitors can sample flavours from the past at the sweet shop, homemade fare at the bakery, or a pint of Black Country Real Ale from the 1822 Bottle and Glass inn.
But by far the favourite is Hobbs Fish and Chip Shop.
The replica of the 1920s/1930s shop, still standing at nearby Willenhall, houses a coal-fired frying range and interior fittings originally from another shop at Walsall.
Despite the cooking facilities being too small to satisfy today's demands - the hour-long line of hungry visitors stretched down the street - the fish and chips were the best I tasted in England.
Cooked the traditional way, in beef dripping, it was probably best for my health that I couldn't find a similar snack elsewhere.
Next door stands St James School.
Originally built in Dudley in 1842 to accommodate 300 children, it was moved to the museum in 1991 and nowadays the headmistress conducts classes as they would have been taught in 1912.
Rows of wooden desks line the room and "pupils" are handed miniature blackboards to write on.
Those who cannot remember their lessons, beware the cane!
If you go
The Black Country Living Museum at Dudley is open throughout the year with reduced hours in winter.
It is easily accessible from the Midlands motorway network, train lines and via bus from stops in the Black Country and nearby Birmingham.
Adult entry is 12.95 ($NZ31.50), children 6.95, under-5s free.
For more information visit www.bclm.co.uk
