Carrie Underwood & Brad Paisley Practice Their CMA Jokes

Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley are a couple of naturally charming performers, but when it comes to picking and perfecting their comical material for the CMA Awards telecast on Wednesday night (Nov. 9), they defer to the show's writers.

"The trick is to listen to them when they say it's not funny," Brad said at a pre-show press conference over the weekend. "The last thing you want to do is be the only one who thinks so and have to go out there and try it, because you'd better be right."

In terms of the subject matter, Brad noted that while most topics -- including the hubbub surrounding Hank Williams Jr.'s comments about President Obama last month -- are fair game, he and Carrie will pull some punches.

"Some things are funny that we don't do," he said. "There are some things that are off limits. This is country music. It's a family. I want to be able to sit down at Thanksgiving dinner with these people and not have to leave town when the show is over."

Speaking of family, Brad chatted with reporters about the crush his son Huck has on Carrie. When the blond country star visited Brad's home to record the duet 'Remind Me," the smitten youngster put on his best shirt, bought her flowers and wrote her a note.

"I don't know what kind of cavemen these kids turn into, but it kind of starts really early," Brad said.

His other son, Jasper, is also fond of Carrie -- or so she thought, given that the toddler stood at her feet and stared up at her intensely for a rather long period of time.

"He might be pooping," Carrie remembered Brad telling her. "Either he really likes me, or I'm poo material. Either way, I win."

The CMA Awards will air Wednesday (Nov. 9) at 8:00 PM ET on ABC.