Possible Clues:

• Revolutionary stunt ruined old joke
• Old crack in wood?
• The fruit of the sweet or 3D ____ is used to make marrons glacés
• Source of wheeze by teachers becoming a cliche
• Deep reddish-brown
• The cuts not initially working — we've heard it lots of times
• Headcase swaps sides – it's something of a cliché
• Much-told joke
• Brown box sitting on upturned cask
• Brown, an old joke