Provides foremost of entertainers with jokes (6)
I believe the answer is:
equips
'provides' is the definition.
(equipping is a kind of providing)
'foremost of entertainers with jokes' is the wordplay.
'foremost of' suggests taking the first letters.
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'jokes' becomes 'quips' (quipping is a kind of joking**).
The initial letter of 'entertainers' is 'e'.
'e'+'quips'='EQUIPS'
(Other definitions for equips that I've seen before include "Supplies" , "Provides with the necessary tools" .)