The way in which one delivers words, phrases or whole sentences should give the impression that they are being uttered for the first time. To help the audience believe what is being said, speech must sound fresh and natural — not stale and rehearsed like a classroom recitation. Timing a joke is like dancing a waltz — the performer must be smooth and graceful and have a feel for the tempo.
Professionals make humor look effortless. But they rehearse constantly to insure that their timing is flawless, relaxed and comfortable. The preceding physical and verbal devices, when properly applied, help to cue the laughter response in listeners. However, making a large group of people laugh is never easy. There are many intangibles that can militate against success. Sometimes there is a poor sound system. The room in which the show or the program is being held can be too warm or too cold. The seating might be badly arranged, perhaps the audience has difficulty seeing or hearing. The lighting may be insufficient, or — the performer’s worst nightmare — the audience might be tired, indifferent, drunk or rowdy. Any or all of these distractions, which are often beyond the performer’s control, can dramatically stem the flow of laughter and cause disappointing crowd reaction. But there are other reasons within the performer’s control that cause unqualified and untrained joke tellers to get less than the laugh a funny story deserves. They are often unaware of the causes for not getting a
favorable reaction. The following are solutions for some common mistakes:
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