How to tell jokes: Politically Correct Jokes

This is an excerpt from Humor 101: How to Tell Jokes for Power, Prestige, Profit, and Personal Fulfillment

“For every ten jokes, thou hast got an hundred enemies.” Laurence Sterne (Howard’s great, great, great, great grandfather.)

Politically correct jokes are jokes that are tailored not to offend certain people. The problem is that anytime anyone tries to be funny, there’s a chance he or she will offend somebody. You don’t have to tell very many jokes to find that out. And some of the people who get offended aren’t shy about saying so. Complaints about jokes can be very off the wall but it will rarely do any good to try to explain a joke to someone who feels offended. For example, there’s just no way to explain irony to someone who does not get it.

In business settings it’s a good idea not to offend people if you can avoid it. Tell jokes that have a broad appeal, that don’t play on stereotypes, and that don’t take jabs at groups of people. Unlike pitching in baseball, in comedy it’s usually better to aim for the middle of the plate than it is to try to get strikes on the corners. You want to pitch jokes that are obvious strikes. You don’t want to leave people wondering whether they got it or not. 

I recently saw a bumper sticker that said, “Meat is Murder.” Well I guess that makes me a sociopath! I love the feeling of my incisors ripping through a nice juicy steak.

As a rule, I don’t laugh very hard at my own jokes, but that one used to kill me. I really loved telling that joke. Even after I had been telling it for a while, it still made me smile inside. It’s a funny joke, but not for everybody. I’m sure I alienated many vegetarians with that joke. If I had known then what I know now, I would have dumped that joke.

Another bit I should have stopped using took pokes at balding TV personalities, especially the ones who do the comb-over. I’m sure that whenever I did that bit, I alienated many men who were, shall we say, folically challenged. Try to be aware of who might be offended by a joke and ask yourself if the joke is worth it. Sometimes it is. In business situations, it usually isn’t. 

Further reading.

Remedial Sensitivity

Politically Correct Jokes

Are you a Wit Supremacist?

Jokes for St. Patty’s Day

#MakeAmericaLaughAgain

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Make America Laugh Again

Many Americans have lost their sense of humor. We no longer laugh as we once did. Candidates have been getting meaner and the jokes have been getting uglier. However, we can make America laugh again. Not with insults to belittle one another, but with kinder gentler jokes.

In regard to healthcare, laughter is not only the best medicine. It’s also our least costly healthcare option. With my Haha Health Program, Comedy Practitioners will be able to prescribe jokes that heal instead of expensive drugs. Consumers are going to see tremendous savings!

I envision an America with a thousand points of laughter, all over this great land of ours. This laugh is your laugh, this laugh is my laugh. Life, liberty, and laughter - these are the values that will bring our country back together. Ask not what your country can do to make you laugh. Ask what you can do to make a fellow American laugh. Give me laughter, or give me death!

Further reading.

Laughter is the best therapy

Are you a Wit Supremacist?

Jokes for St. Patty’s Day

Practice your jokes!

#AprilFools #AprilFoolsDay #HappyAprilFoolsDay #MakeAmericaLaughAgain

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  s

Pat Paulsen’s Historic Campaign to Become President

Pat Paulsen was a very entertaining comedian who gained some fame delivering editorials on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Show in the 60s. Beginning in 1968, he repeatedly ran for President of the United States as a write-in candidate. He was on the ballot in New Hampshire several times. Paulsen proved that political campaigns can be fun.  His campaign slogan was , "If elected, I will win."

Here are a few of his memorable lines.

"All the problems we face in the United States today can be traced to an unenlightened immigration policy on the part of the American Indian."

"A good many people feel that our present draft laws are unjust. These people are called soldiers."

"We have nothing to fear but fear itself...and of course the boogieman."

"I am neither left wing nor right wing. I am middle-of-the-bird."

"If either the right wing or the left wing gained control of the country, it would probably fly around in circles."

"I belong to the Straight Talking American Government Party, or STAG Party for short."

Quote of the Week

“When comedy’s good, it’s jazz. The beats of it, the looseness, the improvisational part, the music – the way you hit the inflection, the high notes of a joke. It’s all melody to me.” Billy Crystal

Old Joke of the Week

A survey by salary.com has found that 64% of employees in the United States visit websites that have nothing to do with their work daily. Meanwhile, Facebook reports that browsing social media several times per day actually makes workers more productive. DM

Business Humor Tip: Behind every tasteless joke is a poor premise

Sometimes when people tell racist, sexist, or bigoted jokes and nobody laughs, they try to shrug it off and say, “It was just a joke.” Here’s a newsflash: Once that cat’s out of the bag, it’s hard to get it back. Jokes are based on premises which are underlying ideas. For example, the premise for jokes about dumb blondes is that blondes are stupid.

In business relationships and in other relationships, when people hear a sexist or racist joke, they may associate the teller of the joke with the mindset behind the premise. And, just like that, the possibility of making a sale or establishing a mutually beneficial business relationship can be gone. 

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