Results tagged “jokes”
Your April Fool's Day Joke Continues to Suck
March 31, 2008
Having been blogging for a few years, I've developed a few annual traditions. This one's a favorite: Warning you off of lame April Fool's jokes on the web. Every year, I get called a curmudgeon, or lambasted for having no sense of humor. And every year, the jokes online get lamer and lamer.
I'd mentioned that Your April Fool's Day Joke Sucks two years ago, revisited the idea last year, and have been proud to have been joined in my assessment by luminaries such as Joshua Schachter and Andy Baio in taking a critical eye at this sort of thing.
The exception, of course, is if you're doing something truly hysterical or on a magnificent scale. But I fear we won't run into too many of those.
Cracking Jokes
March 20, 2008
The big reason to make jokes is because they're the best way to get a quick read on the collective mind of the group you're talking to. The volume of the laugh is important, but so is the lag time. You can tell immediately if they're on your side, and if they're really following what you're saying, by how quickly the crowd responds to your jokes.
Steven Berlin Johnson, on how to judge the silent tone of a room when speaking in public. See also his comments, with mention of the fundamental role of call-and-response in African American public speaking (and performance) culture.