Jokes

If I begin this entry by saying, "Jokes are funny things," then my guess is most folks would respond by noting, "Not always." That, of course, is true. I for one have heard many jokes that I considered to be duds. In fact, I have been known over the years to blurt out many things that I thought were funny only to quickly learn that my opinion was shared by no one. This begs several key question: What makes a joke good? Is there such a thing as a good joke that is not funny? Are jokes only good if they elicit a laugh? How much of a role does the teller of a joke play in determining whether it is funny? For instance, if we both told the same joke, would I generate just as a favorable response as, say, Jerry Seinfeld?

Humor is a form of communication. Much like singing. Any one can tell a joke just as any one can sing. Does that, then, make everyone a comedian or a singer? I think not. Lots of us can even put on a glove and catch a baseball. But only a select few actually do that well enough to earn a living at it. One point to all this is that while all of us can and do communicate, it does not mean we are all communicators in a professional sense. Besides the matter of remuneration, one defining criteria for such a distinction revolves the success of one's efforts. Whether it is laughter, applause, a pay check or mutual understanding between publics, it all revolves around the effectiveness of the effort.

To return to the initial topic of jokes - as a form of communication -  I believe one can be well constructed and even well delivered yet still not be funny. "Why did the chicken cross the road?" is arguably one of the first jokes many of us are told. Though "to get to the other side" makes perfect sense as a punch line, I have yet to hear it elicit any genuine laughter. One lesson here is that using jokes to connect with others does not always guarantee success. As is the case with communication in-general, to be effective requires research, hard work and, of course, a sense of humor.