How to Tell Narrative Jokes

Regardless of your delivery, the story has to be funny in the first place in order to get a laugh.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Hand Buzzers
• Dictionaries
• Joke Books
• Notebooks
• Pens And Pencils
• Notebooks

1. Begin the narrative joke by establishing characters and setting, as you would with any story. (Note: In some simpler narrative jokes, setting may be omitted. A joke may begin with "Two guys are talking" as opposed to "Two guys are talking in a bar.")

2. Build tension in the joke by placing the characters in absurd situations or giving them absurd dialogue.

3. Resolve the tension with a punch line.

Tips & Warnings

• To create a more relaxed atmosphere, tell your narrative joke in present tense rather than past tense ("A guy walks into a bar" rather than "A guy walked into a bar").
• When a teller laughs at his or her own joke, the joke loses its effectiveness. This is especially true if the teller laughs before the punch line.
• If your punch line relies on a pun, or wordplay, for its humor, emphasize the word or phrase that constitutes the pun by saying it more clearly and loudly than the rest of the punch line.
• Before you tell a joke, determine whether anyone present will be offended by it.

on 12/19/2005 Make sure you've thought through the narrative joke before you start to tell it. Nothing kills a joke more than saying, "Oh, did I mention that the guy is carrying a penguin?" half-way into it.

Although, there can be a lot of fun had (if you're the self-deprecating type) in telling a joke badly. You can then redeem yourself and prove your mettle by immediately turning around and telling another narrative joke flawlessly!

on 11/22/2005 Make sure to personalize your jokes. it's much more interesting to hear what happens to you, than for you to tell a generic story about someone you don't know.