Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 3: Find out how sensitive you are to jokes
• Part 2 of 3: Respond to jokes
• Part 3 of 3: Embracing humor and jokes

Do you find yourself taking jokes too seriously, whether they are those of colleagues, friends or school friends? Over time, this inability to keep things down can make relationships more difficult, especially when people feel like you're acting superior or ruining the pleasure of others. Often times, taking jokes seriously means being a serious person or reacting sensitively to other people's humor. This could be because you may not have the same sense of humor as others and react sensitively to their jokes or because you are not sure how to respond to jokes in general. Embracing humor and jokes can help you relax, reduce stress, and be less serious. As long as someone's joke isn't offensive, there are ways to stop taking light humorous jokes seriously and laugh about them.

To step

Part 1 of 3: Find out how sensitive you are to jokes

1. Understand where your sensitivity to jokes comes from. Often times, your response to a joke is based on your thoughts related to the joke. You may be interpreting the joke more seriously than you intended or you may not understand the joke properly. As you process the joke, consider why you are responding so seriously to the joke and why you are sensitive to the joke. This will help you build more self-awareness around the reasons for your sensitivity to certain jokes and do something about it.
   • Wonder if your interpretation of the joke is realistic and accurate. Do you base your understanding of the joke on assumptions or on first-hand experiences? Is your sensitivity based on previous experience or an incorrect idea of ​​the joker's intent?
   • You may also want to consider whether there is evidence that you shouldn't take the joke seriously and process your sensitivity in a way that isn't angry or negative. Considering these questions can help you realize that your sensitivity to the joke may not be justified and that your sensitivity may be based on other feelings or emotions that have nothing to do with the joke.
2. Consider whether you are struggling with other emotions such as stress and anxiety. Sometimes other emotions can take over and it can be difficult to laugh or smile at someone's jokes. You may feel stress and anxiety from a deadline, appointment, or recent setback, and are not in the mood to listen to a funny story or witty one-liner. You may end up taking people's jokes too seriously because you are trapped in negative circle thinking or too preoccupied with your problems to see the brighter side of things.
   • Know that laughing and joking are very effective in relieving stress, especially if you are struggling to maintain a positive outlook and are going through a difficult or bad time. While you may have a mindset where everything is serious and sad, sometimes it's important to let go of things and laugh, even if it's a stupid joke.
3. Notice if you react sensitively because you find something uncomfortable. You may find yourself in a situation where you take a joke seriously because you feel uncomfortable with the subject of the joke or you are confused about why the joke is funny. If you think the joke could be offensive, consider why you find the joke offensive and whether your response is based on facts (such as a historical fact in the case of a racist joke) or personal experiences (such as your experience as a woman in the case of a sexist joke).
   • You don't necessarily have to have first-hand experience with a particular perspective to find a joke offensive or inappropriate. Often times, if you feel uncomfortable because the joke seems rude or inaccurate, it may be justified to take the joke seriously and not laugh about it.
4. If a joke is unclear to you, ask for clarification. If you take the joke seriously because you are confused by the prankster's intentions, you can ask the prankster what he meant by his joke or ask him to clarify why he was joking. You can hear a scientist's joke, for example, that only makes sense to another scientist. Most jokes lose their punch when they are explained, but asking the joker questions can be a useful way to learn more about the joke and to better understand certain types of jokes in the future.

Part 2 of 3: Respond to jokes

1. Put yourself in the prankster's shoes. You have to think about who the prankster is and why he is telling a particular joke. For example, a father might tell a joke about fathers to a group of people, which may only make sense to other fathers. This could be because he wants to talk to the other dads in the group, and you might not get the joke because you're not a dad. This can be applied to other professions and groups, and you can then try to figure out the narrator's perspective of the joke to fully understand the joke.
   • It can be helpful to think of the joke as also representative of the joker's humor. Someone who has a weird sense of humor can tell a different joke than a person who is drier and witty. By aligning yourself with the joker, you can take the joke as it is intended, which is often not serious.
2. Pay attention to how other people around you react to the joke. If you can't quite determine the meaning of the joke, you can look at the others around you to determine how to respond to the joke. Often times, laughter can be infectious and you can end up laughing with everyone else just by paying attention to their reactions. Assessing the reaction of others can also help you take the joke less seriously, especially if the others around you clearly appreciate the joke.
   • According to studies, we choose not to laugh. Laughter is often an automatic reaction that we do unconsciously. That's why it's hard to laugh or fake a laugh on command. Paying attention to how others react can make you laugh without even realizing it, rather than being serious and distant.
3. Respond with a witty one-liner. To break your serious approach, challenge yourself to respond to the joke with a witty comeback or a one-liner. You can do this by incorporating a theme or idea into the joke and lightly countering it with a comment that you find funnier or more interesting.
   • For example: A colleague can tell a joke about his toddler who is always happy when he comes home. You can then respond with a comment about how your goldfish is always happy when you leave in the morning. This is a funny response because it builds on the original joke and offers a funny counter-image: your goldfish, happily in the bowl when you go to work. This shows that you don't take your coworkers' joke seriously and can participate in the fun.
4. Make the joke less heavy by taking yourself less seriously. Taking yourself less seriously is when you laugh at yourself as a way to provoke laughter. It can be helpful when you are unsure of how to respond to a joke or when you realize that you have responded too seriously to a joke. Taking yourself less seriously can be a great way to put an awkward moment aside and show that you can laugh at yourself.
   • Laugh at yourself when you feel uncomfortable, in the moment, or unsure of what to say. For example, a friend may joke about how awful he is at a particular sport or game. You can then respond with a perspective comment about yourself, such as how awful you are at most things in general. This will likely make the friend laugh and allow you to respond to the original joke in a funny way.

Part 3 of 3: Embracing humor and jokes

1. Tell your own jokes. Gain more experience joking and laughing by forcing yourself to tell jokes to others. This can help you take yourself less seriously and show that you can be funny too.
   • You may want to look up some good jokes online and run them in a mirror before trying them on others. You can also try pranks on lovable friends before telling them to a wider audience. It can also be fun to try an amateur comedy night at a local bar or pub and show your sense of humor to a space full of benevolent strangers.
   • A good joke consists of a structure and a punch line. The outline is the first half of the joke and usually includes the location and the most important people. The punch line is usually one sentence and is meant to work on the laughing muscles. For example, you could have the following structure: "A priest, a pastor, and a rabbi walk into a bar." The punch line is: The bartender says, "What is this, some kind of joke?"
2. Practice telling funny stories to others. A funny story or anecdote can also help lighten the mood and show that you are willing to laugh with others. Telling a funny story is like telling a joke. You have to combine timing and physical gestures and create an outline and a punch line for the story. You should also keep eye contact with your audience as you tell the story and try to end the story on the phrase that is most laughable.
   • When telling a joke or a story, try to keep it short and sweet. Your audience has a limited attention span and you don't want them to lose interest in the story before you get into the punch line.
3. Watch funny shows and movies. Get a better sense of what is considered funny by watching television shows and movies that are considered comical. Professional comedy actors are often very good at using timing and physical gestures, as well as delivering well-placed jokes to make the viewer laugh.
   • Notice if you prefer certain styles of comedy over others, such as black humor, dry humor, or slapstick humor. You may then be able to determine which jokes you like best in real life - among colleagues, friends or family. If you respond to slapstick humor in a movie or on television, you may also respond well in your own life.