Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 3: Telling Jokes in Public
• Method 2 of 3: Telling Common Jokes
• Method 3 of 3: How to control laughter

Have you ever ruined a joke with laughter? Can't tell a joke without rolling on the floor? Whether you're telling casual jokes to family and friends, or going on stage in front of an audience, controlling laughter is an important skill. Learning to do this requires rehearsing, learning how to be calm, improving your comedic skills, and sometimes using a few tricks to curb your laughs.

Steps

Method 1 of 3: Telling Jokes in Public

1. 1 Prepare yourself. The worst mistake you can make is to start a comedy show with absolutely no warm-up. This will make you laugh nervously at your own jokes! Even the best comedians need to spend some time preparing their speech.
   • Create yourself a program. Make a list of the jokes you will be telling.
   • Think about transitions.How does one joke flow into another? Is there a certain logical sequence between them?
   • Consider the kind of people you expect to see in the room. Different groups of the population will be more or less susceptible to certain types of jokes. For example, performing live at the microphone in a church may not be the best place for very dirty jokes.
2. 2 Practice jokes. Whether you are a comedian who follows a script or someone who strives for improvisation, rehearsal will always raise the quality of your performance. It's also the most effective way to keep from laughing at your own jokes. Before going on stage, take some time to go through the entire program 2-3 times.
   • The more often you practice your jokes, the more familiar they will become, which will make you less likely to laugh at them.
   • Be sure to time it out. So you will not be distracted by hours and worry that there is not enough material.
3. 3 Warm up before going on stage. Going on stage without warming up will set you up for a nervous laugh. So first find a way to warm up and release any “stupid energy”.
   • Play your favorite song and dance with funny sounds and grimaces in the mirror.
   • Laugh at yourself.
   • Move your body and facial muscles, and use your voice.
   • All of these actions will dispel nervous energy and prepare you to effectively deliver jokes on stage without laughing.
4. 4 Hone your comedy skills. If you do your job well by making people around you laugh, you won't need to laugh to fill the silence. Save yourself from laughing at your own jokes by making other people laugh.
   • Change your voice pitch and intonation. Don't get monotonous.
   • Signal for a key phrase. Pause for a moment to let the audience know that now is the moment.
   • Use references. Towards the end of the program, make a reference to something funny you said at the beginning. The audience loves it.
5. 5 Perform regularly. If you really want to strengthen your comedic skills and not laugh at your own jokes, the only real remedy is to get on stage as often as possible. You can't do this once a month (or less) and expect improvements in your craft. Try to go on stage 1-3 times a week.
   • Start by looking for live performances in front of the mic. Look for ads in coffee shops, bars, or your local entertainment newspaper.
   • Live performances in front of the mic are places where you can practice, interact with fellow comedians, and get publicity.
   • If you do well in these kinds of gigs, you will be invited to more regular gigs.

Method 2 of 3: Telling Common Jokes

1. 1 Work on a few basic jokes. If you want to tell a few jokes at a party, it might be helpful to prepare a few basic options. If you have a few anecdotes or stories that you have rehearsed (and you know they are funny), you can use them to defuse the situation. Better yet, the more often you tell a joke, the better it gets, and the less likely you are to laugh.
   • Think back to the craziest thing that has ever happened to you. Can you retell this story in a humorous way? Be sure to include all the basic details and add one joke or funny phrase every few sentences. The story should be no more than five minutes long.
   • Another option is to come up with some thematically relevant jokes. For example, if you're at a corporate party, you might try something like: “How many board members will it take to replace a light bulb? Answer: Six! One to change the light bulb, and five more to distract the founder! "
2. 2 Try to relax. Laughing at your own jokes is usually triggered by nervousness or feeling uncomfortable.Focus on the actual presentation of the joke and try not to even think about whether someone will laugh. This will help you cope with the reflex response of nervous laughter after the climax.
   • You can relax with deep breathing. Inhale for a count of 4, 5, or 6, and try to exhale for the same duration.
   • Alternatively, you can count your in-breaths and out-breaths. Try to count to 10 in this way.
3. 3 Let everything go as it goes. If people in the company aren't laughing at your joke, just ignore it. Don't try to make them laugh by explaining a joke or laughing wildly. It will only look like despair, and nothing more ridiculous can be imagined.
   • Try to believe your joke. If you believe what you are saying is funny, other people will hear it in your voice.

Method 3 of 3: How to control laughter

1. 1 Make jokes unfunny to yourself by repeating them over and over. Have you ever tried repeating a word so many times that it stopped sounding like the real thing? The same idea can be used for jokes as well. If there is a certain joke that makes you laugh, try saying it as many times as possible. Speak it while driving, making breakfast or taking a shower. Repeat it so many times that it loses its strength.
2. 2 Pinch yourself. If you feel the tickling approach of uncontrollable laughter, try pinching yourself. It is enough to inflict a little pain on yourself in order to mentally distract yourself and immediately suppress laughter.
3. 3 Hold your breath. Another easy way to stop looming laughter is to release the air from your lungs and then hold your breath. Just stop breathing for a few seconds (you can count to five in your head). This will help break the vicious circle you're in and turn off the urge to laugh.
4. 4 Think about something sad. Actors use this technique to induce tears on stage, or you can use sad memories to suppress laughter. If you feel that laughter overtakes you, remember something very sad. This will interrupt the laughter.
5. 5 Make your laugh part of the joke. If you laugh anyway, consider making it part of the joke. Sometimes, recognizing the comic nature of the situation, you can make the joke more funny.
   • Note that as a rule, a small snort is not as destructive as a long fit of hysterical laughter. If you need to laugh a little, try not to procrastinate. A short laugh can add spice to a joke, but a long laugh will almost always distract from it.
   • Try to make your impulsive urge to laugh part of the joke.
6. 6 Try to focus on reacting to your joke. Instead of focusing on the words of the joke, look at the people you tell it to. They are laughing? Did they find the joke funny? Take mental notes of who laughed at which part. It's hard to laugh at your own joke when you're thinking about something else.