People always ask me "What if I take the risk of initiating humor and it doesn't work?"  People believe that if they try to be funny and no one laughs, something terrible will happen.  What this terrible thing is no one seems to know.  Maybe they'll shrivel up and die.  Or maybe an anvil will drop from on high and squash them into the ground, like during one of Wile E. Coyote's botched attempts to catch the Road Runner.  Or maybe the humiliation will be too great, shattering their ego and forcing them to quit their jobs rather than face coworkers ever, ever again.  Of course, looking at the situation rationally helps us realize that all these fears are examples distorted thinking.  And to overcome the fear created by distorted thinking, we need three things:  a reality check, a backup plan, and a way to minimize our risk.

     So let's start with the reality check.  You tell a joke to coworkers and no one laughs.  I think most people's egos are strong enough to survive intact.  Nothing terrible will happen,  no deep, irreversible wound to the soul will result.  Never once has any of my hundreds of counseling clients said "I need to heal the trauma from when I told a joke in grade three and no one laughed.  Now every time I see a straight face I have a panic attack."  
     You'll be just fine if no one laughs.  I'm living proof.  As a comic, I've died in front of hundreds of people, and I'm still here to tell the story!  I'm just as well-adjusted and neurotic as I was before these "near-death" experiences.  If anything, bombing has increased my confidence because I faced my worst fear and came out in one piece.   And this comes from someone who in his late teens and early 20s was so shy he could barely talk to one person let alone hundreds.  
     I've also learned not to take it personally when people don't laugh at one of my jokes.  Often when that happens, it has more to do with them than me.
     This is where precedents once again play an important role.  In my stand-up comedy act, I have jokes I've done hundreds or even thousands of times.  These jokes have about a 90 percent success rate, but sometimes, for no reason I can figure out, they bomb.  I've come to realize that in those situations it's the audience, not me.  In the words of Jackie Mason, "If you don't laugh, it means there's something wrong with you."  The good thing is that I can look back at all the times these jokes have worked to help me understand this, and therefore not feel like I've failed.  And knowing this gives me the confidence to keep using them.  
     The same basic principle applies to using humor in the workplace.  Once you've used your Groucho glasses, rubber chickens, or told a joke enough times (obviously to different people), you begin to trust their success rate, and know that if they don't work, not to blame yourself.

     Having a backup plan also gives you the confidence to take a risk.  In this case it means knowing how to turn a failed attempt at humor into a laugh.  
     Humor is comprised of tension and release.  When you tell a joke, tension rises as people wait for the punchline, which when delivered releases the tension by creating a laugh.  But if the punchline fails, the tension remains.  And this is where you need to have an alternate way of releasing it.
     Comics call this "recovery material."  The basic principle is that you release the tension by acknowledging that the joke or gag didn't work.  Most recovery material is in the form of prepared comebacks.  Because these comebacks release the tension, people laugh, even if the comebacks aren't that funny on their own.  It was rumored that Johnny Carson used to put jokes that he knew wouldn't work into his monologue because he could get a bigger laugh by using his great recovery material.  Here are six comebacks that you can use when a joke or a gag fails:

     Of course, it also helps to minimize the risk.  And this is where we can look back to our definition of workplace humor:  Acts involving some sort of surprise and/or exaggeration which make people feel good.  So don't always go for a laugh.  Instead take someone by surprise and do something nice that makes them feel good.  And if you're still worried about the risk, do it anonymously.  Leave a flower on her desk, send him a humorous card, give them a happy face button or a chocolate bar.  In my workshops, I sometimes have organizations institute a Secret Pal system.  Each person receives the name of a coworker, with the understanding that they are to do one nice, anonymous thing for this individual in the next month.
     Lets face it, with humor, there's always a risk involved.  But it's up to each of us to take that risk so we can make our work environment a better place to be.  Hopefully by using some of the ideas in this article, you'll be ready to go to work tomorrow and crack 'em up!

David Granirer gives laughter in the workplace presentations for hundreds of organizations throughout North America. For more information call National Speakers Bureau at 1-800-661-4110 or go to http://www.psychocomic.com

For information on David's products, contact him directly at: (604) 205-9242 or Email: david@psychocomic.com or www.psychocomic.com