Why you should avoid long stories and other advice for better delivery

Each week, Good Weekend’s how-to column shares expert advice on how to navigate some of modern life’s big – and small – challenges. This week: How to tell a joke.

Photo: Illustration by Simon Letch

“Before you criticise someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes,” says comedian and academic Andrea Powell. She pauses. “That way, when you criticise them, you’re a mile away. And you have their shoes.” Ka-boom!

Powell leads a course in comedy writing and performance at the Australian College of the Arts – known as Collarts – in Melbourne. She cites the shoes joke, attributed to American humorist Jack Handey, as the sort of simple gag that even the least comedically gifted among us should be able to deliver to a group of friends.

To optimise the chances of getting a laugh, Powell offers a few tips. First, don’t start by announcing you have a great joke. “They’ve done some studies on this,” she says. “As soon as someone tells us, ‘You’ll love this, it’s hilarious’, we don’t find it funny.” Instead, try an opening gambit like, “I heard this the other day …”

Powell says her 97-year-old father, Ron, a natural raconteur, is expert at that kind of conversational introduction. “He’ll tell me something he’s been thinking about, or reading or whatever, and then he’ll start a new sentence and, about halfway through, I realise he’s telling a joke.”

If, unlike Ron, you’re inexperienced at holding the floor, Powell recommends avoiding long, meandering gags: “The shorter the journey from the set-up to the punchline, the better.” For those of us who can botch even a one-liner, she suggests rehearsing. “It’s always good to have a little practice in your head before delivering it. Even leave the room for a moment and come back.”

Remember to speak clearly, she says. And think about the timing: “Do I need a beat between the set-up and the punchline? A tiny pause can create a kind of tension, so that when you drop the punchline, your audience is more likely to laugh.”

What’s crucial, she adds, is to appear confident – even if you’re not. A nervous joke-teller is going to make people uncomfortable. “They might even pity you and you don’t want that. If they feel sorry for you, they’re not going to laugh.”