“Bad joke” fear. The comedic social anxiety nightmare. Telling a joke that bombs, that elicits groans instead of laughs, that brands you as…unfunny. For years, I avoided telling jokes in social situations, convinced my humor was subpar, my timing off, and my jokes destined for comedic failure. Then, I told a joke I knew was bad…and it broke the ice.
It was a truly terrible pun. Eye-rollingly bad. I told it hesitantly, expecting polite silence and awkward smiles. Instead, people groaned. And then…laughed. The sheer awfulness of the joke was…funny. The bad joke, surprisingly, became…an icebreaker. “Bad joke” icebreaker wasn’t about suddenly becoming a stand-up comedian, but about realizing that humor is subjective, that imperfection can be funny, and that sometimes, a bad joke is exactly what a situation needs. Bad joke fear faded away, replaced by a newfound appreciation for the humor in awkwardness and the power of self-deprecating humor. Don’t be afraid to tell a bad joke. Sometimes, the worse the joke, the bigger the laugh.