How To Recover From A Failed Joke

So you’re at the office holiday party / charity fundraiser / batmitzvah / Xena Warrior Princess Convention and while standing in your circle of acquaintances you blurt out something that sounded incredibly witty in your head, but instead inspires an awkward silence amongst your group.  Now you’re feeling a bit embarrassed, a bit vulnerable, and as the crickets keep chirping, you have no idea what to do.

Fear not, we’ve all been there. The important thing to do is to stay calm, and avoid blurting out even more ridiculous nonsense that will just make things worse.  Rest assured, the situation is just as bad as it seems, but you do have options that will help you successfully recover from your awkward blunder.  Below you’ll find a list of four options designed to keep you out of party lame-ville.

Option 1

Repeat the punch line.  It might sound crazy, after all it did just bomb, but keep repeating the punch line and explaining why the joke should be funny.  Eventually people will laugh – more than likely just for the purpose of getting you to stop talking – but it ends the awkward silence and the group can move on.

Option 2

Hopefully the party involves alcohol.

If so, quickly shout “Here’s to..!” and fill in whomever or whatever is appropriate for a quick group bonding experience that will wipe out your idiotic comment or terrible joke.  As a bonus, encouraging people to drink more will decrease the likelihood that they remember what you said. Keep in mind that if you said something really awkward, you may need to repeat this step several times over.

If the party doesn’t involve alcohol, you really shouldn’t have gone in the first place.

Option 3

Make fun of yourself.  Be the first to make the “awkward” comment and everyone will realize that you’re human, and humans make mistakes.  Then quickly move the conversation in a different direction. The longer the silence, the more people will remember who and what caused it.  You’ll actually be able to hear people uninviting you from future parties.

Last Option

If making fun of yourself didn’t work, start making fun of other people.  If you have to choose between being the lame, socially awkward guy and the jerk, always go with the jerk.  There’s bound to be at least one good looking chick with low self esteem that will talk herself into believing you’re attractive.

If none of the above work, change social circles.

Also, we should note that if this is happens to you frequently, it’s best to memorize these options before you go to the party, as whipping out a note card and trying each option one by one won’t do much good to restore your social standing within the group.

The HA Guy