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When the joke doesn't land
(media.piefed.world)
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this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2025
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Nah, they were just grumps
Blaming the audience for not laughing at your jokes is the hallmark of the poor comedian.
But what if your audience actually sucks
Fair question.
Example: The Philadelphia Incident, Bill Burr, 2005.
I don't think there's any such thing as an audience that objectively sucks. Humor is subjective, and I think there's a mental trap of "I think this joke is funny, therefore it is objectively funny and anyone who disagrees is just too stupid to get it" that some comedians fall into, especially if they have a small niche of people who also vibe with their brand of humor. But that attitude prevents you from critically analyzing why jokes are funny, why different things are funny to different audiences, why some jokes fit better in a riff while others can stand alone, etc. Humor is a collaborative craft and part of being good at it is being able to hear your audience say "no, not that one" and believe them.
I agree with you from the perspective of craft, and furthermore I don't believe in objectivity, but when we're talking about two pepfl people it could just be that they are sucky compared to the general mix you get at a comedy show.
Sure, could be. Who knows why they didn't laugh. Maybe they had just had a big fight and were trying to make nice. Maybe they were on their way to a funeral. Maybe the joker had been staring uncomfortably at them before telling the joke. Maybe they just suck as humans, who can say. I guess my point is that it's hard to know why someone doesn't laugh at a joke, and jumping to "those people just suck" as a first resort is a thing that people do when they don't want to think critically about how they are received by other people.
Agreed the purpose of saying they suck is to stop thinking critically about how the joke was received [and move on without doing too much mindreading].
As per Bernadette Peters.
"The only true sin is playing too hip for the room."