Is there some social no-no in the USA about laughing at your own jokes? Every time I make a joke and laugh at it my friend says that one should not laugh at their own jokes.
I’m not sure this is the same as me telling a joke that makes fun of myself and laughing at that as I thought being able to laugh at your situation was a plus.
–puzzled
Generally comedians who laugh at their own jokes prove to be the most unfunny comedians.
Jackie Martling comes most priminently to mind…
Yer pal,
Satan
It’s a question of balance.
If you tell a joke that causes other to quirk their lips into a half-grin while you are rolling on the floor, holding your sides, laughing uproariously, you are going to look like an idiot.
If you tell a joke that causes your audience to Roll-On-The-Floor-Laughing-So-Hard-They-Pee-In-Their-Pants, you are certainly entitled to join in the laughter.
There is no rule against laughing at the humor of a situation that you, yourself, have described. On the other hand, as the provider of the entertainment, it is considered unseemly to also lead the cheers for your own performance (which is what it looks like if your laughs drown out the laughs of your audience).
Tom~
Awww, screw 'em all…Sometimes I laugh so hard at my own jokes I have trouble telling them. Then my listener gets laughing at me, and in the end no one cares about the joke and we’re all laughing our asses off. And that’s sober!!
('course I have strange friends)
Some mornings it just doesn’t seem worth it to gnaw through the leather straps.
http://www.angelfire.com/ny3/zettecity/index.html
If the joke is funny it should carry its own weight. We are all funny in my family and it was always considered bad form to laugh at your own jokes. Instead, witticisms should be rendered dryly with a straight face. It’s probably a matter of taste and yes, may be tied to culture.
Laughing while telling someone a joke you’ve heard somewhere before is not laughing at your own joke, since, obviously, it’s not YOUR joke.