The butcher's advice about pausing mid-joke saved my delivery

My buddy at the meat counter told me to hold for two beats before the punchline, and I tried it at my kid's birthday last Saturday. The groan came three times louder than usual, but is that just because nobody expects a dad to actually wait?

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davis.casey4d ago

Take that pause and stretch it even longer. I tried three beats at my nephew's middle school talent show and the silence got so awkward that a kid in the front row actually said "is he okay?" before I dropped the line. Landed way harder than the two beat version, but you gotta be ready for people to squirm a little. Now I'm experimenting with a little eyebrow raise right before the pause, kind of like a warning sign that something dumb is coming.