Workin' hard or hardly workin'?

We like the unpredictable. It's funny. Clever is saying something unexpected, and as WE ALL KNOW, the same area in your brain that lights up when something is funny lights up when something surprises you. So a punchline you don't see comin'? Hilarious. Talking about how that normal over there is stochastically dominating the conversation because the expectation that she speaks is greater than the expectation that someone else speaks? COMIC GOLD.

Unless you're a normal. In which case, you'll want pre-approved jokes...phrases that others before you have laughed upon hearing. George Meyer, a former writer for the Simpsons noted in an interview that people hate having to figure out whether something is funny or not. He also observes that the lines which receive the greatest laugh at a movie screening are usually ones that appeared in a movie trailer...pre-approved moments of laughter!

Here's how to be funny with your Normal:

Normals like familiarity. Go ahead: stereotype! Nothing funnier than a fast-talking Hispanic or an Asian who can't drive or a dumb Polish person.

Person one: Hey, lemme tell you a great Polish joke I just heard
Person two: Fuck you, _I'm_ Polish.
Person one: That's OK, I'll explain it slowly.

Familiar forms are essential. Here's a perfect joke for normals (in B's opinion):

Iron atom walks into a bar. He sees a hot oxygen atom sitting there. She looks at the iron atom and says `have we met before' and he says, `I dunno. I'm a bit rusty.'

It uses the familiar `character walks into a bar' format, concerns intergender relations, and includes a pun---what more could you ask of a joke for normals? Notice also that the humor is clearly delineated and is not embedded in other text. A sentence that is both informative _and_ humorous is just too much.

Also, feel free to use those cliches, such as our wonderful post's title. If you've heard it before, say it again when interacting with the normals. They'll thank you for it with a happy laugh. DO NOT, and I repeat for the Polish person, NOT attempt to say something truly clever or original and then proceed to laugh at your own joke. Your normal pal/waiter/airplane buddy will think you are just laughing at them because they failed to understand your nonsense.

But don't get down. You can make the joke knowing you're being ironic...and they'll never know.