Law Number 1: The Law of Abandonment says a funny story should be told with reckless abandon. If you appear to be unsure if your joke is funny, your audience will be sure that it is not. Go out on a limb and saw it off.

Law number 2: The Law of Inflation says that a joke should build as a balloon is blown up, and the punchline should be delivered suddenly as a balloon is popped. Furthermore, experience shows that the best jokes take 3 "breathes." Rarely do jokes have 2 or 4 ... it is usually 3. Three is the magic number to build the tension before the balloon is popped.

Law Number 3: The Law of Prompting says that audiences laugh when told to laugh. Two frequently employed prompts used by comedians such as David Lettermen are raising the eyebrows, and holding forth upturned palms. Watch his delivery, and you will see he always queues the audience with a prompt just before delivering the punchline.

Law Number 4: The Law of Deflation says that the punchline should be delivered as quickly and concisely as possible. Long punchlines rarely work. Punchlines can also be broken into smaller pieces, allowing the audience to get the joke before you have finished the punchline, and complete the joke while they are laughing. .

Law Number 5: The Law of Exaggeration say that the tension and anticipation necessary to produce big laughs can be greatly enhanced by several factors, the first of which is the use of hyperbole. Employing exaggeration can cause people to smile, maybe to chuckle, and to look forward to the punch line with greater anticipation. .

Law Number 6: The Law of Personality says that additional anticipation can be realized by giving stereotyped personalities or names to the characters in the story. .

Law Number 7: The Law of Inflection says that the personality of the character can be greatly enhanced by using an accent, and in particular, and exaggerated accent.

Law Number 8: The Law of Caricature says that jokes that deal with negative emotions, such as fear, anger or shock, must be told with care. Delivering an angry line with an angry expression is counterproductive. The solution is to deliver such lines with the caricature of an angry face.

Law Number 9: The Law of Concealment states that details that might reveal the punchline before being delivered should be avoided. .

Law Number 10: The Law of Preparation says that the joke, depending on the audience, may require some setup.

Law Number 11: The Law of Rebounding says that even if your joke bombs, you can get a laugh ... by laughing at yourself. Grimace, tear up a queue card, or find some other way to acknowledge the joke bombed, and laugh at that fact yourself. .

Law Number 12: The Law of Proximity says that isolated people in an audience... whether physically, or emotionally, rarely laugh. People who know each other or work with each other are much more likely to respond in laughter, making eye contact with friends and colleagues as the punchline is delivered. .