Knock, knock...

I am rubbish at telling jokes, I've discovered over the years.  I think the problem comes from the fact that I have one of those sorts of 'serious' demeanours that means people find hard to decipher when in fact I am telling a joke in the first place (plus I use words like 'demeanour' in everyday conversation). 

My Dad isn't like this at all, and neither is my sister.  Both of them are capable of making even serious stories sound like jokes in the way they tell 'em...being around both of them means you're never far from a smile.  My Auntie is a brilliant mimic.  But people don't so much laugh around me as tell me what's been worrying them, or ask me what to do about something annoying.  One of my friends once remarked to me that "whenever you say something, it always seems a bit profound" (though she was dropped on her head at birth so I tend to ignore her opinions most of the time).  So seriousness seems to be my lot in life, yet there's always been a tiny part of me that wants to be "the fun one".

Case in point: at work the other day someone was talking about how they were going for coffee with someone who knows the Ambassador to some foreign country (I forget where).  Someone else piped up with "I wonder what Ambassadors do all day?" 

The goal was wide...gaping...enticingly open.  I decided to try a funny reply...one that would surely bring the house down and finally rebirth me as "the funny one". 

"I don't think they do much..." I said "...other than sit around eating Ferrero Rocher".

A metaphorical tumbleweed blew its dusty way through the room.  Granted, a few of my colleagues were born later than the early 1900s and therefore may not have got the reference, but even those who did looked blankly at me.  Then one of them replied - and it was obvious she'd got the joke, but hadn't found it particularly funny. 

I think the closest I'll ever get to being "the funny one" anywhere is when people say  "Oh you know...that funny girl nobody can ever understand".  Unless I start wandering around in a jester's outfit, but they might not take too kindly to that at work.