The late comedian Sean Hughes used to do a clever ‘bit’ in his act where, immediately after telling a joke which got a big laugh, he’d  jump down into the audience, tell another joke that would get a great response and say, “I’ve just proved I’m as funny off stage as on!”
I’m often asked if all comedians are as funny on stage as off and the simple answer is, I don’t know all comedians!
But if a performer tried to be funny 24/7 it would irritate everyone around them and the performer’s health would eventually suffer under the strain.
While many comics take their work seriously, some take it so seriously they rarely laugh at jokes.
I’ll run that past you again because I know it didn’t really register.
Some comedians rarely laugh at jokes.
In the 1980s and 1990s when TV entertainment entertained us seven nights a week, a comedy writer I know was constantly busy writing for many of the top entertainers on the box.
The first occasion he sat in the dressing room of a famous TV star, whose series he’d been hired to write, was nerve-wracking enough as my friend was a fan of the comic and had watched his shows for years.
Then, when the star read through my friend’s script and didn’t laugh once, he was mortified!
Instead, without cracking a smile, the star either said “That one’s very funny” or “That’s another woofer! (meaning it’ll get a big laugh) or he crossed out with a pen the ones that didn’t appeal to him.
Luckily, the star found many ‘woofers’ in his script.
From that day on, my friend was determined to take his work more seriously.
A few months later, he was hired to write a series for another huge TV comedian and, sat in the dressing room, my friend was astonished by the stars reaction as he read his script.
He roared with laughter at 75% of the jokes – a pretty good hit rate in comedy!
From that day on, my friend was totally confused.
A state in which he remains to this day…