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Angelina Jolie's gam flash aside, the most memorable moment of this year's Oscars happened before the ceremony, when Borat comedian Sacha Baron Cohen (dressed in costume as his latest character The Dictator) dumped the "ashes" of Kim Jong-il on the unsuspecting E! News host Ryan Seacrest.
The moments following were incredibly awkward/hilarious/mortifying, depending on your take. In light of that incident, we offer a refresher course on the do's and don'ts of how to take a joke.
Grin and bear it
Few people want to be on the receiving end of a gag, but if you are in that situation, the most reliable response is a laugh (even if it's a fake one) because this puts you on the inside of the joke rather than the outside.
"You want to show that you get the joke," says stand-up comic and Marilyn Denis Show panelist Debra DiGiovanni. "I didn't find Sacha Baron Cohen's joke particularly funny, and God bless Ryan Seacrest because that's a tough spot to be in. But the truth is that getting angry or showing that you're flustered is only going to provide fodder, so you've just got to go with it – even if you're thinking, 'I wish I could kill this guy.'"
Of course, knowing you should laugh through the fury and knowing how to are two different things. If a smile isn't coming, a dismissive eye roll may be easier to pull off. To lessen the emotional blow, try putting things into perspective (whatever the zinger, it's probably not the worst thing that's ever going to happen to you), and remember that generally speaking these things aren't a personal attack, as much as the joker looking for attention.
Up the ante
Those not adept in the comedic arts will want to proceed with caution here, but the absolute best thing you can do in a case like Ash-gate is make a smooth transition from jokee to joker.
"There is always a way to add to a joke if you can figure out the right angle," says Ms. DiGiovanni. "In the case of Seacrest, I would have grabbed up all the ashes and then said something about selling them on eBay."
This won't always be easy, but doing something is better than doing nothing: "Even just eating the 'ashes' would have been funny," Ms. DiGiovanni says.
Have a few stock comebacks
Preparing for the unanticipated is admittedly tricky, but it's always good to have a few go-to comebacks in your wheel house, especially if you are entering a situation where some light ribbing (or merciless mocking) is expected.
"As a standup, hecklers are a part of my world, and the reality is that no matter how stupid or unfunny the heckle, I have to respond to it," says Ms. DiGiovanni.
When being teased, you can try putting your tormentor on his/her toes by asking, "Do I detect some sexual tension?" When executed properly (read: calmly and casually), this will almost always defuse the situation and may even embarrass your opponent, which (let's face it) is the ultimate goal.
If there is a barb that you're constantly coming up against, craft some tailor-made retorts. "In comedy, there are a lot of men and a lot of old-fashioned attitudes," says Ms. DiGiovanni, who says she will often invoke Mad Men to let someone know that they need to bring their battle of the sexes into the current decade: "I'll say, 'You sure don't look like Don Draper, so why are you acting like him?' or something along those lines."
Of course, the other side of the comedy coin is that there's nothing lamer than a failed retort, so if you don't have something, don't push it.
When all else fails, a sarcastic "Good one" (accompanied by aforementioned dismissive eye roll)]/note> says that you got the joke, but it's just not that funny.
Get ahead of the guffaw
After a tease-worthy incident, the best way to disarm your detractors is by owning the moment, rather than running away from it. At last weekend's Oscar broadcast, Angelina Jolie, one of the world's most worshipped women, became a laughing stock because of her tortured sultry pose to show off her right leg: mocked on the show; mocked in the Twitterverse.
"You can't be in the public eye and not be willing to laugh at yourself," says Ms. DiGiovanni, adding that with cases like "the Jolie leg" or Lindsay Lohan's plastic-surgery face ahead of her Saturday Night Live hosting gig, the best thing to do is to get ahead of the joke. In Ms. Jolie's case, this could mean adopting that same now-infamous stance on the cover of a magazine, though given her busy schedule of diaper changing and world saving, it's unlikely she has the time.
And don't do this: Be a whipping post. If you're always the butt of the joke, it's time to get new friends.
Special to The Globe and Mail