This exercise was invented by my friend, Jeffrey Briar. The following is his
description of
how it works:

The group is in a circle (alternatively, in a mob, facing the
"Teller").

One person steps forward and becomes the Teller: they pretend to tell
the last part of a joke - the "Punchline" - but in gibberish. (So
there's is no pressure to be funny, new, or have good timing, etc.)

As soon as they finish, everyone else cracks up like it was the
funniest thing they ever heard in their whole life.
They can fall to the floor, roll around; applaud the Teller, give
the Teller approval signs, worship at or even kiss the Teller's feet;
they can lean into or fall onto their friends, pretend to say "wasn't
that hysterical" or "isn't she great? or "She's MY friend, I taught her
everything she knows!", etc. " (no real talking, of course).
NUANCE: When the Teller is delivering the punchline, everyone
leans in attentively, full of anticipation: "Oboy, I know she tells great
jokes, this one's gonna be a winner!" and then when the Punchline is
done, they all burst forth in a huge laugh: "That was even better than
I'd ever hoped possible!"


This can be a very vigorous laugh, so the Leader should pick 4 to 6
people to be the Tellers, then "Ho, ho, ha-ha-ha" or otherwise move on to
another exercise. (If everyone in a large group is invited to be the
Teller, after 5 or 6 times the rest of the group can get tired - - -
the later-Tellers only get a half-hearted response - - - so it is
better to only have 5 or 6 "deliver" the punchline; then move on to
other exercises.



This laugher exercise offers one of the chances to invite everyone to
"Have the Best Laugh of Your Whole Life," because the height and depth
of their laugh clearly is not because of the joke - there IS no real
joke - it is entirely up to the laugher: to choose if they want to react
with a gentle chortle or a huge, rolling-on-the-floor guffaw.

It is also great for self-esteem: the Teller can say as little as a
simple, "Blah", and then they witness all the others having a rip-roaring
good time, just from them saying/doing virtually nothing. The Teller
has an experience of being appreciated and enjoyed for absolutely no
reason, other than making a contribution - they did not have to be
clever, smart, good-looking, etc. All they had to do was something (even
saying, "I pass!") and everyone has a fantastic time laughing, thank to
their contribution.

AND, it is great for those pesky mental concerns of "What will people
think of me, laughing for no reason?", because from a distance, it looks
like what most people associate with "laughter FOR a reason": someone
tells a good joke (???), and then everyone else has a good time
laughing at it. Except with Gibberish Punchlines, EVERY joke is phenomenally
wonderful - each joke better than the one before (if the participants
choose to amplify their laugh each time). ;-)