Problem: Article: If you tell a joke that bombs – no one laughs and the audience is just staring at you (or worse yet, they boo) – shake it off and move on. If you get too caught up in one joke failing, the rest of your jokes might also fail because you're delivering them with the same energy or personality. Every comic bombs from time to time – it's okay! Even experienced comics have a hard time with involving the crowd in their sets. They're hard to do without a lot of preparation. If you're not used to reading a crowd, crowd participation jokes can bomb. Some comics will make merchandise pitches, or toast other comics (or themselves). This is usually a turn-off for your audience. Stick to your material instead, and the audience will probably want to buy your merchandise on their own! Unless you're doing your own comedy special, you'll probably be sharing the stage with other comics. That means you'll have a certain amount of time to perform. Do not go over your time limit. It's disrespectful to the other comics and shows if you can't follow instructions. Make sure you allow for laughter when you time your set. You don't want to have a 5-minute set that's exactly 5 minutes and have to run over hard-earned laughter to stay in time. Build in an extra minute or so for laughter.
Summary: Move on from jokes that don't work. Try to avoid crowd participation. Stick to your material. Stay in the time limit.

Problem: Article: Tap each egg gently against a corner to crack it. Break the egg in half and hold a shell half in each hand over a large mixing bowl. Gently transfer the yolk from one half to the other. As you transfer the yolk, the white will separate and drop into the bowl below. Continue transferring the yolk until all the white has been separated. Repeat with each egg.  Transfer the yolks to a separate airtight container and reserve them to make pudding, custard, cake, ice cream, or other treats. You only use egg whites to clarify consommé, so you must separate the yolks from the whites first. In a meat grinder, blender, or food processor, combine the meat, celery, carrot, onion, and leek. Pulse the ingredients together on high for about a minute, until all the ingredients are minced and combined. You want a rough mash rather than a puree.  You can substitute in any kind of vegetables you like, except for starchy vegetables (like potatoes) that will make the stock cloudy. Blending the meat and vegetables together will make for a more flavorful stock, but it will also make the stock easier to clarify. Use the same kind of meat and stock to make the consommé. For instance, if you mince up chicken meat with the vegetables, use chicken stock to make the consommé. Use a whisk or fork to rapidly beat the egg whites. Continue beating for about 30 seconds, or until the whites are frothy and thick. When you combine and heat all the ingredients, the protein in the egg whites will coagulate and glue together the chunks of meat and vegetables from the broth. This is known as the raft. In place of the egg whites, you can use a cellulose gum such as methylcellulose F50 to create the raft. Transfer the minced meat and vegetables to the bowl with the whisked egg whites. Use a wooden spoon to combine the mixture. Transfer the mixture to a large stock pot and cover it with the cold stock. Add the cloves, peppercorns, and chopped fresh herbs as well, which can include any mixture of:  Parsley Tarragon Thyme Bay leaves Place the pot with all the ingredients on the stove and heat it over high heat. Stir the mixture constantly as it cooks, and heat it until it reaches 120 F (49 C). When the broth reaches this temperature, the raft will start to float to the top. When the raft floats to the top of the broth, use the cup of a ladle to break a hole in the center of the raft. This will allow you to access the stock below so that the raft doesn’t dry out as it cooks. Keep the heat high until the consommé comes to a simmer. At that point, turn the heat to low and continue cooking the consommé for about 60 minutes. It’s important that the consommé never come to a rolling boil, otherwise the raft will break and the soup won’t clarify. It’s important to baste the raft with the broth throughout the simmering process. This will keep the raft moist and prevent it from drying out. To baste the raft, dip your ladle into the hole you poked in the center of the raft. Fill the ladle with broth and drizzle it over the raft. Baste the raft every five minutes or so to keep it moist. When the liquid is clear and all the egg, meat, and vegetable particles have floated to the top and joined the raft, remove the pot from the heat. Use the ladle to press down on the raft gently so it sinks to the bottom of the pot.
Summary: Separate the eggs. Mince the meat and vegetables. Whisk the yokes. Combine all the ingredients. Heat the consommé. Make a hole in the raft. Simmer the consommé. Baste the raft as the consommé simmers. Remove the consommé from the heat once it becomes clear.

Problem: Article: Aim for many quick conversations instead of one long one, at first. If you want to be flirtatious and get a girl interested in getting to know you back, try to talk to her regularly.  Talk in the hall during passing period at school. Exchange a few quick sentences, then say, "Talk to you later." Always establish that you'll talk again soon. This will help to ensure that you're thinking about her, and you'll both be thinking about each other. One of the best ways to get a girl to open up more to you is to be a good listener. Focus on being a good listener. Show that you're interested in what she has to say.  Don't dominate the conversation. Ask a question instead of launching into a story. Look at her while she talks and nod your head to show that you're paying attention. After she finishes, summarize what she said and use her name while you talk. This helps to show that you're giving her your personal attention. Eye contact is very important in establishing a good conversation. If you want to get to know a girl better, practice making better eye contact while you're speaking and while she's speaking. If you struggle to keep eye contact, or it makes you feel awkward, then practice. When you watch TV, practice holding the gaze of the TV actors as long as possible, or practice picking a spot on the face near the eyes, like the nose, the eyebrow, or another spot to hold your gaze. . If you want someone to open up to you, put them at ease by smiling. Even if you're feeling nervous, or feeling serious, or feeling the serious feelings about this girl, you need to relax yourself and relax her by flashing those pearly whites. Make your flirty talking face a smile. Even if you don't want to get to know this girl better romantically, it's still good to establish that you like talking to her and you enjoy her presence. A smile goes a long way in doing just that. It's important to make sure you're not bugging someone by approaching them and asking questions. Make sure that your presence is ok by learning to read a girl's body language. If she's not into talking, she'll display some of the following body language, which means you should just end the conversation and leave her alone:  Crossed arms Frowning Looking down and avoiding eye contact A furrowed brow or confused face Turning away from you Very brief answers to questions If you're nervous every time you strike up a conversation with a girl, learn to calm yourself down in the moment. Be as natural as possible. Keep it simple and straightforward by keeping the conversation short. Lots of times, you'll be nervous because you think you won't have anything to talk about, or you'll say something dumb. We'll cover that in the next section.
Summary:
Have lots of short conversations first. Listen when she speaks. Make eye contact. Smile to put her at ease Read her body language. Relax.