step on the laughs

present singular third person steps on the laughs · participle present stepping on the laughs · participle past stepped on the laughs · past stepped on the laughs

1. To tell jokes too rapidly when performing comedy, failing to milk the maximum laughter from the audience.

   Don't “step on the laughs” just because you are long on content and short on time.

   2012, Diane Windingland, Cat Got Your Tongue?, page 42

   2 more examples

   "The timing is very different — at first I was speaking too quickly, stepping on the laughs," said Mr. Jillette. "So I'd wait, and I thought, my God, I'm turning into Shecky Greene here, standing and waiting for the laughs."

   1987, New York Theatre Critics' Reviews, volume 48, page 121

   "Now remember, Candy," my father warned me sternly, "wait till it's quiet to say your lines. Don't step on the laughs."

   2011, Candice Bergen, Knock Wood, page 41