The joke did not quite work; for a moment, Caroline wished that she could hug her.

The Russians explain that the joke doesn't work in Russian.

It's nice to know the joke occasionally works the other way.

Self-effacing jokes work best when they suggest something that is not true.

Political jokes, he said, do not work unless the audience already knows what they are based on.

Their joke is working better than they had dared hope.

That little practical joke always works in the private sector.

"I think silly jokes work better in a more economically developed country."

But the joke doesn't work because that detail seems false.

Landis was being funny here, and like most of his humor, this joke works because it cuts two ways.