Pauly’s nerves threatened to cause his dinner to reappear as the tip of the knife pierced the skin on his throat.
“You couldn’t tell a joke if your life depended on it, could you?” the Master of Ceremonies asked.
Pauly should have known better than to enter Richard Bachman’s “The Funny Man” contest.
***
“Joke” is the one-word prompt on The Daily Post.
Linda G. Hill 
Richard Bachman. I love it.
😀 Glad someone got the reference!
I loved Stephen King’s books under Bachman.
Me too. They were some of his best. 🙂
Thinner was one that took me near the edge.