I made this guide because the comedian doesn't seem to be liked or used very much, and there's not a guide for him. He has grown to one of my favorite to play with the joke ability opening up another way to get objectives done, while still being able to mess stuff up with good old fashioned weapons.

The Comedian has the ability to tell a joke. When telling a joke, you can get 4 outcomes. Also, any joke affects all listeners the same way, unless that listener has already previously heard and reacted to a joke of yours (they will always react that same way). The 4 outcomes are:
- They love it, and become a follower (this can only happen to one person per joke.)
- They like it, and become friendly with you (friendly enough to trespass or ask for keys/items/leave town.)
- They dislike it, and become annoyed with you. (They tell you to leave and become hostile if you don't.)
- They hate it, and become hostile with you. (This probably only happens to one person max per joke too, but not 100% sure. I can’t recall it having caused more than one person, except for those loyal to the person that become aggro with you.)

Key 1: Feature Act - This is a game changer. This makes the comedian almost overpowered in that you can get almost any key/safe combo, and access to most spaces. In the event a group doesn't like your joke and one becomes hostile, the friendlies and followers you will have amassed from joking elsewhere will usually kill him very quickly.




Key 2: Even without Feature Act, always knock first, always joke first - Always use your ability before any fighting. This can do a whole bunch of positive things, like work on Goons/Bouncers to not be bothered by you in their building, to get food from people in apartments/homes, and to get a chest/safe from behind a locked door.

In the example below I gain a follower and get his Bacon Cheeseburger.


An example of a bouncer permitting access without a bribe or beer.

Complete a Neutralize with "Ask to Leave Town"

Complete a Retrieve Item with "Ask for Item"

Key 3: If you think something could go bad or you are weak, tell the joke and run. NPCs only need to be in earshot at the start of a joke to react to it, so by the time they react badly you can be a block away ready to entertain others. If they react positively, you can just go back and do what you were gonna do.

Use the Augmentation Booth to remove Skinny Nerdlinger

Use the Loadout menu in the Home base to get a decent weapon for when the joke offends.

Use the Loadout-O-Matic to get more food if needed, you can get 35 HP per level from them.

Homesickness Killer is a good Trait to pick on a level up, as you will usually get followers throughout most levels from telling jokes.

The Four-Leaf Clover, an otherwise useless item, gives you extra chance of successful Jokes, and successful crit punchs. It's based on a rolling system, similar to dice in D&D, where if you roll a crit success, it works perfectly, so look out for that! - Tip from rdempsey

You can also use the loadout cigarettes in an airvent to get otherwise hard to reach guards in joke range as they leave the building. - Tip from cartercommajon

Luckily, if you use the Comedian as you should, the big quest comes with simply getting to Mayor Village. It's also basically free Big Quest XP every level for telling jokes. You just need to tell X people a joke, and the number is usually pretty fair.

The big quest grants the super special ability of making every joke successful, meaning everyone you've joked with will fall under one of the two categories:
- They love it, and become a follower (this can still only happen to one person per joke.)
- They like it, and become friendly with you (friendly enough to trespass or ask for keys/items/leave town.)

This means the comedian's super special ability makes him almost godlike in his ability to do and get anything he wants with a joke, and is one of the more fun super special abilities to play with.

I hope you enjoyed the guide and it gave you some motivation to try the Comedian out or some tips to makes him the best comedian he can be. If there's anything I forgot or a tip I should include please leave a comment and I'll add it to the guide!