For some reason it didn't strike me sooner, but this thread sounds like it was written about *me*. I personally take great *joy* in that brief moment of puzzlement when the person I'm talking to thinks I've gone absolutely bonkers. To accomplish that, I try not only to be as deadpan as possible, but act as normal and matter-of-fact as possible. I am careful not to look too intently at their faces for a reaction and sometimes stare away, pretending I'm considering seriously what I just said. I win either way. If the person I'm talking to laughs, I feel good about having successfully delivered a line without gratuitous cues. Otherwise, I get that moment of bewilderment, and then I release the tension by smiling or laughing at the bewilderment myself.

Sometimes I say things so far off the wall, though, that there's no recovering from it, and even after my facetiousness has been unmasked, I still get quizzical looks. That's rewarding too, but not in the same way.

It may come as no surprise, but an awful lot of "I Think" episodes come directly from my improvised moments of deadpan weirdness amongst my co-workers.

Tyler, if you aren't getting laughs, try going deliberately for the puzzlement.