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"It's just for, uh, college."

If you're a "look at me" class clown, the thing that made your classmates like you is the exact thing that will make the rest of the world hate you. I know, you're just trying to make people laugh, and getting reactions out of people feels good. But if you were known as the guy who goes too far, chances are that you're bad at judging when it's time to hit the off switch.

In high school, the only negative reinforcement you get is a trip to the principal's office, which just makes your act seem edgier. And that's the thing -- this act only plays in that setting, because the school has to put up with it, and everybody knows it. High school is the last time that will be true. A year later, your employer calls you into her office and says, "We've received multiple complaints from your customers and co-workers that you're annoying and distracting. You're fired. But only because we can't legally shoot you in the face."

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Sorry, class clown. Your audience is gone, and they're never coming back.

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No one will pay you for this.

If I Had to Go Back ...

I'd leave the popular kids to crash and burn on their own, opting instead to hold a private intervention with the class clowns:

"Look," I'd say, "I'm almost as old as some of your parents, and now people pay me to do what you're attempting to do in class. But you need to be careful, because what you're doing right now is the exact opposite of what we look for in the field. Put down the match and pull up your pants, because this is important. What you're doing is annoying people, and it's only funny in the most remedial sense to those who aren't on the receiving end of your incredibly simple, unoriginal antics. You're getting cheap laughs at the expense of the unpopular kids and harried public school teachers. Nobody is going to be amused by that outside of this room.