Humor.

Humor in taiko is one of those tricky things.

No one wants to be a group of clowns, but then again no one wants to be bland.  Some groups are pretty intense and don't use humor, other groups like levity and use it a lot.

A lot of humor I've seen is...almost there, but more on the painful side than the funny side.  I get what people are trying to accomplish but it's either not been practiced enough or is really funny to the people doing it without the audience getting the joke.

If you're going to do something funny, you have to get outside eyes to watch and comment.  Otherwise you really do risk creating something awkward, like when a comedian "dies on stage".  And no matter how side-splittingly funny it might be to your entire group, if it's not funny to someone who doesn't have the right context, you run into the same problem.

I'm not against funny skits or silly sections in a show, but when it's not funny, it really is hard to watch.  On the flip side, sometimes a little bit of humor has a huge impact!  I've seen bad jokes told well, and corny sight gags warm up an audience.

Just remember, humor's not something that can be thought of as an after-thought without risking some "damage" to your product.  Plan accordingly!