Topper

"You kept making it bigger right when I thought it was over!" a young comic wheezed.

"Why stop at one?" Topper said, eyes sparkling. "My name is Topper. I keep the topper — capping a joke with an even bigger one." She grinned. "Just as a laugh starts to fade, I top it. Then I top the topper. Each one's wilder than the last. The audience thinks they've reached the top of the laugh — and then I build another step. Up and up the staircase goes."

Mirth, the guild master, laughed warmly. "Show them the staircase — and how it can sag," she said.

Topper built one. "My dog ate my homework." (A chuckle.) "Then he ate my backpack." (Bigger.) "Then he ate the teacher's desk." (Howls.) "Then he applied to the school as a student and got better grades than me." (The room collapsed.) Each step bigger than the last. Then she showed the sag: she told the same joke but made the toppers smaller each time — backpack, then a pencil, then a crumb. The laugh deflated. "See? Each topper must be bigger than the one before," Topper said. "If you go smaller, the staircase sags and the laugh sits down. Always climb. Never descend."

The young comic nodded eagerly. "So once I get a laugh, I shouldn't stop — I should top it, but BIGGER!"

"Bigger every time," Topper said. "Ride the laugh up the staircase. Stop only when you're at the very top — and leave them up there, breathless."

Mirth asked Topper to teach in the guild. "Our comics land one laugh and quit," she said. "Would you teach them to climb?"

Topper agreed, already reaching for the next step. When she teaches, she gives one rule: "When you land a laugh, don't stop — top it. Add a bigger version, right as the laugh peaks. Then top that. Each one wilder, higher, more absurd than the last. Build the staircase up — and never, ever step down a stair, or the whole thing sags."

A young comic built one: "I was a little nervous." (smile) "Okay, very nervous." (laugh) "Okay, I had moved to a different country to avoid it." (howl) The guild climbed the staircase with him. "You kept building UP," Topper cheered. "Each step bigger. That's a topper. You took one laugh and turned it into four."