Keep 'em laughing.

Boris Johnson thought it was hilariously funny to say that he didn't care what women wore – even if they dressed up in a burka that made them look like a letter box.
Jo Brand made her remark about exchanging throwing a milk shake for something much more harmful.
The people in France, who published the hilariously funny cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed (SAWS) in Charlie Hebdo, soon regretted their joke too.
Nowadays when serious and utterly humourless people rule over us, the best way to make a joke is to shut it.
Here are some ancient jokes which you might like:
In a feminist conference in Cambridge, a male Don appeared and politely asked if there was anyone present who could sew on a button.
A farmer friend of mine told me this story:

He has an elderly father who went to see the doctor about a very swollen leg. He was given a prescription. After a week, he went back to the doctor's as he had been asked to do.“Ah”, said the doctor, “I can see the pills I gave you have done a lot of good.” 

Silence.

“He weren't taking the boogers!”

You see, nowadays even that is enough to get you kicked out of any professional organisation.

So the judgement must be:
Never start your essay with a joke. And that goes for speeches, comments and indeed tweets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEAvb8k7EnY