Being Genuine

I've been thinking lately about how someone can be genuine--act in a way that represents your emotional state. If your nose is itchy, you say "my nose is itchy", or you just scratch your nose. If you're happy because your scholarship was renewed, you wouldn't act sad, or pretend you're happy for another reason, if you're to act genuinely. I've assumed for a while that this was a good, desirable way to live, and that it was pretty simple to do. Now, I'm not so sure.
Consider jokes, for example. When someone makes a joke, they are asking for attention; either they want you to like them/get to know them or they want you to laugh. (Otherwise, wouldn't they keep the joke to themselves?) That is their aim, but people won't laugh if it's too obvious that you're trying too hard to get their attention. So they cover it up: they act as though the joke they're making is totally honest, as if they thought it up on the spot and said or did the ironic thing without thinking about it. Those are the funniest jokes.
To be fair, some people don't do this. They don't plan jokes out in advance, or they make it clear that a joke has been planned rather than organic by saying it with a funny face, or something like that. But even with these people, I have to question, because a lot of people who don't plan jokes out in advance consciously do so unconciously. Moments before a joke is made, the cogs in people's brains start to turn. They think of a turn of phrase, or a way of acting that they think will make people laugh--or at least, make them laugh. (I'll cover that in a minute.) But before the joke is actually done/said, don't most of these people flesh it out? Don't they think of other ways that the joke could be funnier or more exaggerated, and make the joke that way? This is important, because I would argue that when this happens, it's not for your own benefit--you've already heard your own joke in your mind; taking pains to embellish it for effect does no good other than amuse other people. I remember a time when I was a kid that I would go around all day, laughing at the same joke I'd been told in the morning, repeating it over and over; I didn't care all that much what other people thought of it, and sometimes I'd be saying the punchline out loud for my own benefit, not anyone else's; it would remind me of when I first heard the joke. If you hang out with a bunch of 8- or 10-year-olds, you'll find that their sense of humour is generally less refined, and I think that's because they're still figuiring out how best to fit in, and have yet to be badly burned by making a bad joke and being laughed at.
So, no joke made public is genuine, or at least that seems to be the case. This wouldn't be such a problem if people didn't respond best to jokes that are or seem organic, so in trying to be funny, most people who make a joke spend a moment or two making their joke better, or seem more authentic. In doing so, they are being deceitful.
But is that wrong? It would only be immoral if the person who plans their joke to entertain and/or make people laugh does so for their own gain. If the people making the joke have only the best intentions--flesh out their comedy, plan it, etc., so that other people can be entertained--then it could be argued that these 'improved' jokes are actually better for the listeners, even beneficial: comedy that would add to their lives in some small way.
I'm not sure how often that happens, though. Even if you think that you make jokes simply for the benefit of others, do you not also make jokes around people you've just met, to break the ice? And when your friends look back on the times you've spent together, do they not think of all the laughs you've made and had together? At the end of the day, when you make a joke and you're not alone, you stand to gain from it--assuming the joke was funny and your audience was not mainly composed of sourpusses. You might think that your humour is strictly for the benefit of the audience, but every joke you make makes people care about you a little more, like you a little better, maybe even love you a little more. (Hey, if someone 'loves everything about you', and making jokes is one of the things you do, it stands to reason that they love your joke-making, too.) When you decide whether or not to make a joke, I think that the many things you stand to gain from making one would inevitably influence your decision, at least in addition to the goal of selfless entertainment of others.
All of this can be applied to 'sincere' statements and actions, too. Moments where people profess their love, or act tenderly, are subconsciously--and often consciously--altered to maximize their effect on their audience. In the latter category, they know what they're doing when they memorize a heartfelt message for their girlfriend for example, and they might justify it by thinking that the words they are planning are what they really feel--even if the girl in question doesn't have to know the thought that went into the 'heartfelt' statement. In the former, though, the person is not aware that they are trying to make their supposedly-honest statements of caring better in their mind--but they are, and not because the embellishments perfectly represent their emotions, but because they want the audience to have a greater response.
I suppose it's worth mentioning that most people have limits when it comes to inflating a joke or sincere statement: sure, people will make their idea more appealing to a listener, but not to the extent that there is cognitive dissonance (thanks, Wikipedia!), or when they have a problem with it. And I suppose, too, that this embellishment of emotion in sincere actions, jokes, and in all other public acting is a response to a system where people are forced to compete for each other's time and attention in order to be recognized--not just as friends or family, but in the Capitalist economy, too. But that doesn't justify the behaviour.
I'm aware that other people do this, and I'm aware that I do this. I know when I'm acting like a joke is real, but I've actually spent a few seconds--even a few minutes, if I'm going out to meet the person the joke is with--planning it out in my head. When other people do this, you can make the argument that they don't know that they're doing it: they're cracking jokes, and haven't thought about how they've subconsciously planned it. In that case, their humour is genuine at least to the extent that they don't know that they've embellished their jokes. That is not true of me. What should I do? Do I continue to exaggerate my jokes for effect? Do I do so for my own personal gain? How would I deliver an unexaggerated joke? Would it be fair to make such jokes, because other people exaggerate their jokes and it would be harder for me to gain attention in this world without doing the same? If I am to remain a genuine person, must I abstain from comedy? (Is it even possible for me to do that?!)
What do you think? Do you care if jokes are planned, but acted as if coming uncensored from the mind?