If the joke needs a target to work, notice who’s paying for the laugh.

Some jokes are free and some are funded by whoever is in them. The room laughs either way, so laughter is not a good test of which kind you just made. The person paying usually smiles along, because the alternative is being the one who cannot take it. Being funny with nobody paying is harder and worth learning.

This week, when you are about to use somebody as the material, check whether they are in on it or just in it. If they are not there to hear it, that answers the question. Try the version where the target is you, which is almost always funnier anyway.