It`s a little like casting out hundreds of fishing lines into the audience. You start getting little bites, then more, then you hook a few, then more. Then you can start reeling them in and that`s a loveliest feeling - the whole audience laughing with you...
I`d rather get a good clean laugh with good material, than an easy laugh by swearing or shocking. That`s not clever or comedic, anybody can get a laugh that way, it`s too easy.