Research on humor and play has not directed much attention to the role of humor and play as integral to relationship building in everyday interactions. Instead there is still a tendency, both among scholars and in the workplace, to consider playful behavior an unnecessary distraction. This study aims at developing a deeper understanding of the role of humor and play in relationship building. Using Dunbar s research on Grooming, focusing on the concept of shared enjoyment, and Clark s theory of Joint Actions, with attention to the idea of common ground, this analysis explores the role that humor and play had in a workplace setting, in the context of an informal interview in a bakery in Portland. The interview was twenty-three minutes long and was originally audio-taped: it was conducted by two students who, in the larger context of a class assignment, were interested in understanding the bread production process as part of a study of organizational communication. The results of this study direct the attention toward the essential role of joking in task oriented conversations, facilitating rather than diverting from the task accomplishment.