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BS: Where do jokes come from?
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Subject: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Marion Date: 13 May 03 - 01:26 PM Click for the 'PermaThread™: List of all joke threads'Hello gang. Here's something I was discussing with some friends, and I thought maybe you'd have some insights. What we want to know is where jokes come from - and by jokes I mean short narratives with a punch line ("This guy walks into a bar ..." etc.), or riddles ("What do you get when you cross a...." etc.). The kind of thing you come up with when asked to "tell a joke". It's my impression that most people, including myself, will spontaneously come up with a funny line now and then that is relevant to the situation/conversation, but wouldn't make sense out of context. But I've never made up a joke in self-contained short story format, or even a riddle as far as I can remember. Have you ever made up a joke? Have your friends? Why are there so many in circulation? I thought of professional comedy writers - but really, the mainstay of sitcoms, funny movies, and even most stand-up comedy routines are the witty comments relevant only to the situation that I mentioned before. There's just more witty comments per hour than there is in real life. Marion |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: MMario Date: 13 May 03 - 01:35 PM spontaneous generation. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Cluin Date: 13 May 03 - 01:37 PM Baffin Island. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Wolfgang Date: 13 May 03 - 02:03 PM The former German Democratic Republic (GDR) was full of political jokes. Since this was an embarrassement to the political leadership they set up a task force to find out where all those jokes originated. The comrades of the task force were successfull after many months of search in finding out that all those jokes originated from a very old man living in a small hut in the mountains. They came to arrest him but finding he was really very old they decided they'd first ask him why he made all those jokes. "Well, he said, I have been making jokes for all my life, first at the time of the Emperor, then at the Weimar Republic, then at the time of the Nazis, so what is bad in telling jokes about the GDR?" They sighed and decided to explain: "It was very fine of you to invent all those jokes at the emperor's time and it was still fine in the Weimar republic. We particularly applaud your courage to make jokes during the Nazi time but now we are living in the first real democracy on German soil where the workers and the peasants have the say..." "This one's not from me", the old man interrupts. On the serious side, I quite often try to invent jokes (my little daughter loves them), playing around with words with double meanings, etc. Nearly all of them I forget the very moment I make them. Wolfgang |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Amos Date: 13 May 03 - 02:04 PM People invent stories with funny punch lines, usually based on the patterns of past jokes (hence the plethora of guy walks into a bar), and try them out on a small circle of beta testers. They get spontaneously distributed if they surivive. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: catspaw49 Date: 13 May 03 - 02:15 PM One of the biggest in the last few years was elected President of the U.S. thanks to the other two biggest joke.....the state of Florida and the US Supreme Court. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: GUEST Date: 13 May 03 - 02:16 PM My first big discovery on the internet was joke sites. Hundreds or thousands of them. I'm still getting spam from that learning experience. What I found was that a lot of the old standard jokes went from vaudevil and music halls, to radio, to TV, and now to the internet. I mean, I've HEARD some of the jokes in old movies about vaudeville. So it seems the millions of jokes on the internet came from the natural recycling that occurs when any new medium springs up. Or that's the conclusion I came to. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Wolfgang Date: 13 May 03 - 02:42 PM Some jokes are carefully constructed. After 9/11, for instance, these were the jokes constructed to use 'been laden' or 'telly ban' in the punchline. Some jokes originate spontaneously by misprints or language slips. Most jokes, however, are recycled old jokes where just the names (or the ethnic group involved) have been replaced. Boring. Some jokes I have heard about a dozen different politicians. I love the 'unrecycable' jokes that only work in one historic situation with one set of persons. If I live long enough I'll write a book full with of date jokes which have to be explained to the readers. It will be a boring book to most (the explanation in many cases has to be longer than the joke). One of these jokes that has to be explained to youngsters is this: When Nixon was in the White House, he kind of disregared the First Lady due to his high workload. Ms. Nixon went to a marriage counsellor and asked for his advice. He told her to surprise the president one night with new and unexpected sexy underwear. She bought a black bra which only covered one breast, put it on (wearing nothing else) and waited for the president to come from his office. Nixon coming late from work looked at her lost in thought and exclaimed: "My God, I was supposed to call Moshe today!" Wolfgang |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Mary in Kentucky Date: 13 May 03 - 03:12 PM I agree with Amos that many are just patterns of old jokes. I have a friend that can tell a joke in every sentence he speaks. An example: Did you know that (too much sex, not reading the corporate newsletter, going to the break room too often, watching TV, snooping through my desk drawer) makes you hard of hearing? (Spoken softly and slurred.) What? HARD OF HEARING. I receive at least 5 jokes a day in my email, most from elderly friends and relatives. It's fun keeping in touch with them. But like GUEST says, look out for places that just want to collect email addresses...especially those greeting card sites that my uncle gives my address to! I like to categorize the kinds of jokes I receive from each person. My elderly friends tell jokes about aging and "remember when," and some are pretty dirty! My single son usually sends male/female or dating jokes. My daughter sends mom and teacher jokes. My headhunter friend from Minnesota sends ethnic jokes with Lars and Sven. My "Rush L." friend sends anti Hillary jokes. My niece sends chemistry jokes. Another young friend sends dog jokes. Janice sends music jokes. Stephanie sends man jokes. I personally enjoy any joke where the humor outweighs the smuttiness, or un-PC-ness, etc. But I carefully select which ones and to whom I forward them too. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Uncle_DaveO Date: 13 May 03 - 03:54 PM Every day I receive two commercial email joke letters, which will typically contain three jokes between them. If they're not objectionable to my standards, and not too old, I move them to my DRAFTS folder. I also get jokes (maybe two a week, three a week) from friends on my own joke distribution list. Again, if I like them and they're not repeats of some that I remember distributing, I'll put them in the DRAFTS folder. Every day about five o'clock I get into the DRAFTS folder and select two of my collection. I get rid of any commercial content, and delete any marks created by previous forwarding, possibly improve the spelling and paragraphing, and send them to my own little joke distribution list--two a day, seven days a week. I used to put a joke every day on www.palplayerslive.com, but since moving to a new computer and operating system I've been unable to get into the message section there, and have given up. I know, I know, this is thread creep, because this thread is about the origination of jokes. I only remember actually originating one real joke in my 72-year life. If I live long enough, maybe I'll write another one. Dave Oesterreich |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: greg stephens Date: 13 May 03 - 04:29 PM Presumably they came from the same people who wrote the folk songs Someone was obviously making them up, but they prove extremely elusive to track down. Aliens, perhaps? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Bill D Date: 13 May 03 - 04:38 PM there was a science fiction short story many years ago with "where do jokes come from" as it's premise. It seems to me the answer was they came from aliens who were testing humans...seems plausible, from many of the jokes I hear. I am a fan of **GOOD** jokes, that is, well-crafted, planned out and reasonable...and they MUST be told correctly, not shortened, changed and done halfway until they are lame. Small details can make a joke work well, and many people are not willing to hone the details until it is 'right'. One of the masters was the comedian Buddy Hackett...he could DELIVER a joke. I don't know if he wrote them himself, but I'll bet he did many of them. There ARE professional joke writers, though true 'jokes' are getting rarer in favor of 'routines' with one liners and 'social references'. Now, here is a 'joke'...a self-contained story with a punch line, well crafted and designed. Whether it appeals to YOU is a different matter..*grin*...(I almost got punched in about 1963 for telling an anti-segregation joke in front of a bigot..it was a GOOD joke, though, which is why the guy was so mad) so..... "A lady walks into the welfare office, trailed by about 15 kids. "WOW," the social worker exclaims, "Are they ALL yours???" "Yes, they're all mine," the tired momma sighs, having heard the question a thousand times already that day. "Well," says the social worker, "then you must sign up. I'll need all the childrens' names." "This one here is my oldest - he's Leroy." "OK, and who's next?" "Well, this one's Leroy, also." The social worker raises an eyebrow but continues. One by one, through the oldest four, all boys, all named Leroy. Then she is introduced to the eldest girl, also named Leroy! "All right...I'm seeing a pattern here...are they ALL named Leroy?" "Well, yes--it's actually really convenient. When it's time for dinner, I just yell 'Leroy!' and they all come running. If I happen to forget the name of the kid who's running into the street, I just yell 'Leroy' and the kid, whoever he is, stops in his tracks. It's the smartest idea I ever had, naming them all Leroy." The social worker thinks this over for a bit, then wrinkles her forehead and says tentatively, "But what if you just want ONE kid to come, and not the whole bunch?" "Ah, that's easy," said the mother. "Then I call them by their last names."" |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: fretless Date: 13 May 03 - 04:57 PM Bill D -- Isaac Asimov was the author. I don't remember the title, but one of the points of the story was that puns are tne only native human, non-alien humor. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Bill D Date: 13 May 03 - 05:10 PM yep...that sounds right...maybe I'll go thru my pile of sci-fi in the |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Bill D Date: 13 May 03 - 05:19 PM and an online search reveals: http://homepage.mac.com/jenkins/Asimov/Stories/Story132.html and one page which indicates that an Etext is available by request thanks, fretless |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: GUEST,Jim Dixon Date: 13 May 03 - 06:44 PM The closest thing to a joke that I've ever made up was this: (Preface: This was soon after Paul Reubens—a.k.a. Pee Wee Herman—was arrested for "indecent exposure"—actually masturbating, I think—in a porn theater.) "If they're going to prosecute him for that, they ought to prosecute everyone who goes to a concert and hums along with the music." I didn't really intend to make up a joke, but a few friends who heard it laughed so hard I began to think of it a joke. One even asked me months later, "What was it you said about Pee Wee Herman?" (Maybe you had to be there.) My real intention was to explain why I thought the law was unjust. Laws against "indecent exposure" are intended to protect "innocent" people from being offended by things they see. But who were the innocent offended parties in this case? The people who paid to see something even more indecent than what Pee Wee was doing? I simply thought of the best analogy I could, and I was rather surprised that people found it so funny. Yet my remark doesn't fit Marion's definition of a joke because it has no narrative. It depends on people having heard the narrative portion—the news story—already. But I wonder if you could turn it into a joke? "A guy goes into a porn theater…" I don't think I have the imagination to do it myself, but anyone else who wants to try, be my guest. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Rick Fielding Date: 13 May 03 - 06:45 PM The very first musician's joke was in the movie "Die Die You Folksinger you". The character played by Mae West asked the character played by Cary Grant: "Is that a Bronze articulated slide in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me"? In fact, it was a Walther, and he shot her. Rick |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: GUEST Date: 13 May 03 - 06:52 PM Good idea about jokes with expiration dates, Wolfgang. I remember a riddle from when Richard Nixon resigned..."What has two wings and no dick? Air Force One." Of course, that would take a footnote now, but then I remember thinking the footnotes to Finnegan's Wake were as interesting to me as the fiction itself. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Amos Date: 13 May 03 - 11:27 PM Well, nameless, there is a slight difference in the degree of ...dare I say ...quality between the two. My opinion, of course! :>) A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: GUEST Date: 13 May 03 - 11:32 PM In the mudcat...over the past five years....they appear to emenate from CSpaw's asshole. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: s&r Date: 14 May 03 - 03:00 AM there's a short story by Isaac Asimov in which he posits that the source of jokes is extra-terrestial, and part of some cosmic experiment. Can't remember the title |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: GUEST,Mr Red being very serious Date: 14 May 03 - 07:57 AM Hence Asimov's positronic brain? Topical if not hilarious - I submit. What is a joke? Yes I crack jokes all the time. I even invent them - but, you know, some upstart inventers got there before me all too often. - And when they didn't? Well only because no one told me. But the laws of probability are such that my best chance of that is getting to a new meaning first. Context is all in humour. The joke before, the joke after, the precise words relative to the lexicon of the listener. Hey this is a serious business - being funny. Frued reckoned that a joke was as effective as a glass of sherry in the conviviality stakes so, contrary to popular Viennese middle class society mores, he delivered a joke as friends entered Chateau Frued instead of booze. Having seen one of his jokes I feel he worked at it too hard - & he was no natural. However "drunk with laughter" is a phrase that comes from somewhere. I usually reckon that jokes rely on duality, stout pomous party, the banana skin the collapse; the duality of "him (thank goodness) not me (ouch)"; the duality of predicted scenario, all change, rethink. And the duality of jokes that don't fit that mould. Gerrard Hoffnung, most well known source story of "Paddy's Sick note (etc etc)" - we all can work out what is coming next but still laugh- except that the twists and turns are so numerous and well thought-out we don't spot them all - the duality of surprise. In the split second we see the new meaning/situation we carry conflict in our heads which is a puzzle which we solve and feel good about ourselves. Humour stereo-types have men as better joke-tellers but then men are by nature problem solvers first, women more likely visit their feelings first - hence the skew in male jokers/comedians. (Disclaimer - this is a statistical artefact not a person by person value judgement :) In the social context humour has a very demonstrable benefit (and evolutionary function I am sure) in that it binds a society. You can't stay mad at people if you are laughing with a common target. Tribes and families need that at times. And we are very much a herding pair-bonding species. It is very definitely NATURE though I will acknowledge it can be nutured in most people. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Bill D Date: 14 May 03 - 08:43 AM s&r....umm...that's what fretless & I were referring to above. You read only the title of the thread before posting, I'd surmise |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Rapparee Date: 14 May 03 - 09:37 AM I suspect from the collective psyche of the human race, responding to the need for a safety valve to drain off the tragedy, silliness, chaos, and so on we see around us. Don't forget that there is a whole subgenre of humor which does nothing but help people cope: combat jokes, cop jokes, ER jokes.... These are the ones that are too, too "rough" for general dissemination but are hilarious -- and deflecting -- to those who share the ambience (e.g., using a skeleton with a cigarette in its mouth to point the way to a combat unit's headquarters, as was done in the trenches of WWI). Humans seem to need their sense of the ridiculous, whether it punctures the pompous or points up the superiority of the peasant to the ruler. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Marion Date: 14 May 03 - 02:51 PM In another thread Kendall said "Food has replaced sex in my life - I can't even get into my own pants." (Possibly not verbatim, but that was the gist of it.) I think that's funny, and although it's in the form of a witty remark rather than a narrative, it could easily be used by others without a lot of explanation for it to make sense. So some one-liners can make it into the jolk tradition - although I find that when I hear something like that, I think "that's good, I'm going to use that one," but I never do... I get the Nixon joke, but who's Moshe? Marion |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: jeffp Date: 14 May 03 - 03:51 PM Moshe Dayan - former Head of State of Israel - famous for wearing an eye patch. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: PoppaGator Date: 14 May 03 - 04:01 PM Two whole days already, and no one has yet revealed where jokes really come from? JAIL!! I've been hearing this theory for years, and find it plausible. Guys cooped up in the penitentiary with nothing to do -- who else is making up all those jokes? Wait -- maybe it's just the DIRTY jokes that are all the work of prisoners.... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Art Thieme Date: 14 May 03 - 11:37 PM As I've said, If you don't have a sense of humor, it isn't funny. Art ;-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Dave Bryant Date: 15 May 03 - 04:40 AM As I remember in the Asimov story, a programmer asks the super-computer MULTIVAC where jokes originate after first entering thousands of them. MULTIVAC anwers that they are part of an alien research project in which the human race is being used as guinea pigs. When asked what will happen now that we know, MULTIVAC says that the experiment has ended, and suddenly no-one finds jokes funny any more. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Hrothgar Date: 15 May 03 - 05:52 AM And the people in gaol, of course, know them by their numbers. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Mary in Kentucky Date: 15 May 03 - 09:36 AM ...and some can tell 'em, some can't. ;-) (that's the punch line to the joke Hrothgar was referring to) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Mary in Kentucky Date: 15 May 03 - 09:38 AM Which introduces another idea...with close friends and people who know us well, we can communicate saying just the punch line of a joke or movie line that both of us are familiar with. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Sam L Date: 15 May 03 - 10:45 AM Yes, I write jokes. Lots of them--it's a pathology. And I remember lots of them. I think there's a bunch here on a thread about the misfortune cookies my daughter and I make. I write them in plays, I do them at work--top ten UPS pick-up lines #1 So you're a "package handler"? #2 Nice boots! #3 How about an Early A.M.? etc--they get smutty. Also a running bit about guessing what people's hobbies are, and it's really quite fun when you know the people. Rick--is a rodeo clown. Lynne--makes chainsaw sculptures. Dan sings in a barbershop quartet, and Rob is a ventriloquist's dummy. You have to see Rob to appreciate that it's hilarious, I swear he has a hinged jaw and the exact face. My point of view is that humour arises, and a joke is just the way you package it for shipping, try to keep it fresh. The joke is a container for funniness, and it's not quite as good, sometimes, but it makes it portable. Another approach is to keep the punch line itself, wait with it, sometimes for years, crouched in the marshes, for the set-up to arise spontaneously. A recent one was when someone asked me about when I went to Ole Miss, in Oxford. Some people call it the Harvard of the south, I call it the Rebel Yale. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Mary in Kentucky Date: 15 May 03 - 01:12 PM I get it, Fred! good one. Like you said, wait until a good set-up... There was the good ole boy who went to Bahston to visit family over the holidays. I think he was from Oxford too...anyway, he went to a large party and met a pretty co-ed. He was attempting to start up a conversation with the line, 'Where does you go to school?' The coed, of course, was not overly impressed with his grammar or southern drawl, but did answer his question. 'Yale,' she replied. The good ole boy took a big, deep breath and Shouted, 'WHERE DOES YOU GO TO SCHOOL?!!!' |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: fretless Date: 15 May 03 - 05:45 PM And then Mary's ole boy got himself some education (but only some). He was walking across Harvard Yard one day and a truly old alumnus approached him. "Tell me, young man," the codger said, "Do you know where I can get scrod?" "Dang," says the boy, "I haven't ever heard that in the pluperfect before." [As I noted above, Asimov's story included the tidbit that puns are tne only native human, non-alien form of humor] |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: GUEST Date: 15 May 03 - 05:51 PM what do you call a cemetary when youre desperate? a dating service.... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Bill D Date: 15 May 03 - 07:13 PM now, you see--jokes come in many forms, and the "scrod" joke is one that has SO many variations....a Google search on the term "get scrod" will get you an amazing assortment: ..here is just one. "A businessman arriving in Boston for a convention found that his first evening was free, and he decided to go find a good seafood restaurant that served Scrod, a Massachusetts specialty. Getting into a taxi, he asked the cab driver, "Do you know where I can get Scrod around here?" "Sure," said the cabdriver. "I know a few places... but I can tell you it's not often I hear someone use the third-person pluperfect indicative anymore!" I personally heard the punchline 25 years ago as "Past pluperfect subjunctive"... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Little Hawk Date: 16 May 03 - 02:58 PM Jokes come from George W. Bush and his administration spokesmen, such as Dick Cheney and Ari Fleischer. Stay tuned for more good ones at any moment. :-) - LH |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: catspaw49 Date: 16 May 03 - 03:22 PM You're a little late with that post Hawk.....been there done that. I get some great jokes from Beachy, a Tweedsburg resident from Oz. The stuff that Rod and Shirley send is some of the raunchiest and sickest as well as the best crafted jokes I see going around the net. I love the kind of joke that makes you want to deny there is anything funny about it at all....that it is frankly just sick and perverse. That's what you want to do because it IS sick and perverse, but you still can't stop laughing at the damn thing. Karen knows them well and yesterday I had her read one that Beachy sent. I told her it was sick beyond belief but like me, she was blubbering with laughter while trying to say, "That's awful!" Here it is....it's gross, sick, perverse, etc............. After her sixth child, Jane decided that she should have some cosmetic surgery "down below" to restore herself to her former youthful glory because her bomb doors were dangling a bit too low and looked like a ripped out fireplace. Time and childbirth had taken its toll and she reckoned that, with six children now being the limit, she'd tidy things with a nip here and a tuck there so it looked more like a piggy bank slot rather than a badly packed kebab. Following the operation she awoke from her anaesthetic to find three roses at the end of the bed. "Who are these from ?" she asked the nurse, "They're very nice but I'm a bit confused as to why I've received them." "Well" said the nurse, "The first is from the surgeon - the operation went so well and you were such a model patient that he wanted to say thanks". "Ahhh, that's really nice" said Jane. "The second is from your husband - he's delighted the operation was such a success that he can't wait to get you home. Apparently it'll be the first time he's touched the sides for years and he's very excited!". "Brilliant!" said Jane. "And the third?". "That's from Eric, a patient in the burns unit" said the nurse. "He just wanted to say thanks for his new ears." Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Cluin Date: 18 May 03 - 12:25 AM Jokes come from the worst places. Witness: Israeli police are on the lookout for a man named Joseph, wanted for looting in the port city of Haifa. The suspect is described as the son of an ex-nun from Barcelona and a German father. He was a former flutist and was known to work occasionally as a farmer. In short, he was a Haifa-lootin', flutin' Teuton, son-of-a-nun from Barcelona, part-time plowboy Joe. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: catspaw49 Date: 18 May 03 - 02:21 AM CLUIN....That's the type better done as a "Shaggy Dog Story".........Click Here Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: RoyH (Burl) Date: 18 May 03 - 06:52 AM In spite of the slog that getting through life can be the human race has invented art, literature, music, sport, games, puzzles, riddles, jokes. The answer is that jokes come from the unquenchable human spirit. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Marion Date: 18 May 03 - 11:05 PM Any chance any of the jokes that have been contributed here are original compositions? Marion |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: musicmick Date: 19 May 03 - 02:04 AM I am disapointed that the original question of this thread has not been addressed. That might be because no one knows where "story" or "plotted" jokes come from. I have written comedy routines for nightclub artists and patter and dialogue for juggling acts. I include a lot (some say too much) of humor in my monthly column, but my humor is reactive and tends to brevity. Puns and two liners are easy for me. Here's one I made up for the kids at the Shriners Hospital. Why are there no jokes about the stuff inside your nose? Because it snot funny! I cant make up a story joke to save my life and, what's more, I have never met anyone who can. Those nameless authors are my heros. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Mr Red Date: 19 May 03 - 09:34 AM musicmic Not wishing to claim any real expertise here but a funny story usually is a lot of contextual puns, observations, banana skins, one liners, or whatever is the genre along the way. And a bit of a joke/moral ending. IMHO the only thing stopping most people writing a funny story is how much they really want to. Ditto songwriting, learning the piano etc etc. They quality of the result is grey judgement, no more no less. FWIW I usually tell kiddies at ceilidhs that kind of joke just to include them in (as it were) and Thanks for increasing my repertoire - any more? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Sam L Date: 19 May 03 - 10:38 AM Yes, again, I do write jokes. I write the jokes that make the young girls cry, I write the jokes I write the jokes. You can take any funny thing somebody said, or something that happened, and usually re-frame it as a story-joke. It's just packaging. Such as-- I read that Jerry Lewis does an annual seminar on Laughter and Healing with a Dr. Kuhn from here in Louisville. As it happens, I know a Dr. Kuhn here, and I wondered if he was the Dr. in the article. But the Dr in the article was a psych, and the Dr. I know turns out to be an anasthesiologist or something. But by coincidence, it turns out the guy I know does a different seminar, on Incestuous Pedophilia and Healing, with Jerry LEE Lewis. There are indications of theraputic benefits derived by marrying your under-age cousin. But there needs to be further study before such treatments can be made available. My jokes aren't terribly good, but I do write them, constantly, and they do get repeated, but often they are tailored to a particular frame of reference, need more packing and explanation for a general public. If I can remember some I'll post more. Here's a meta-joke, joke about jokes, I wrote. Not too good, but a cumpulsive exercise. Guy goes into a bar, everybody is at the far end of the room, bartender ignores him. Guy says Can I get a drink? Bartender says Sure. Guy waits awhile, sits there by himself, everybody is standing on the other side of the room. He calls the bartender Hey, can I get a drink? Bartender says, yeah, I'm sorry. See, thursdays we have free drinks. We mix up a bunch of stuff in a punch, free. I can get you whatever you order, but the punch is free if you want it. Guy says I'll try it, sure. Bartender says okay, walks off, ignores him again. So the guy says Hey, look, I don't get it. I ask for a drink, and you just walk away. And why's everybody standing over there on the other side of the bar? What is this, a joke? Bartender says Yeah. And that's the punch line. sorry. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: MMario Date: 19 May 03 - 10:42 AM ouch! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: Uncle_DaveO Date: 19 May 03 - 12:30 PM Back in the 19th Century Paddy O'Boyle came to America, and got a job helping build the transcontinental railroad. He was such a hard worker and natural leader that he rose to the presidency of the railroad, and got very rich. His son, Richard O'Boyle, raised in luxury, went to University, and became an art professor. He married in society, thanks to his inherited wealth, and lived a great life. Except. His wife was ashamed of her husband's origins, and twisted his arm to change the name, dropping the O' at the beginning. At least not so aggressively Irish-sounding. Their son James became a famous painter, and his name was a household word. It's not surprising that James's son William should be interested in the field of art, but he didn't want to be just an echo of his father's famous name, so he went into ceramics. When he graduated from art school he got a job at a factory where they made creative vases and such. He was so good the boss told him to get in the display window and throw work on the wheel, attracting passersby in to buy the creative ceramics he was making. But the boss looked, and found that, although there were customers expectantly waiting to see him work, young William was just sitting with his hands in his lap. The boss said, "Hey! You're supposed to be demonstrating for the man in the street, to get them to come in and buy! What's the meaning of this?" William said, "Don't you know a watched Boyle never pots?" -- That's the one and only story joke I ever wrote. The principle of turning a cliche inside out is a great hook for making a joke, although I've never been successful in doing it another time. Dave Oesterreich |
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Subject: RE: BS: Where do jokes come from? From: M.Ted Date: 19 May 03 - 03:47 PM Jokes are for people with no sense of humor of their own. |
