Nationality: American
Primary Language: English
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 02/20/2024

Text:

Person 1: Knock knock

Person 2: Who’s there?

Person 1: Boo

Person 2: Boo who?

Person 1: No need to cry it was just a knock knock joke!

Context:

This is a knock knock joke the informant learned from her older sister, when she was 7. She rememberers being confused, and not understanding the joke until a few weeks later, when her mom explained it to her. At this point in her elementary experience, knock knock jokes were quite popular, and the informant remembers telling the kids in her class the day after the joke was explained to her. While knock knock jokes are less popular in the informants day-to-day college life, she still uses it when called for.

Analysis:

This knock knock joke is one that I heard in my childhood, and one that I have seen on social media as well. While it was more common around Halloween, I heard it year round. Knock knock jokes are a common and diverse form of joke because they are quick, easy, and easily adaptable. This speaks to a popular function of jokes – for a quick laugh. To the same extent, knock knock jokes quickly travel and spread as they are normally told in bursts (ie. children competing to see who has a better joke). This joke is particularly funny because it does not require a deep level of intelligence to understand, and is a quick and easy joke.