“So this duck walks into a drug store and wants to buy a box of condoms.  So he asks the clerk, ‘Do you guys sell condoms?’ and the clerk says, ‘Sorry we’re out, come back and try tomorrow.’  So the duck walks out and goes home.  The next day the duck comes in to the pharmacy again and asks the clerk, ‘Do you guys have condoms today?’ and the clerk goes, ‘Sorry come back again tomorrow.”  So finally the duck comes back to the pharmacy the third day in a row and asks the clerk, ‘Do you guys have condoms yet?’  and the clerk goes, ‘Yes would you like me to put them on your bill?’ and the duck says, ‘Hell no!  What kind of duck do you think I am?!’”

I’ve heard my dad tell me this story about ten or so times to me ever since I was probably around the age of 14.  I asked him where he heard the story and he told me that a few guys from work told it to him about ten years ago.  My dad is a carpenter and quite often he gets the chance to swap stories and jokes with his fellow workers throughout the day.  He likes to tell the joke most often at dinner parties, family gatherings, or when I have friends over.  Usually he starts it off with, “You know the one about the duck in the drugstore?” or something along those lines.  I would probably give this joke a terminus post quem of the year the condom was sold in stores, due to the fact that it could only be after that point in time.  The reason my father most likely tells the story is to either make people feel comfortable around him and understand that he has a sense of humor.

I would consider this type of joke to be a narrative joke due to the fact that it tells the entire joke in story form and relies on a punch line to get the humor across.  Also, it is important to note that the duck comes into the store three times.  In American culture most things happen in threes as opposed to some other cultures such as the Native Americans in which everything comes in fours.  This holds true for most jokes, narratives, legends, and other forms of folklore as well.

This joke in particular plays off of the pun that the duck thinks that the clerk is trying to put the condoms on his actual nose and mouth or his bill.  It may take people time to understand the connection, but once the connection is made that’s when the joke becomes humorous.  The greatest part about narrative jokes is it really lets the inner storyteller in a person come out.  Using gestures and facial expressions truly gets the idea across to the listener and makes it more exciting to be hearing the joke.  Not just the words get passed on either.  If the active bearer is good enough at paying attention, some of these actions and gestures get passed on as well as the story, therefore giving the joke a whole new depth to those who will listen to it in the future.