Category Archives: Humor

Smart Pills

Nationality: American
Age: 55
Occupation: Banker
Residence: California
Performance Date: 3-12-18
Primary Language: English

Nationality: American

Primary Language: English

Other language(s):  

Age: 55

Occupation: Banker

Residence: California

Performance Date: 3-12-18

 

 

What it is: Smart Pills

“One day, when I was around seven years old, my grandfather had come over for dinner. He beckoned me to him and whispered in my ear, ‘have you ever heard of smart pills?’. I replied ‘no’ at which point he went on to explain, all-the-while, telling me that this was between us. So he explained that if I ever wanted to prank my friends I needed to do this. He said that I should go around our backyard a pick rabbit pellets (because they best resembled a pill). Once I had the pellets, I needed to put them in a medicine tube (the orange prescription bottles you get from your medicine).  Then he said ‘at school, or after school (probably after school when you are all playing), ask your friends if they wanted to be smarter. When they reply yes, hand out the pills, but stop them just before they put it in their mouths. Explain to them that it is actually a rabbit pellet and not safe to eat. When they ask why’d you do that? What was that for? etc. tell them ‘Hey. I did make you smarter…now you’ll think twice when asked if you want a smart pill.’”

Why they know it:  His grandfather told this to him and he has since passed it on to his kids.

When is it said: This is said when someone wants to prank their friends (of course they stop their friends from actually eating the ‘smart pills’). This is meant to be funny.

Where did it come from: Not known

Why its said: It is usually told to those who need a good prank

How they know it and what it means: Robert was told this by his grandfather

Thoughts: While I personally have never tried to trick my friends into taking rabbit pellets, I can imagine that this would be quite amusing. This prank seems quite mischievous which is part of the reason why I never partook in the prank; however, I believe that this is an excellent example of what folklore is. The sharing of knowledge across time. While this is not the best knowledge to spread it gives an insight into who the people who were taught and teach this legend.

 

Joke

Nationality: American
Age: 81
Residence: LA
Performance Date: 3/30/18
Primary Language: English

I asked my grandpa if he had any jokes that he loved. His response was that he only had Jewish jokes, because that is what his Jewish father would always tell him growing up in Brooklyn.

 

He began to tell me the joke after I asked him this question, “It was the winter Olympics, there were 3 finalists in the ski competition, one from Israel, one from Sweden, and one from Italy. The top favorite was the man from Israel, who normally finished the competition in 2 minutes 10 seconds. The man from Sweden went first and timed a 2 minutes and 46 seconds, next the man from Italy went and timed a 2 minutes and 22 seconds, finally it was the man from Israel’s turn, they waited as he went down the mountain, but the time kept ticking, it went past his normal time of 2 minutes 10 seconds, finally he crossed the finish line at 4 minutes and 20 seconds. The reporters asked him what happened and he said, “WHOEVER PUT THE MEZUZAHS ON THE GATES IS TOAST”.

 

Background Info: My grandpa is from Brooklyn and was raised in a Jewish family, he loves these types of jokes because they help explain parts of the culture. The joke is that whenever a Jewish person sees a Mezuzah, he/she has to stop and say the prayer that is inside of the Mezuzah, and remember why they are Jewish, this stalled the man from Israel’s competition as he had to stop at each Mezuzah.

 

Context: My grandpa told me this joke during Passover dinner

 

Analysis: My grandpa has been telling me jokes since I can remember, but I had not heard this one before. A lot of his jokes are about the Jewish culture, but have meaning to them in remembering the importance of certain aspects of the culture, for example this joke is meant to remind you to recognize the prayer whenever you see a Mezuzah.

Song/Celebration

Nationality: British
Age: 25
Occupation: Product Design
Residence: Manchester/LA
Performance Date: 4/9/18
Primary Language: English

When talking to one of my brother’s good friends, who is from Manchester England, I asked if he had any songs that he knew of that he has learned from any of his friends or relatives.

 

He told me of a song that him and his friends always sing when they go out, “We like to drink with (insert name) because (name) is our mate! And when we drink with (name) he takes it down in 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!”

 

 

Background Info: This song is some that Edward grew up hearing amongst people in England. When you call someone out and sing the song, they have to finish whatever drink is in their hand by the time the singers get to the end of the 8 second countdown. “It is something that is fun and gets you to finish more beer” –Edward.

 

Context: Edward told me about this song while I was at lunch with him and my brother.

 

 

Analysis: Once Edward told me about the song, he sang it but for me—it was a fun experience to say the least. Edward said that this is a very popular song in England, and is normally sang at universities at their get-togethers, next time I visit England I will be sure to ask people about this chant!

                                                                

 

For similar write-ups, and some videos of other people singing this same song, see:

 

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=down%20it%20fresher

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c02U02efg6U

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tblxOzPiNOA

Family tradition—Holidays

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Francisco
Performance Date: 4/9/18
Primary Language: English

I talked to my neighbor in my apartment Greg, and asked if he had any traditions during holidays in his family. He told me about a tradition he does every year since he was young during St. Patrick’s Day.

 

Greg said that ever since he was young, “My family and I on St. Patrick’s Day will set up a leprechaun trap in our house and outside our lawn. It was something I did when I was younger but now I think we still do it to keep that feeling of being young in our family. Even when I am not home for the holiday my parents set up traps and send me photos.

 

Background Info: Greg’s family is part Irish, so he has always done a big celebration for St. Patrick’s Day. He says that this leprechaun trap is something he loved doing when he was little and now his family still does it for fun and to keep the tradition alive.

 

Context: Greg told me about this during dinner at our fraternity house on the topic of family holiday traditions. He also does a similar thing for Christmas (cookie as a trap to find Santa)

 

Analysis: I never really celebrated St. Patrick’s Day that much growing up so it was interesting to hear about this holiday tradition as well as other things that his family does for this March 17th event. I also thought it was funny and cool that his family still does this even though Greg and his brother are older now.

The Jungle Joke Competition

Nationality: Mexican/American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: N/A
Performance Date: 4/25/18
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Interviewer: What’s the jungle joke that you mentioned earlier?

Informant: Ok, so, the king of the jungle, a lion, decides that he wants to hear the best joke in the jungle. He gathers all of the animals of the jungle around him and announces that whoever tells a joke that gets everyone to laugh will win. But, if their joke does not make every single animal laugh, then they will be killed.

The elephant immediately begins to tell his joke, thinking that he will no doubt win the competition. After he finishes, the crowd is silent. No one thinks the elephant’s joke is funny, and so the king of the jungle murders him.

Next, the parrot comes forward. The parrot tells his joke and half of the crowd erupts into laughter. The other half is silent though, so the king of the jungle kills him too.

Then, the giraffe steps forward. The giraffe pauses, then begins his joke. When he finishes, every single animal in the crowd laughs – except one, the turtle. The king of the jungle pauses for a moment, waiting for the turtle to join in, but the turtle never does. So, the giraffe is killed too

Finally, the jaguar strides forward and tells his joke. The jaguar, who mostly likes to hunt, doesn’t know many jokes, and his joke is terrible. Only one animal laughs – the turtle.

After the King of the Jungle kills the jaguar, he asks the turtle why he laughed. The turtle says “the giraffe’s joke was hilarious!”

Context: My informant is a nineteen year old college student. Though he was raised in the United States, he was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, and his first language is Spanish. This joke was told in a college dorm room, with the informant sitting across from me.

Background: This informant heard this joke from his parents, both of whom are from Chihuahua, Mexico. He enjoys it and remembers it because of the turtle and his delayed reaction. He and many of his friends and family use “Don’t be the turtle” to chide someone when their reaction is delayed or they did not respond to ones question or statement.

Analysis: I personally enjoyed the joke a lot. It doesn’t rely on wordplay or any sort of cultural knowledge, all the listener has to know is that a turtle is slow – this makes the joke relatively accessible. At the same time, the use of a somewhat brutal method of punishment, that is, death, for a bad joke, also makes the stakes higher for the animals and adds to the hilarity of the situation, since, at the end of the day, death is a ridiculous punishment for not making everyone laugh. I also found it interesting that the motif of threes finds its way into this joke as well. Though there are four animals, the giraffe, the animal to tell the best joke, and whose joke elicits laughter from the most animals, is the third to tell a joke.