Category Archives: Humor

PUTTING YOUR BUTT ON YOUR PILLOWCASE AND SLEEPING ON IT WILL MAKE YOU GROW TREES OUT OF YOUR FACE

Nationality: Indonesian
Age: 48
Occupation: Shopkeeper
Residence: California
Performance Date: 4-24-2018
Language: Indonesian Primary Language / English Secondnary

PUTTING YOUR BUTT ON YOUR PILLOWCASE AND SLEEPING ON IT WILL MAKE YOU GROW TREES OUT OF YOUR FACE

 

Main Piece: (rough English translation)

 

Do not put your butt close or near or touching the pillow because if you do and then you sleep on it your butt is dirty so your pillow is dirty sleeping on it will make you grow trees and brances out of that side of your face that you put it on.

 

Do not do this because your pillowcase is for your face and it should be clean you don’t do dirty things to your face like that.

 

Background Information:

Why do they know this piece?

This is something that my mother and friends would tell me growing up.

 

Where/Who did they learn it from?

I learned this from my mother and my friends.

 

What does it mean for them?

Don’t put your butt on your pillow case it can be dirty. This is how some kids get pink eye.

 

Context of Performance:

Talking to mother through the phone.

 

Thoughts:

I never thought much of this – it is very comical to me and I do not put my butt on my pillowcase regardless because that’s just a dirty thing to do.

 

But what’s interesting is that there is this “tree man” in Indonesia who is famous because he has “tree/root like tumors” all over his face and skin…not sure if this is related but very eerie and interesting….lots of videos of him up on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmVseKdB6So

“Mais Perdido que Cego em Tiroteio”

Nationality: Brazilian
Age: 20
Occupation: USC Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California; São Paulo, Brazil
Performance Date: 04/20/2018
Primary Language: Portuguese
Language: English

There is this popular simile that I heard multiple times, I don’t know the first time I heard it but I keep repeating because it is so famous in Brazil that goes “estou mais perdido que cego em tiroteio” which means that I am more lost than a blind man in cross fire. It’s pretty self-explanatory; it means that you have no idea of what’s going on in the current situation. It’s a nice expression; a great symmetry and I think it’s funny. Although it could be seen a joke I use it occasionally.

This is definitely one of the most popular similes in Brazil; people use it a lot, including myself. When people are telling a story and someone doesn’t seem to understand they use the simile. It’s supposed to be entertaining, even though it might sound offensive at first, it’s just supposed to be a joke. Today I had some trouble to understand a tough math problem for my macroeconomics class and I used it to myself. People also say it when they are driving and aren’t able to find the destination they are looking for. It comes out spontaneously and it’s a fun way to say that you have no clue of what is going on.

Salvadoran joke, El Salvador

Nationality: Salvadoran
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 04/24/18
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

This joke was collected from a friend, who was born and raised in San Salvador, El Salvador and is 21 years old. It goes like this:

 

A German, a Frenchman, an Englishman and a Salvadoran, comment on a picture of Adam and Eve in Paradise. The German says, “look at the perfection of bodies; she, slender and spiky; he, with that athletic body and profiled muscles. They must be German!” The French man immediately responds, “I do not believe it. The eroticism that emerges from both figures is clear. She, so feminine; he, so masculine; they know that temptation will soon come. They must be French!” Shaking his head no, the Englishman comments, “not at all. Notice the serenity of their faces, the gracefulness of the pose, the sobriety of the gesture. They can only be English!” After a few more seconds of contemplation, the Salvadoran exclaims, “I do not agree, Look carefully: they do not have any clothes, they do not have shoes, they do not have a house, they only have a sad apple to eat, they do not protest and they still think they are in Paradise. Those idiots can only be Salvadorans!” My friend told me this was a very popular joke that she heard many times, the first one being from her dad, and she genuinely finds it very funny.

 

I find it really interesting that religion is even incorporated into the humor of El Salvador, but not surprisingly since most of the population is Catholic. I also thought the punchline speaks to how classist Latin America and be, and how politically incorrect our jokes are in comparison to American ones.

Speeding Joke

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: student
Residence: USC
Performance Date: April 17, 2018
Primary Language: English

What is being performed?
JJ: Okay, so, one time, one of my friends was driving pretty late at night. She was speeding and
she got pulled over by a cop. And the cop was like, “Excuse me ma’am, do you know how fast
you’re going?” and she was like “I don’t” and he was like “Are you aware that you were
speeding?” and she was like “I’m sorry officer, I didn’t know.” So the officer was like, “Can I see
your license and registration?” and she’s like “sorry I don’t have either of those.” So the officer
was like, “What do you mean you don’t have either of those?” and she was like, “Sorry I stole
this car.” And he was like “What do you mean you stole this car?”
AA: What?
JJ: I know. So she says, um, “Yeah I killed the owner of the car. Stuffed him in the trunk and
drove away with this car.” So the officer starts freaking out and he calls backup on his radio.
And suddenly 10 police cars surround the vehicle, guns ready, spotlights on. So the head sherif
comes up to the car and he says, “excuse me ma’am I’ve been told that you don’t have your
license and registration?” She looks at him and hands him her license and registration of the
car. The sheriff looks a little confused because obviously the whole reason he was called over
was because she didn’t have her license or registration and there was supposed to be a dead
body in her car. He says, “excuse me, I heard you killed the driver and stuffed him in the trunk.”
And she says, “no, you can have a look for yourself.” So the sheriff opens up the trunk and
there’s nothing. He says to her, “The other officer said you killed a man and stole this car.” And
she says, “I suppose he told you I was speeding too?”

Why do they know or like this piece? where/who did they learn it from? What does it mean to
them?
AA: Where did you first hear this joke?
JJ: The guy that works at the front desk of Trojan Hall told it to me.
AA: That’s cool. What does it mean to you?
6
JJ: I just think it’s funny and I imagine myself doing it the next time I get pulled over.
Context of the performance- where do you perform it? History?
This joke is usually performed amongst friends or in Jonathan’s case, from elders to young
adults. He first heard this joke from an older gentleman that works in his dorm building at the
front desk. The guy told him several jokes but that was the only one Jonathan could remember.
He now uses it at the dinner table, with his friends while studying, and with his uber drivers.

Reflection
I think this joke is pretty funny and I had never heard it before the informant told me about it. I
can see myself telling this joke on a road trip and can see it being a very popular joke.

Rattle Snakes and Trombone Players

Nationality: African American
Age: 57
Occupation: Musician
Residence: Carson, CA
Performance Date: April 21, 2018
Primary Language: English

What is being performed?
DA: There are a lot of musician jokes. Since that has been my career for the past 35 years, I
have heard a lot. Trombone players are usually at the butt of them too.
AA: Why trombone players?
DA: No one ever needs a trombone player so they’re seen as irrelevant.
AA: Oh, wow, well give me a trombone player joke.
DA: Okay. What’s the difference between a rattle snake in the desert and a trombone player?
AA: I don’t know.
DA: The rattle snake was on his way to a gig.

Why do they know or like this piece? where/who did they learn it from? What does it mean to
them?
AA: Why do you like this piece?
DA: I’ve been hearing it for a long time now and it’s kind of just this insider between musicians
everywhere. It’s a way for us to laugh at how hard and stressful it is to actually get a gig and
say, “well at least we’re not trombone players.”
AA: Where did you learn this from?
DA: I can’t remember but it’s pretty old. I definitely heard it on tour a long time ago.
Context of the performance- where do you perform it? History?
Delward Atkins tells this joke to his musician friends and most notably remembers telling it while
on tour. He doesn’t share this joke with many people outside the community or with many
trombone players. The trombone players he has told, however, have seemed to laugh.

Reflection
I really like this joke but I also understand that I would not be able to understand it if it was not
explained to me first that trombone players have an especially hard time finding work. I see this
as a unifying thing for the musician community, but for me it’s just a good laugh.