Category Archives: Humor

Broughton Jokes

Nationality: American
Age: 24
Occupation: Computer Services Assistant
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: April 2, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: German

“You still at Broughton?”
“I’ma take you to Broughton and get my $75 and a fruit basket.”

The informant grew up in North Carolina and lived there his entire life there until moving to Los Angeles around three years ago, where he currently resides.

According to the informant, Morganton (his hometown) is known for its’ insane asylum/mental institution, within North Carolina. That institution used to be called Broughton Hospital for the Criminally Insane (potentially has been changed since then, but this was what the informant remembers it as). This place was where people who either had mental disabilities or mental handicaps and were criminally dangerous, had committed crimes, and were a danger to others and themselves, would go. It is not to be confused with their other mental institution, Jay Iverson Developmental Center, which is for those with mental handicaps who are not criminally dangerous, but need extra care.

The reason these jokes are found humorous is because social work is one of the main industries in Morganton, meaning a lot of people both work at Broughton or have worked there at some point in the past (including the informants mother).

That being said, the first joke is only said to those known to have worked there or who are working there, implying that they are a patient and not an employee. The informant first heard it while with his dad, who said it to an old friend he ran into at the grocery store. However, the informant has never used the joke because he has never known anyone who worked at Broughton of his age group.

The second joke is based off of a rumor that if someone committed someone to Broughton, they would receive $75 and a fruit basket. The informant does not believe the rumor to be true and has not used the joke probably because of that belief.

The informant relayed this to me while in the passenger seat of his girlfriend’s car as she drove us all back up to Los Angeles. I have known the informant since he moved to Los Angeles.

Both of the jokes require a connection to the culture of North Carolina, potentially more specifically of Morganton. Without the understanding of where the joke comes from, it would not be funny to you because it would not make any sense. However, those in the town not only have a connection to Broughton Hospital, but would be finding humor in something that is part of their everyday life. In a sense, you have to be part of the group to understand the joke and could potentially be considered an outsider if it was unknown.

“Pebbles”

Nationality: Indian
Age: 17
Occupation: Student
Residence: Glendale, CA
Performance Date: 4/16/17
Primary Language: English

“Three girls get called into the principal’s office. The principal asks the first girl, ‘Why are you here?’ The girl says, ‘I was throwing pebbles into the lake.’ The principal responds, saying, ‘That’s not so bad. You can go.’ Then he asks the second girl, ‘Why are you here?’ The girl said, ‘I was throwing pebbles into the lake.’ The principal, “That’s not so bad, you can go.” The third girl walks up to him, soaking wet, and the principal asks, ‘Why are you here?’ And the girl responds, ‘I’m Pebbles.’ End joke.”

 

This piece was told to me by Sunny Malhotra, who heard it at his all boys’ school. He said that it was among the tamer jokes circulated at the school, and it’s his go-to joke when someone asks him to tell a joke, because it can be shared with most audiences regardless of age. He says that his delivery of the joke is always sarcastic because he recognizes that it’s not that great humor-wise, but it’s more of a “punny” setup. The context of his joke was that I had asked him to tell me one, and so he gave me the one he keeps on reserve for instances like this.

“Turkey in Suspense”

Nationality: Indian and Caucasian
Age: 39
Occupation: Education Research
Residence: Orange County, CA
Performance Date: 4/16/17
Primary Language: English

How do you keep a turkey in suspense? I’ll tell you next year.

Jaclyn told me this joke at our annual Easter party with our extended family. She told it in honor of her uncle, Bagu, who tells that joke all the time. Bagu immigrated to Orange County from India, and this was a joke he told his daughter, Sapna (Jaclyn’s first cousin) as they were growing up.  It was the first joke she thought of, because, as cheesy as it is, she grew up hearing it, and she told it to honor Bagu, who couldn’t be at the party that year. I’ve definitely heard the joke before, but Jaclyn was so excited to tell it, so I wrote it down.

“Santa Claus”

Nationality: Indian
Age: 40
Occupation: Marketing
Residence: Orange County, CA
Performance Date: 4/16/17
Primary Language: English

“Why does Santa Claus have such a big sack? He only comes once a year.”

Sapna, my cousin, wanted to originally tell a joke that her dad had been saying to her and her cousins growing up, but another cousin beat her to it, so she decided to tell this one instead at our annual Easter party. She was really excited about the delivery of it, too.  She said it was a joke she’d heard at work, but then she looked it up online to remember the exact wording and tell it correctly. Sapna’s always leaned towards slightly inappropriate humor, so I was expecting something along these lines, but it did make everyone in the group laugh, if reluctantly. Humor is a really big part of Sapna’s life, and she’s such a funny, outspoken person, so this joke was perfect for her.

A Joke with no Punchline

Nationality: American
Age: 23
Occupation: Investment Banker
Residence: Manhattan, New York
Performance Date: 4/6/2017
Primary Language: English

 

Informant:

Daniel is a first year analyst at a prominent Manhattan based investment bank. He grew up in Northern California from a predominantly irish background

Piece:

The first party I ever went to was kinda a bummer. I was invited the day of and was stressed cause I had nothing to wear. So I went to the mall and picked out a shirt and waited in the checkout line. But then I was hungry so I went to wetzel’s Pretzels and waited in the pretzel line. And then later that night I showed up and waited in the party line to get in. And then when I finally got I went to get a drink but there was no punchline.

Collector’s thought’s:

This joke takes a while to develop and is paradoxical in nature. The first person aspect of it makes it so that the audience can not tell that it is a joke and not real until the repetition of waiting in lines kicks in. Part of what makes this joke funny is that the punchline of the joke is literally that “there was no punchline”, a paradox that is equally infuriating and hilarious.