Tag Archives: Joke

Knock-Knock Joke with a twist

Nationality: USA
Age: 19
Occupation: Student of USC
Residence: Thousand Oaks
Performance Date: 2/20/2023
Primary Language: English

Background: A traditional American Joke with a prequel to build up the punchline.

Person1: “Why did the chicken cross the road?”
Person2: “I don’t know, why did the chicken cross the road?”
Person1: “To get to the idiot’s house”

Person1: “Knock-Knock!”
Person2: “Who’s there?”
Person1: “The chicken”

Informant: This is a cruel joke that I was the unfortunate victim of in my youth.

Analysis: As a non-American, this is the first knock-knock joke that I found funny. Knock-knock jokes are usually meant for children and the informant confirmed that they heard about this from their elementary school friend when they were young

Elephant Baseball Joke

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: USC Student Housing
Performance Date: 2/20/23
Primary Language: English

Main Performance:

BH: What do you do to an elephant with three balls?

Me: What?

BH: You walk him and pitch to the rhino.

Me: *Chuckling* I don’t get it

BH: It’s a baseball joke.

Me: OH haha… that’s good I like it!

Context: The informant is from San Diego and remembers hearing this joke as a child from his dad. He also didn’t get it at first, so his Dad told it to him multiple times.

Thoughts/Analysis: This joke plays upon many themes that are present in both American and global culture. Firstly, the set up sets the expectation for the listener that the joke is going to be a dirty one, as any use of the word balls in the context of a joke is most likely going to mean testicles. The punchline, however, works because it subverts the expectation of what “balls” mean in the first place. Additionally, it conjures up the idea that an elephant is playing baseball, which is an absurd and silly idea. The joke also relies upon the listener to be a baseball fan, or at least have base level knowledge of the rules, in order to understand that a fourth ball would be a “walk”. One last thing about this joke is that it contains the idea that those on the same team would be animals from the same region, perhaps alluding to American tendencies to have communities of similar ethnic origin.

“Pete and Repeat were on a boat. Pete jumped off. Who was left?”

Performance Date: February 17th, 2023

SM is an environmental studies major at USC. She grew up in Dallas, Texas. Her mother used to tell her jokes all the time when she was younger, and she would pass them off to the other kids at school.

“Pete and repeat were on a boat. Pete jumped off. Who was left?” “Repeat.” “Pete and repeat were on a boat. Pete jumped off. Who was left?” “Repeat.” “Pete and repeat were on a boat. Pete jumped off. Who was left?” “Repeat.” On, and on, and on.

Catch riddles are popular with children because they make them think they are outsmarting others. With this catch riddle, the joke is that the person hearing the joke will believe they’re answering the question correctly, only for it to be repeated. This goes on and on until they realize that not only are they answering the question, but they are in turn, asking the question to be told again. SM loved telling this catch riddle to people at her school because she liked when they got angry that she kept having to repeat herself. These riddles make children think they are smarter than their peers, just like SM thought.

“Time For Black Folks to Get Their Own Nation”

Performance Date: February 14th

B is a Black student at USC. In her free time, she enjoys dancing in a club on campus. B’s family is constantly joking around with each other. Her grandfather is credited with starting most of the proverbs, and her father adopted them.

Every time B’s father would ask B’s grandfather what time it was, he would answer, “It’s time for Black folks to get their own nation.” Now, B’s father answers the same way when B asks what time it is. B has adopted the saying as well, but she only responds with the proverb when another Black person asks her what time it is.

Family folklore is a special type of folklore because it connects a group of people together, and especially with B’s family, a lot of their family folklore is derived from their experience as Black Americans. According to B, her grandfather considers himself a “blackologist”. A lot of the proverbs made in B’s family are centered around empowering Black people, which is why her grandfather and father answer time related questions with “time for Black folks to get their own nation”. Time is an important part of American folklore, and a lot of folk speech is created from it. There is a possibility this proverb comes from “time for you to get a watch”, which is used as a way to poke fun at the person asking. In this version, however, there is no poking fun or putting someone down. There is more of an empowering, community-centered response. The fact that this proverb has been passed through generations shows that there continues to be a link between timeliness in American folklore, and more specifically, race in American folklore.

Dad Joke

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: 54
Performance Date: 2/20/23
Primary Language: English

Text: “Write if you find work” 

Context: 

My dad told me that this is something his father would say to him every time he would leave the house for school in the morning, or really any time he went anywhere. He describes it as a depression era phrase, referencing how people had to leave their homes to find work in other cities, corresponding with their loved ones if they were successful. Obviously in this context, the phrase isn’t being used literally, but in a light humorous way. My dad was elementary and middle school age when he encountered this phrase, and certainly was not expected to go out and find a job to support his family. The phrase essentially served as a repeated dad joke during his childhood. 

Analysis:

The use of this phrase as it appeared throughout my dad’s childhood can be interpreted in a few ways. If we are looking at it through the lens of humor that relies on incongruence, the joke is relatively self explanatory. The incongruence here lies in the fact that it is not typical in modern Western society to task a young child with finding a job. There is also incongruence in using a phrase from the 20’s and 30’s over 40 years later, because the language doesn’t match the time period. The appeal behind incongruent humor is it is surprising and allows us to subvert societal norms in a risk free way. My grandfather’s use of the phrase in this context could just be a simple manifestation of this concept. Additionally though, it is important to note that the origin of the phrase in the Great Depression may hold some significance. My grandfather’s parents would have experienced the Great Depression firsthand, and I have been told they were relatively poor. My grandfather grew up in the rural midwest on a farm, and his upbringing was frugal and money conscious. These Depression anxieties likely would have been transmitted to my grandfather as a result. Jokes have historically served as an outlet for releasing anxiety, often by subverting the source of anxiety, or making light of it. It’s possible that my grandfather’s use of this phrase was to cope with and release anxieties about money and survival in a capitalist society. Turning this phrase into a joke told to a child, pokes fun at, and rejects the American capitalist belief that one should constantly be concerned with making money. It makes the idea of finding work light hearted, rather than urgent and necessary to survival.