Tag Archives: Joke

Brown and Sticky Anti-Joke

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: United States
Performance Date: 2/16/23
Primary Language: English
Language: N/A

Text

The informant was very nonchalant about telling this joke. It was the kind of “let’s get this over with” demeanor that someone has when they expect you to already know the joke they’re about it tell. Regardless of that mutual understanding, they had a grin on their face that made it evident it was a joke they liked to tell.

“Okay. What’s brown and sticky?”

I responded, “Ohh, yeah. I’ve heard this one before.”

“Sticks,” we said together. And despite both knowing the punchline to the joke, we both shared a brief laugh as it was still an effective joke.

Context

RELATIONSHIP –
The informant considers to be their “first joke ever,” and it was the first subversive joke that they had ever heard. Because of this, it’s the first joke that comes to mind when they think about telling a joke. Even then, they don’t consider it to be a “funny joke.”

WHERE THEY HEARD IT –
The informant attributed this joke to playground humor around when they were in the “second grade.”

USE OR INTERPRETATION –
Typically used as their go-to joke to tell, the informant tells this joke as something easy and clever– if the audience hasn’t heard it before. They described the joke being especially effective for kids, but much less effective for adults who can automatically infer the correct response.

Analysis

This joke is both simple and subversive. It baits the audience into expecting the question of “What’s brown and sticky” to result in something more akin to a riddle where the answer would simply be an object that is both visually brown and texturally sticky. Part of what makes this subversion particularly effective for children is the inherent potty/gross-out humor that arises from asking someone for something brown and sticky. When the punchline (and more joke-y aspect) is revealed to be “sticks,” it additionally serves as a moment to embarrass the audience for their “gross” thoughts.

Wood eye joke

Date: April 24, 2022 

Source and Relationship: Father

Type: Joke

Folklore/Text: Wood Eye Joke: “My dad first told me this joke as a kid, but I definitely tell it better. A boy was involved in a terrible accident that caused him to lose his eye, and since he couldn’t afford a glass replacement, the doctor offered him a wooden eye instead. The school dance was coming up, and after many failed attempts at trying to get a date because of his new look, he decided to go alone to try to cheer himself up. While sitting in the corner during a slow song, he notices another girl sitting alone as well. He gets up and approaches her, saying, “Would you like to dance with me?” The girl is overcome with excitement, replying, “Would I? Would I?” The boy is offended and angry by her insult, retorting back, “Stink breath! Stink breath!” This joke is definitely a crowd favorite. You can switch up the insult at the end, but you would always die laughing every time I told it to you.”

Explanation/Context: After doing lots of research, this joke has actually been told hundreds of times with a multitude of variations dating back to the early 1900s, when it was first published in the joke section of the New York Times. I always find it so interesting when jokes are passed down from generation to generation, like a game of comedic telephone, where the punchline slightly changes with each person you tell it to. When you Google search, “Wooden Eye Joke,” approximately 20,000 results come up. Due to the length of the buildup before the punch line, there is room for variation and changes in circumstances, but the butt of the joke remains the same. This is similar to music as well, where many adaptations of a song may be released over the years, but the chorus, chord progressions, and lyrics tend to remind the same. 

The Alma Mater Joke

Background: The informant is a 58 year old man living in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up in Libertyville, Illinois, where he attended the local high school and elementary school. He went to college at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign (currently UIUC – referred to as U of I by the informant). The informant always likes to tell jokes and mentioned one that was prevalent during his time at college. 

Context: The context was while eating, the informant and his son began talking about U of I, as they both attended the school. The informant suddenly appeared to remember a joke he was told as a student. 

Text:

BW: Yeah,  I remember this one joke I was told at U of I. It was really popular around all the students. I remember my friend group would always share it. So, there’s the alma mater statue at U of I that all students take pictures at when they graduate. Remember we took a picture with [son] there.

Me: Yeah, it was a statue of a woman, right?

BW: Yep, a motherly figure, and she’s standing up. Okay so it goes,

Everyone at U of I takes a picture in front of the alma mater statue and, um, if there is a picture of a virgin in front of the statue, then she will be sitting down instead of standing. But, see, there are no virgins at U of I, because everyone has been fucked by the University. [laughing].

Me: Oh, wow. Was there any ill will toward the University?

BW: I think it was like the usual anger of students towards their schools. Maybe it be the cost or the classes or being failed in a class, or something like that.

Analysis:

Informant: The informant, laughing at his own joke, shows that it retains its humor for him throughout the decades. It clearly brings back memories of his time at the university and of good humor between him and his friends.

Mine: The joke, while short, represents a few things. First, it directly mentions a graduation tradition done at the school, of taking a picture with the alma mater statue once someone graduates. However, this tradition is turned on its head for vulgar means – more so because the statue is depicting a motherly figure. However, moms have long had their share of mom jokes, notably “your mom” in response to a statement. The statue sitting down upon a virgin being there is almost like the motherly statue sitting down to protect the virgin, as if a mother’s embrace. But then, the punchline hits, and while it’s meant to be funny, it serves to actually highlight how the students felt about the university. While not sure if the joke is still being told, it clearly is a symbol that this time of history, in the 80s, was a period where the university was clearly mocked.

Unwrapping Tamales For Christmas

Background: The informant is a 52 year old man. He was born in Tulare, California. He grew up with his four siblings and two parents, moving from location to location across California. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California. 

Context: The context as that when the informant was eating tamales, he was reminded of Christmas.

Text:

MD: “Well typically, uh, mexican families, they make, uh, tamales for Christmas, and, you know, it’s kind of like a seasonal food, and that’s considered traditional to make tamales for Christmas, and uh, the big joke about tamales and mexicans is that the reason why mexicans make tamales is so they can have something to unwrap for christmas. And so uh, I used to help my mom make ‘em, and we would kind of like interchange, like, you know, sometimes I would like, layout the leaves and spread the masa, which is like corn dough, on them, or other times she would do that, and she would allow me to put the meat inside of it. It’s like a meat sauce, and uh, she didn’t like me putting the meat with the sauce in the tamale because I would typically put too much and, uh, she’d kind of strive for balance between the masa and the meat, the problem though too is like when you steam them, if you, if you put too much meat inside them, they kind of overflow, and they, they break apart the tamale, you know? It is what it is.” 

Analysis:

Informant: He is very humorous and recalls both the joke and the tamales in good fun. He reminisces about his time with his mother and looks to it as a great bonding moment between the two of them each year.

Mine: First, the joke’s context is that Mexicans are considered poor in America and will not have the money to buy presents for their family. While on the surface, the joke seems like a laughable jab, it speaks to a much deeper social context, about how Mexican families are treated in the greater societal context of the US. Typically, they do not have higher paying jobs or may be supporting a larger family and much more. However, the joke is prevalent in Mexican communities in order to make light of their hardships. It shows how humor is consistently used to make a situation seem better and it’s a source of hope. Second, making tamales on Christmas is very widespread in Mexican culture. Given how the informant would always complete the task with his mother, it provided a way for the two of them to connect through their culture of making food. 

Irish Joke 1 – Light as a Feather

1) “Which Irish rock is lighter than a feather?”

“A Shamrock!” 

2) Although I’m half Korean, I’m also half Irish. I heard this riddle from my Irish grandmother. She told me this riddle as the first in a series of riddles saying that she wanted to start off giving me the “easiest one” she could think of. She said she wanted to tell me this specific riddle because it was an opportunity for her, a devout Christian, to teach me something about the importance of the “shamrock,” which to her was not merely a shrub, but could be used as a visual symbol to represent the Holy Trinity. 

3) Since I couldn’t visit my grandmother personally, I had zoom called her and asked for her four favorite riddles. 

4) Allegedly, the Shamrock was first used as a representation of the Holy Trinity according to lore about St. Patrick. The comparison “light as a feather” has ties to symbolic associations with freshness, holiness, renewal – shamrock’s etymology means “young clover,” so the connection with lightness, youth, and vitality become even more apparent.