Tag Archives: Joke

Donkey Joke

A guy has a donkey and he uses, like, a car and he goes to the market a-and he puts rice, and you know and everything from the market on the donkey’s back. But as their walking the donkey’s just like super tired, so then he feels bad for the donkey, so he’s like “oh I’ll alleviate the weight for him” so he picks the donkey up and carries him up. (Quiet laughter)

Context:

For this performance, the speaker announced that they had a joke to share, although they jokingly insisted that it was “not a very good joke”. Nonetheless, there was quiet laughter after the joke was said. 

Personal Thoughts:

This is a joke with a unique structure, having a bit more length to it than other Western jokes. The punchline is also not as direct, focusing more on having the audience think about the punchline than it be directly said. The joke’s punchline focuses on the man taking a completely different route to get to the same conclusion, which is in this case, alleviating pain from the donkey. That being said, this is where the core of the humor of this joke is, as the humor is not in visualizing a man picking up a donkey, but the fact that the man thinks to carry the donkey rather than remove items. It is interesting to see how this joke translates in a room with many non-American audience members, as this joke heavily relies on understanding the irony in the language, which might explain the quiet laughter rather than a laugh-out-loud moment that would indicate that the joke is understood. 

Persian Taarof Joke

Alright so, um, this lady is pregnant. And you know, she is obviously gonna be due in 9 months. But you know when the 9 months pass, no baby arrives. They wait one month, nothing happens. 2 months, nothing happens. SIX months, no baby. Seven years, at some point there- we have to see what’s inside. So they go in the surgery and they open her up and they see two old men being like “No you go first”, “No you go first!”, “No you go first!”, “No you-” (laughter). 

Context:

The speaker, who is of Persian descent, is in a room with their family-friends, many of whom are also Persian. This joke is in reference to a typical Persian practice of taarof, which is essentially the back-and-forth between two individuals out of politeness for the other person. 

Personal Thoughts:

The joke landed very well in the room, which can be deduced from the fact that it was very culturally relevant to the folk community in the room. This joke has a very specific punchline that, while funny on its own, has an added layer for those that understand the concept of taarof. The joke is able to reflect how important taarof is in Persian society and how it is so common that a joke like this can be easily understood by a Persian audience. The punchline shows how the two babies are practicing taarof from the start, to the point where they cannot even get out of the womb. One can gather from this that taarof is also something that is understood from a young age, as this specific joke is making fun of the fact that it is so ingrained in the culture, to the point where it starts off when people are children. What is really interesting about this joke is how it can reveal so much, just by the punchline. There is a clear understanding that politeness is highly regarded in Persian society, where it is commonly practiced. Thus, if someone where to hear this joke from an outside perspective, even if they do not practice taarof or know the term, they can understand that there is cultural significance to being polite. 

Yo Mama Jokes

Yo mama so fat she has gravitational pull (laughs). 

Yo mama so old, her wrinkles have wrinkles. 

Context:

The informant is a college student explaining jokes that they know, bringing up a particular type of joke they would frequently do with their brother.  

Personal Thoughts:

This joke is an interesting piece of folklore as it is a part of a specific genre of jokes that have become very popular in folk communities, particularly Gen Z folk communities. While the jokes are typically short, they follow the same structure, using an insult as a way to be humorous. From this, one can also gather that there is particular importance placed on the mother, and by insulting one’s mother, that is a worse thing to do than insulting the recipient of the joke. Thus, by having this specific structure of joke, it is able to continue on in new ways, as people repeat the joke with new insults, allowing for multiplicity and variation. 

Polish Horse Joke

Background Information: Informant was an American of Polish descent, traveling abroad in Poland a few years ago with a school trip. At a bar, informant was making polite conversation (in mostly English) with some Polish natives. The Poles told informant their ‘Horse Joke’. The following is the joke as told by informant after traveling back to America.

The Horse Joke: So there’s this really famous race horse, right? But, after winning a bunch of races, he was tired. After… ya know, a few months, this race horse knew nothing but like excitement and retired and.. got bored and, he went to the farmer of this Retirement farm that he was on and he was like “Hey, Mr. Farmer, I’m bored. Give me something to do.” And the farmer says “You know what? I heard about this guy, in town, that can teach any animal to play any instrument in just, one week. So how ’bout I pay for that, and you can not be bored anymore?” And the horse says “alright that sounds like an idea.” One Week. One week later, the horse knows how to play the guitar, which is cool. he’s jamming out.. having a good time, when… a bunny, hops in. This bunny, like “wow I heard the strumming I wanted to check out what was going on I didn’t know there would be a horse in here. Can I, how did you learn to do that?” And the horse went, “Well there’s this guy in town who can teach any animal to play any instrument in a week.” So the bunny went into town, and learned how to play the drums, and then the two were jamming out. Got a cute little band going… a bunny on the drums, a horse on the guitar… playing away. Until one day a bear came through. And, growled and snarled, and then, he spotted them and he was like, “Wow I was gonna eat you guys, but now, I see you playing instruments and, I wanna know how to do that.” They were like, “Well, There’s a guy in town? he can teach any animal to play any instrument in a week.” And the Bear said, “Alright I’ll go check that out.” And he stumbled away and a week later he came back with a trumpet. And then they were all playing their ‘Animal… Band’. People came from all over just to check them out. Bear on the trumpet, bunny on the drums, horse on the guitar. Its quite a sight. It was nice. Till one day, uhh, a music manager came through and said “Hey, I wanna make you guys famous.” And they were all like “Yeah! Let’s Do It!” So they all went on tour to get their name out.. people coming from all over just to see one of their concerts… it was one of the coolest things to see all these animals playing instruments. And they were pretty good, too. Until… and it was all great until the day where they had to go on a plane to go overseas to continue their tour globally. The horse, being an old race horse, he didn’t feel too well. He was like, “Hey guys I don’t feel too good. I don’t think I should go on a plane, I think we should stop. Even though it’s our opportunity.” But the bear and the bunny they were going like, “no no no, this is our chance, this is our big moment, we gotta go now!” The horse, really adamant, like “I really don’t feel good you guys, I can’t.” And they’re like “But we’ll go on without you, But you’ll regret it.” And the horse, thinkin it’s whatever “Ehhhh, whatever.” So the bear and the bunny get on the plane and the horse goes back to the farm to get a checkup. Well right before he gets his checkup, the farmer comes in, saying “I’ve got terrible news, pal. That plane you were supposed to get on? The one with your friends? It crashed, and there were no survivors.” So the horse got into a deep depression that it was all his fault, that he should have saved them, should have told them not to.. get on the plane, been more firm with it- he really just blamed himself. to the point where he even started drinkin’; drinkin’ and drinkin; day in and day out. Until one day, the horse got all of the farmer’s stored up money that he earned from all his early work- playing at guitar. And he said “I’m gonna go down to the bar, and I’m just drink till I’m dead.” So the horse takes all his money, sadly clops down to the bar, opens the door, walks in, bartender looks up and says, “Why the Long Face?”

Context: The joke is a play on an older joke, which is simply “A horse walks into a bar and the bartender asks ‘Why the Long Face?'”. By adding the convoluted background, the joke is less about the punchline and more about making the audience sit through as much lore as possible before the punchline.

Thoughts: It’s interesting to see how this older joke is not only familiar to Americans, but also to Poles as well. Being of Polish heritage myself, it was nice to have a mutual understanding of humor with a people group I have never met, yet am supposed to be connected to. I was told this joke a couple years ago when Informant first came back from Poland, and I remember many differences. For example, the bunny was originally (originally to me) a chicken. I think due to the convoluted plot, the joke has a tendency to change.I have told this joke to several of my friends, and now, it has almost become a rite-of-passage within my friend group. When the joke is mentioned, anyone in the group will moan and tell me to stop, but anyone outside the groups will ask me, “What’s the Horse Joke?”. I will then torture them with 4 minutes of horse-joke ramblings until they inevitably hate me, and hate me even more when the punchline is a joke they’ve heard before. I highly recommend this joke.

For another version of this joke, see

Szathmary, Author Henrietta. “20 Best a Horse Walks into a Bar Jokes.” Horsey Hooves, 2 Nov. 2021, https://horseyhooves.com/a-horse-walks-into-a-bar-jokes/. 

Polish Joke

Context: Informant is of Polish heritage, and although they are very proud of their Polish background, they do not necessarily engage in the culture of Poland within their daily life.

Informant: “We used to tell a lot of Polish jokes.  How do you get a one armed Pole out of a tree? You wave to him. I heard this from my grandparents. I have more Polish jokes. Did you hear about the Pole while in a frantic called the police? He said for the police to hurry.  He locked his keys in the car. The police said that it wasn’t an emergency. The Pole said that wasn’t the worst part. His family was locked in the car with them.”

Background Information: Back when the informant was a child, it was common for people to tell ‘Polish Jokes’. Although the Polish slander has decreased dramatically since then, the informant still remembers when these jokes were common. They’ve stated that when they were a child, they were uncomfortable telling people they were Polish. Now, however, they have learned to embrace their Polish heritage, and they tell these jokes with an air of pride. The jokes represent a hardship the Poles have faced, yet by telling the joke themselves, they reclaim the joke for themselves while simultaneously not forgetting the struggle they endured.

Thoughts: Although I have some Polish heritage, I was still uncomfortable listening to these jokes. On one hand, I was uncomfortable having a personal identity attacked, but on the other hand, it was uncomfortable seeing this Polish person slander their own name. I think this encapsulates a lot of the general history of the jokes. They were meant to belittle the Poles, but now the Polish people are fighting against this ridicule and in turn making everyone else uncomfortable instead. It’s an interesting dynamic. I think it is empowering to see these jokes be reclaimed, and the jokes themselves have become representations of power.