Tag Archives: Joke

Main Piece: “Just because there is a goalie in the net, does not mean that you can’t score a goal”

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: CA
Performance Date: 04/20/2021
Primary Language: English

Background: This is a saying that the informant learned from her friends at summer camp when she was in grade school. She attended a co-ed summer camp and as a way to keep themselves entertained, the kids would have crushes and say they were dating just because they held hands on the way to the dining hall one night. Because they were at summer camp and playing sports, the kids would say this proverb as a way to indicate that even if your crush had was in a relationship with some else, it did not mean you were out of luck or didn’t have a shot. 

Context: the informant still uses this proverb in her 20s, but the intention behind the saying has changed. When at summer camp, the campers did not realize in their youth that ‘homewrecking’ is socially unacceptable. They saw were so immersed in the competitive culture of camp that a sports metaphor for the romantic and social elements of life there seemed fitting. Now, the informant uses this phrase as more of a mocking joke. She will say it to one of her friends if they see a cute guy, but he happens to be in a relationship. She does not expect her friend to take the saying seriously or act on the meaning. It is interesting how the significance of this proverb has shifted from adolescence to adulthood. At camp, the kids were genuinely encouraging fighting for their crush, even if it meant hurting someone else; now, we can tease our friends in the same context, but with different intentions.

Thoughts: I have heard this saying outside of the informant’s interview and I have always found it to be humorous and I suppose true, but not something to take seriously. What I find interesting about this proverb, in particular, is that it is dependent on interpretation. The person listening to this word of advice can either hear it as ridiculous and funny or they can take it to heart and cause issues. The impact that his proverb has left the listener as an amused audience member or a person who is about to really damage someone else’s relationship. It is very black and white how this saying is received and depends greatly on who is hearing it- as well as their age, sex, and willingness to take charge versus be passive.

Armenian Genie Joke

Age: 40
Occupation: Driver
Residence: LA
Primary Language: Armenian

[Translated from Armenian] Three neighbors come across a genie lamp in the city. 

The genie pops out and says, “For finding me each of you gets a single wish of your heart’s desire. But, be forewarned that whatever you wish for, the other two guys get the same but 10 times better.

The first guy says, “I want a Mercedes Benz.” And the genie grants his wish. So, the first guy is driving around feeling good about himself when he pulls up to his driveway and sees Ferarris, Lamborginis, and Porches parked on their lots.

The second guy say, “Genie, I want a big house.” And the genie grants his wish. So the second guy is happy, running around his new house checking out all the rooms, until he looks out the window and sees his neighbors’ towering mansions. 

The third guy looks around and says, “Genie, you know what? Just give me (high pitched voice) a weeee little heart attack.”

Context: This joke was told at a birthday party over food and drinks. The performer and audience were quite drunk.

Thoughts: This is funny because the third guy already has everything he could have asked for and didn’t want to be outdone by, and become jealous of his neighbors by wishing for something else. Instead, the punchline is implies that a “weeee little heart attack” would be tolerable for him but 10 times that would deadly for his neighbors. Problem solved.

Armenian Nose Joke

Age: 28
Residence: Fresno
Primary Language: English

Why do Armenian’s have big noses? 

Because the air is free!

Context: [informant] I first heard this from my cousin when I was a kid. I really though she was going to give a reason why our people have big noses but it was joke about them being cheap. I kind of took it personal even though she was Armenian too, but later I heard the same exact  joke about Jews and thought it was funny.

Thoughts: This is a prime example of multiplicity and variation. The stereotypes here are that Armenian and Jews both have big noses and tend to be money-centric cultures, so it makes sense the same joke can be applied to either culture. Having “big” noses implies they use it sniff up as much free air as possible.

The frog, the rice cake, and the veteran

Nationality: United States
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Exeter, NH
Performance Date: 04/03/2021
Primary Language: English

BACKGROUND: My informant, MP, was born in the US. Her family is from DC and have lived there for as long as she can remember. MP was a bit of a class clown at my former school so I asked her if she has any interesting jokes she would like to tell me. According to MP, this is her favorite joke that she inherited from her older brother.

CONTEXT: This piece is from a conversation with my friend to exchange jokes.

Me: So this is a two-part joke?

MP: It’s gonna be a long one yeah. So once upon a time there was a rice cake. A rice cake and a frog are looking off of a pier and the rice cake, looking into the water, saw its reflection and said: “I am the prettiest rice cake in all the lands.” The frog was fed up with the rice cake and responded “If you say that one more time, I’m going to push you in the water.” The rice cakes was like “okay.” So the pier is quiet for a bit. No one really says anything. Then eventually the rice cake looks back into the pond and is like, “I am the prettiest rice cake and all the land.” So the frog pushes him into the water. 

Okay so here’s the second part. So I guess once there was a man and a woman and they were like high school sweethearts. Um, and they’re really in love. And then suddenly like a war happens, like, yeah, one of the American Wars and he gets drafted for the Navy and she’s really sad. And he’s like, “Don’t worry, I’m going to give you this ring now. And I promise, like once I get back, we’re going to get married. Just like, think about this ring whenever you miss me. Or look at it or whatever. And we’ll get married when I get back from the war.” Um, and he’s like,”Yeah, once we come back, I’ll meet you at the dock and we’ll get married. So what happens? He doesn’t die. Right? Yeah. So he doesn’t die. He comes back to the town. Um, but unfortunately the town built a completely identical dock to the other one, but it’s on the other side of the town. And so since the woman’s been living there the entire time, she goes to the right dock and he goes to the new one, completely confused. And the woman thought he must’ve died in the war and she find a different husband moves on. But he’s so heartbroken and he’s like, “You know what? I’m going to dedicate my life to this pier because she didn’t pull through for me. I’m going to pull through for myself.” So then all the kids knew him in the town. He’s known as like the dude who works at the dock and who fishes every day. Years and years and years and years go by, 50 years pass. And one day he goes out, sits on the dock to go fishing, then reels in the rice cake.

Me: What? What’s the punchline?

MP: He reels in the rice cake. That’s the end of the joke.

THOUGHTS: At first I felt very swindled by the joke. MP purposely added a lot of pauses and gesturing to drag on the joke for over 4 minutes. By the time I got to the end, I was salivating to know how a frog and a rice cake would connect to a girl and a veteran. Also considering that MP was a fairly funny person, I expected the joke to come to a very cathartic conclusion. The fact that it ended so abruptly and randomly made me angry, realizing that my reaction to the uselessness of the joke was the joke itself. The punchline is that there is no punchline, almost elevating the joke beyond what it would’ve been if there actually was a joke. It’s basically an anti-joke, built on the irony of its dissatisfaction.

For another example of a long-winded anti-joke, see: Brunvand, Jan Harold. “A Classification for Shaggy Dog Stories.” The Journal of American Folklore, vol. 76, no. 299, 1963, pp. 42–68. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/538078.

The Irishman and his brothers

Nationality: United States
Age: 21
Occupation: Student/Comedian
Residence: New York, NY
Performance Date: 04/03/2021
Primary Language: English

BACKGROUND: My informant, BH, was born in the US. The following piece is a joke he learned from his father (who is of Irish descent). BH currently is a comedian and loves to hear jokes from other people in order to “steal them for his own stand-up.” This joke is one he stole from his dad.

CONTEXT: This piece is from a conversation with my friend where we exchanged jokes.

BH: Okay so, a man walks into a bar —

Me: (laughs) Oh God —

BH: A man walks into a bar and orders 3 drinks. When the bartender brings him his drinks he starts drinking them one sip at a time. When he’s done with the drinks he slams his glass on the table and orders three more. And — And the bartender is like “Dude, I can give you three drinks one after the other and they’ll stay cold. You don’t have to drink them all at once.” Then the man explains that he’s drinking 3 drinks because he has two brothers — one in America and one, I don’t remember, somewhere else — and every night they all drink three drinks in celebration of each other. The bartender shrugs and gets him his drinks. So a few weeks pass. The guy comes in again but this time order two drinks. The bartender notices and is like “Oh, did one of your brothers die?” and the guy takes a long sip out of both of his glasses and says “No but I quit drinking.” 

THOUGHTS: At first I didn’t really get the joke, but BH eventually explained to me the stereotype of Irish people being avid drinkers. With that information, I finally understood the punchline — the man in the joke claims to have quit drinking only to continue showing up to the bar every night to drink by the pair. BH elaborated further on the stereotype, bringing to my attention that the joke could also be that a real Irishman would never give up drinking. Regardless, it is interesting how people have paired humor with alcohol. “A man walks into a bar” jokes are some of the most iconic jokes right behind knock-knock jokes.