Unjokes: Difference between revisions
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'''Unjokes''' (also known as '''[[anti-humor|anti-jokes]]''')<ref>[[Paul Lewis (professor)|Paul Lewis]], "Joke and Anti-Joke: Three Jews and a Blindfold", ''[[The Journal of Popular Culture]]'', 1987, Vol. 21, Issue 1, pp. 63-73</ref> are a style of [[joke]] that aren't actually humorous at their base value. They generally provide realistic endings to their set-ups, and often use traditional, well-known jokes' setups to throw people off when the "punchline" is revealed. This is not [[dry humor]], it is complete [[anti-humor]]. "Punchlines" that rely on [[puns]] or other forms of actual humor disqualify a joke from being an unjoke. Comedian and writer Eric Slovin defines an unjoke as "a joke where there's a setup that's obvious, where there's an anticipation that there's going to be a classic joke, but then we just don't give it to you." <ref>[http://gothamist.com/2007/01/12/slovin_and_alle.php#more "Slovin and Allen, Comedians and Writers," ''Gothamist''] 12 January 2007.</ref> |
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#redirect [[anti-humor]] |
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==Examples of Unjokes In Different Styles== |
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Here are some examples of different unjokes. This is by no means a comprehensive list. Unattributed jokes are those for which specific credit couldn't be assigned. |
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====Question/Answer Jokes==== |
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Q: Why was 6 afraid of 7?<br/> |
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A: It wasn't. Numbers are non-sentient and therefore incapable of emotion. |
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Q: Why did the blond kill herself?<br/> |
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A: She was depressed and didn't want to go on with life. |
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Q: How many Jews can you fit in a Volkswagon?<br/> |
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A: Five. Four, comfortably. |
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Q: What do you get when you stick a knife in a baby? <br/> |
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A: A life-sentence in jail. <ref name="SomethingAwful">[http://www.somethingawful.com/d/comedy-goldmine/jokes-with-realistic.php SomethingAwful.com], Jokes With Realistic Endings.</ref> |
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Q: What's worse than finding a worm in your apple?<br/> |
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A: Being murdered. |
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====Storytelling Jokes==== |
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*A duck walks into a bar. Animal control is promptly called, and the duck is taken to a nearby park and released. [ref name="SomethingAwful"/] |
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*A husband, proving to his wife that women talk more than men, showed her a study which indicated that men use (on the average) only 15,000 words a day, whereas women use 30,000 words a day. She thought about this for a while and then told her husband that women use twice as many words as men because they have to repeat everything they say. Looking stunned, he said, "That's hardly true. You just talk too much, which was possibly the point of the study in the first place." [ref name="SomethingAwful"/] |
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*A husband comes home to find his wife packing her bags. "What's going on?" he asks her. "I'm leaving you. I can't live the rest of my life with a pedophile." The man responds, "That's fair. I can't ask you to stay with me, I'm a monster." |
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*A man and a woman are crossing the desert. They find a lamp in the sand. The man rubs the lamp and nothing happens. Afterward, he feels a bit foolish. <ref name="McSweeney">[http://www.mcsweeneys.net/1999/10/13jokeland.html Timothy McSweeney's Jokeland].</ref> |
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*A man is driving down a country road at night when his car gets a flat tire. |
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He stops by a local farmhouse and asks the owner if he can stay there for the night. |
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"Sure," says the farmer. "As long as you don't touch my three beautiful daughters." |
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The man did as he was told, because frankly, he didn't find the girls nearly so attractive as their father seemed to. <ref name="McSweeney"/> |
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====Observational Humor==== |
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"So what's the deal with airline peanuts?" |
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"Well, the packaging is generally poorly designed and cheaply made, as a method of cutting distribution costs. After all, most passengers wouldn't want a "Peanut Fee" attached to their already costly ticket prices in order to cover the expenses of higher quality wrappers. What are you complaining about, anyway? It's free food, and it's a nice snack. If you're really that bent on not enjoying the peanuts the airline so graciously provided you with, just save them and give them to the next homeless person you see." [ref name="SomethingAwful"/] |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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Revision as of 08:28, 15 June 2008
Unjokes (also known as anti-jokes)[1] are a style of joke that aren't actually humorous at their base value. They generally provide realistic endings to their set-ups, and often use traditional, well-known jokes' setups to throw people off when the "punchline" is revealed. This is not dry humor, it is complete anti-humor. "Punchlines" that rely on puns or other forms of actual humor disqualify a joke from being an unjoke. Comedian and writer Eric Slovin defines an unjoke as "a joke where there's a setup that's obvious, where there's an anticipation that there's going to be a classic joke, but then we just don't give it to you." [2]
Examples of Unjokes In Different Styles
Here are some examples of different unjokes. This is by no means a comprehensive list. Unattributed jokes are those for which specific credit couldn't be assigned.
Question/Answer Jokes
Q: Why was 6 afraid of 7?
A: It wasn't. Numbers are non-sentient and therefore incapable of emotion.
Q: Why did the blond kill herself?
A: She was depressed and didn't want to go on with life.
Q: How many Jews can you fit in a Volkswagon?
A: Five. Four, comfortably.
Q: What do you get when you stick a knife in a baby?
A: A life-sentence in jail. [3]
Q: What's worse than finding a worm in your apple?
A: Being murdered.
Storytelling Jokes
- A duck walks into a bar. Animal control is promptly called, and the duck is taken to a nearby park and released. [ref name="SomethingAwful"/]
- A husband, proving to his wife that women talk more than men, showed her a study which indicated that men use (on the average) only 15,000 words a day, whereas women use 30,000 words a day. She thought about this for a while and then told her husband that women use twice as many words as men because they have to repeat everything they say. Looking stunned, he said, "That's hardly true. You just talk too much, which was possibly the point of the study in the first place." [ref name="SomethingAwful"/]
- A husband comes home to find his wife packing her bags. "What's going on?" he asks her. "I'm leaving you. I can't live the rest of my life with a pedophile." The man responds, "That's fair. I can't ask you to stay with me, I'm a monster."
- A man and a woman are crossing the desert. They find a lamp in the sand. The man rubs the lamp and nothing happens. Afterward, he feels a bit foolish. [4]
- A man is driving down a country road at night when his car gets a flat tire.
He stops by a local farmhouse and asks the owner if he can stay there for the night. "Sure," says the farmer. "As long as you don't touch my three beautiful daughters." The man did as he was told, because frankly, he didn't find the girls nearly so attractive as their father seemed to. [4]
Observational Humor
"So what's the deal with airline peanuts?"
"Well, the packaging is generally poorly designed and cheaply made, as a method of cutting distribution costs. After all, most passengers wouldn't want a "Peanut Fee" attached to their already costly ticket prices in order to cover the expenses of higher quality wrappers. What are you complaining about, anyway? It's free food, and it's a nice snack. If you're really that bent on not enjoying the peanuts the airline so graciously provided you with, just save them and give them to the next homeless person you see." [ref name="SomethingAwful"/]
References
- ^ Paul Lewis, "Joke and Anti-Joke: Three Jews and a Blindfold", The Journal of Popular Culture, 1987, Vol. 21, Issue 1, pp. 63-73
- ^ "Slovin and Allen, Comedians and Writers," Gothamist 12 January 2007.
- ^ SomethingAwful.com, Jokes With Realistic Endings.
- ^ a b Timothy McSweeney's Jokeland.
