I remember jokes
A quarter of a century ago, before the internet was everywhere and all the time, before Facebook and Instagram, before emails and Netflix comedy specials, there were jokes told by word of mouth. We all had special friends with whom we liked to tell jokes as they would pass on good jokes to you. I loved telling jokes and would listen intently so I could pass the joke along to another and perhaps improve upon it when I did. There were jokes you could tell a kid but adults could enjoy. There were current-events-based jokes which today would make you say, "HUH??" and were kind of twisted. There were filthy jokes and jokes that dropped the eff bomb and surreal jokes and politically incorrect jokes. The evening of the day we heard about Chernobyl, a friend of mine told me Star Trek jokes that were hilarious and made me feel a lot less scared, jokes which I still haul out and tell, using a particular voice.
With the internet and emails came jokes being sent electronically. Then people said, "There are simply too many emails," or "I have to read emails at work so I am not going to read them at home, no offense." This was followed by political correctness and jokes becoming something you heard from comics in clubs, from TV hosts, from Netflix videos. Gone was the phone ringing and someone saying, "I am so glad you're home. I have to tell you this joke."
Probably 23 years ago, I was on an evening Amtrak train going to Detroit and was sitting next to a women going to Ann Arbor. We got to talking and found out that we had similar things in common, especially that we were both in theatre. We started telling jokes but we each knew all the jokes the other knew. We both had solid arsenals of jokes but knew almost 100% of the same jokes. We started saying the first line and then the other person would say the punchline. We laughed so hard that I thought the other Amtrak travelers were going to tell us please shut the hell up but no one said a thing to us. There was only one joke that we didn't have in common and it was one I knew. We told jokes for about three and a half hours and there was just one that did not overlap and when I finished we both laughed way harder than the joke deserved. The joke is funny but best told late in the evening when people are tired or perhaps a bit in the bag.
The last time I told jokes was with my sister and brother-in-law, driving in a car on Saturday errands, and we were sharing some of our old favorites. We laughed. A lot. It was good and so were the jokes.
In the spirit of ye olde days, I give you some punchlines. If you don't know the joke but want to, send me a comment and I will share the joke.
"The aristocrats!"
"They should've used Schwartz Nails."
"It was raining today so we went to the movies. Tomorrow I'll take him to the zoo."
"Oh, no, it's the ice cream."
"Two shots and a splash."
"Both circle Uranus looking for Klingons."
"He wanted to go where no man had gone before."
"An Amish drive-by."
Perhaps you have a punchline you can share? Maybe I can retro-construct the joke for myself, which I also used to enjoy in ye olde days.
With the internet and emails came jokes being sent electronically. Then people said, "There are simply too many emails," or "I have to read emails at work so I am not going to read them at home, no offense." This was followed by political correctness and jokes becoming something you heard from comics in clubs, from TV hosts, from Netflix videos. Gone was the phone ringing and someone saying, "I am so glad you're home. I have to tell you this joke."
Probably 23 years ago, I was on an evening Amtrak train going to Detroit and was sitting next to a women going to Ann Arbor. We got to talking and found out that we had similar things in common, especially that we were both in theatre. We started telling jokes but we each knew all the jokes the other knew. We both had solid arsenals of jokes but knew almost 100% of the same jokes. We started saying the first line and then the other person would say the punchline. We laughed so hard that I thought the other Amtrak travelers were going to tell us please shut the hell up but no one said a thing to us. There was only one joke that we didn't have in common and it was one I knew. We told jokes for about three and a half hours and there was just one that did not overlap and when I finished we both laughed way harder than the joke deserved. The joke is funny but best told late in the evening when people are tired or perhaps a bit in the bag.
The last time I told jokes was with my sister and brother-in-law, driving in a car on Saturday errands, and we were sharing some of our old favorites. We laughed. A lot. It was good and so were the jokes.
In the spirit of ye olde days, I give you some punchlines. If you don't know the joke but want to, send me a comment and I will share the joke.
"The aristocrats!"
"They should've used Schwartz Nails."
"It was raining today so we went to the movies. Tomorrow I'll take him to the zoo."
"Oh, no, it's the ice cream."
"Two shots and a splash."
"Both circle Uranus looking for Klingons."
"He wanted to go where no man had gone before."
"An Amish drive-by."
Perhaps you have a punchline you can share? Maybe I can retro-construct the joke for myself, which I also used to enjoy in ye olde days.
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