23 november

But by depriving you of the punchline you expect, I'm surprising you with an anti joke instead of a joke. Here's another: Why did the turkey cross the road? To get to the other side. That's actually a good one too, in general, like it's kind of funny. Why is this funny? Again, it plays upon something you expect, which is to say, the commonly known joke from any of our childhoods, which is: Question -- Why did the chicken cross the road? Answer -- To get to the other side. The inclusion of a turkey instead of a chicken in this format suggests to you, The Listener, that something unusual or unexpected will be happening. The joke is, there's not. Or, that is to say the anti-joke is, it's the same joke. This is a commonly used frame, really, and I will use this opportunity to insert my sister's favorite joke from her childhood, which is based upon the same idea. We didn't call it an anti-joke at the time, probably because we were little, and probably that wasn't trending yet. Question -- Why didn't the chicken cross the road? Answer -- Because it wasn't holding its mommy's hand. This is a perfect answer for a small child to give. It's a specially hilarious when a child says it, although it's okay when other people tell it, too. It's just not as cute. What additional points to make here -- although must I continue on and on about this? The answer is yes. This is not the primary focus of the joke itself, but still. Chickens don't have hands. Just saying. Meaning: that chicken without its mommy will never cross the road. Does this make you sad? Answer -- It should not. It's probably very dangerous for chickens to cross roads, whether or not they're holding their mommy's hands, whether or not their mommies have hands, or they have hands themselves. How's that for a hypothetical situation!