It's Happy Hump Day. In this installment, I tell some jokes that may not make you laugh and a story that might. Here goes nothing (OK, hopefully not nothing, something, but nothing worth writing about, OK, obviously I think it's worth writing about, but.....oh never mind, just read on).
Growing up in a Christian home meant that the language and topics were always clean. This led to jokes that the rest of society usually found somewhat boring (explains a lot about my sense of humor). My dad always had a well of jokes that sometimes hurt, literally. They ranged from the head scratchers (What can go up a chimney down, but not down a chimney up? An umbrella!) to down right childish (what has 4 wheels and flies? A Garbage truck!). Dad always got a chuckle out of them. I think it was because he was watching our expressions. At least that's why I laugh half the time. Yes, I have taken to telling my dad's jokes to my coworkers and friends (they say I torture them by telling the jokes, but at least I get a laugh). In fact, I was banned from telling jokes during one underway as the Engineer said the jokes were so bad that he felt his IQ dropping just from hearing them. Sure they were dumb, but that was the point.
Admit it, you have all told jokes that were really dumb. Then you laughed afterwards. Why? Because you got to see the look of total disbelief and incomprehension cross the face(s) of the audience. That look is almost always worth a laugh. And laughter is infectious. I found the best way to ensure a laugh is to give a genuine chuckle yourself. It has to be genuine, people can tell. If you fake a laugh, you just look silly and dumber than....for lack of a better comparison, my dad's bad jokes. We still laughed at them, but looking back (and, yes telling them myself) they were (are) dumb.
I also found that my dad liked telling his jokes with themes. For instance, he might tell a series of jokes one day that were all about rabbits. Yes, he had a dozen rabbit jokes. Think of all the puns for hare and you can get a picture of what it might sound like. I hear you groaning. It was worse. Themes let you trap the unwary listener....never mind, keep reading, nothing to worry about. The only requirement for themes is that the jokes are loosely tied together in some way and there has to be at least three jokes for it to be a theme. I usually used the bad joke theme, it was the easiest one to use.
Conveniently, I forgot a lot of dad's jokes, but then again, some of them were so bad they were good. You know the ones. The ones you hear and groan immediately after the punch line and then the groan becomes a deep laugh that you just can't stop. Those of you that have had the pleasure (misfortune?) of hearing my (my dad's really) jokes, know what I am talking about.
Which makes me ask, why do people stick around and actually show interest in jokes when you tell them you have a bad joke? Seriously, I say, "want to hear a bad joke?" and the usual response is, "not really, but go ahead." Why? If you don't want to hear it, say no and leave. I'm not lying, it usually is bad. Groan and feel dumb bad. Better to bang your head against the wall bad. And yet, you listen patiently and are amazed that I actually told a bad joke. Even those of you that have been around me enough. Why? Guess they are as addictive (and sometimes as dangerous as) illicit drugs. I know I can't wait to expand my cache of bad jokes.
Thank you for reading. Let me leave you with a bad joke. Just kidding, I want to see your face when I tell it. Have a great day.
One last thing. If you look over there ------> you see a link to my other blog Joe's Story time. It is a serial story I am writing. Enjoy.
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