Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Rare and Endangered Jokes

There's a peculiar sub-species of joke, of which I've only ever heard two examples. Its distinguishing characteristic is that the punchline must be sung, and to a particular tune. Here are the two:

1. Q: Where do the Lone Ranger and Tonto take their trash?
    A: To the dump, to the dump, to the dump dump dump!
    Tune: William Tell Overture

2. Q: What does the Pink Panther say when he steps on an ant?
    A: Dead ant . . . dead ant . . . dead ant, dead ant, dead ant . . .
    Tune: Pink Panther Theme

Are there any more like these?

Sadly, to get either of these requires knowledge of baby-boom-era popular culture, and early baby-boom-era at that. When the last boomers are gone, these jokes will be preserved in the Internet Museum; but they'll never be told in the wild again.


9 comments:

ampersand said...

Somewhere, somehow, someone is offended.

Trooper York said...

Here's joke that will never be told again.

What is the definition of renig?

When the shift changes at the car wash.

Trooper York said...

But that is because only Mexicans work at the car wash now Just sayn'

ndspinelli said...

I saw this PC horseshit coming in the 70's. Phil Donahue did a show on humor and how it should not offend. He told us if told an offensive joke, we were not to laugh. That was the 1st shot fired in my world.

Mumpsimus said...

"Dead baby" jokes were big with the kids when I was in Grade School. That would likely carry jail time now.

edutcher said...

World War III joke

Knock, knock.

Who's there?

ndspinelli said...

Phil Donahue did a show on humor and how it should not offend

Donahue's so hen-pecked he married a woman who couldn't have a career unless Daddy bought it.

ampersand said...

Donahue was the asshole who convinced millions of common housewives that they were put upon drudges and needed liberation. In the 70's I worked with this crazy hillbilly who missed a few days of work. When he finally showed up he told us his wife, a housewife, woke up liberated one morning and refused to get up and make his breakfast or do other chores. He told her "Fine! I'm liberated too." and refused to go to work. She gave up two days later.

MamaM said...

I recall the auditory punch lines of both jokes, but don't know of any more like them.

The WW3 knock left me standing in silence on the stoop for a second, and the carwash thing, whatever that was, left me wondering about the long reach of the nun's ruler one more time.

Just because one can fart at the communion rail, doesn't mean it's a good idea to do so.

deborah said...

Guess what?