What Is The Funniest Joke Ever Told?
Transcript
00:00What is the funniest joke ever told?
00:02Considering all of the diversity associated with humor, the funniest joke you've ever heard is likely very different from the funniest joke ever told.
00:11There have been numerous attempts over the years to quantify which joke is funniest, but these studies seem to split along culture, gender, and age lines.
00:20Some find physical humor to be superior, while others enjoy clever wordplay or sexual innuendo.
00:27The funniest joke ever told to a 7-year-old boy may mean nothing to an 80-year-old woman, for example, which makes defining a universally accepted joke much more difficult.
00:37The British comedy troupe Monty Python once performed a sketch entitled The Funniest Joke in the World that beautifully illustrates the difficulty in seeking this joke.
00:48The premise of the sketch was the invention of a joke so hilarious that anyone who heard it immediately died from laughter.
00:55When news of this killer joke reached the British military, they ordered it translated into German for use as a battlefield weapon.
01:04Far from being the funniest joke, however, the actual joke is a nonsensical piece of fractured German.
01:11Wenn ist das Nunstück Gitt und Slotermeyer? Ja, beiher hundt das Oder die Flipperwald gersput.
01:18A very literal English translation.
01:21When is the now piece Gitt and Slotermeyer? Yes, by your dog, that, or the pinball would, gersput.
01:30A more recent effort to quantify the funniest joke ever told revealed many differences along cultural, age, and gender lines.
01:38Men tended to enjoy more aggressive jokes, along with the so-called dirty joke, featuring sexual or scatological references.
01:47Women believed the funniest joke involved clever wordplay or puns.
01:52Children tended to enjoy riddles or obvious physical humor.
01:55According to the researchers, all of the test subjects recognized the humor in the following joke, enough to lead the researchers to conclude that this is the funniest joke ever told.
02:06A couple of New Jersey hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls to the ground.
02:11He doesn't seem to be breathing. His eyes are rolled back in his head.
02:16The other guy whips out his cell phone and calls the emergency services.
02:20He gasps to the operator.
02:22My friend is dead. What can I do?
02:25The operator, in a calm, soothing voice, says,
02:28Just take it easy. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead.
02:33There is a silence, then a shot is heard.
02:36The guy's voice comes back on the line. He says,
02:40Okay, now what?
02:42This may or may not be the funniest joke ever told, but it did appeal to almost every group involved in the study.
02:49It could be argued that a joke benefits from the delivery as much as from the words themselves.
02:55A skilled comic could elicit more laughs from a less-than-stellar joke than the average person could.
03:02An individual's sense of humor is often shaped by unique life experiences and personality,
03:07so there will always be a subjective element when choosing the funniest joke.
03:12For more clear, concise answers to common and not-so-common questions,
03:16visit the Conjecture Corporation website.