what sort of jokes do we laugh at?

04.03.03, 22:16

THE WINNING JOKE


After much careful scrutiny, we are proud to announce our winning joke. This
joke received higher ratings than any other gag.

Drum roll…..

A couple of New Jersey hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls to
the ground. He doesn't seem to be breathing, his eyes are rolled back in his
head. The other guy whips out his cell phone and calls the emergency
services. He gasps to the operator: “My friend is dead! What can I do?” The
operator, in a calm soothing voice says: “Just take it easy. I can help.
First, let's make sure he's dead.” There is a silence, then a shot is heard.
The guy's voice comes back on the line. He says: “OK, now what?"

This winning joke was submitted by Gurpal Gosall, a 31 year old psychiatrist
from Manchester in the UK. He told LaughLab that:

"I like the joke as it makes people feel better, because it reminds them that
there is always someone out there who is doing something more stupid than
themselves."

?So why did the hunters joke perform so well? Dr
Richard Wiseman, the psychologist behind the LaughLab project, said:

"This joke is interesting because it works across many different countries,
appeals to men and women, and young and old alike. Many of the jokes
submitted received higher ratings from certain groups of people, but this one
had real universal appeal. Also, we find jokes funny for lots of different
reasons – they sometimes make us feel superior to others, reduce the
emotional impact of anxiety-provoking events, or surprise us because of some
kind of incongruity. The hunters joke contains all three elements – we feel
superior to the stupid hunter, realise the incongruity of him
misunderstanding the operator and the joke helps us to laugh about our
concerns about our own mortality."


    • butter_fly Re: what sort of jokes do we laugh at? 04.03.03, 22:21

      LEAGUE TABLE OF HUMOUR

      We asked everyone participating in LaughLab to tell us which country they were
      from. We analysed the data from the ten countries that rated the highest number
      of jokes. The following ‘league table’ lists the countries, in the order of how
      funny they found the jokes:

      Most funny

      Germany
      France
      Denmark
      UK
      Australia
      The Republic of Ireland
      Belgium
      USA
      New Zealand
      Canada

      Least funny

      Fascinating differences also emerged between nations in terms of the jokes they
      found funny. People from The Republic of Ireland, the UK, Australia and New
      Zealand expressed a strong preference for jokes involving word plays, such as:

      Patient: “Doctor, I've got a strawberry stuck up my bum.”
      Doctor: “I've got some cream for that.

      Americans and Canadians much preferred gags where there was a sense of
      superiority – either because a person looked stupid, or was made to look stupid
      by another person, such as:

      Texan: “Where are you from?”
      Harvard grad: “I come from a place where we do not end our sentences with
      prepositions.”
      Texan: “Okay – where are you from, jackass?”

      Finally, many European countries, such as France, Denmark and Belgium, liked
      jokes that were somewhat surreal, such as:

      An Alsatian went to a telegram office, took out a blank form and wrote:
      “Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof.”
      The clerk examined the paper and politely told the dog: “There are only nine
      words here. You could send another ‘Woof’ for the same price.”
      “But,” the dog replied, “that would make no sense at all.”

      These European countries also enjoyed jokes that involved making light of
      topics that often make us feel anxious, such as death, illness, and marriage.
      For example:

      A patient says: “Doctor, last night I made a Freudian slip, I was having dinner
      with my mother-in-law and wanted to say: “Could you please pass the butter.”
      But instead I said: “You silly cow, you have completely ruined my life”.”

      Interestingly, Germany was the exception. Germans did not express a strong
      preference for any type of joke - this may well explain why they came first in
      our league table of funniness – they do not have any strong preferences and so
      tend to find a wide spectrum of jokes funny.

      Dr Richard Wiseman commented ‘These results are really interesting – it
      suggests that people from different parts of the world have fundamentally
      different senses of humour. Humour is vital to communication and the more we
      understand about how people’s culture and background affect their sense of
      humour, the more we will be able to communicate effectively’.


      • Gość: awalk Re: what sort of jokes do we laugh at? IP: *.warszawa.sdi.tpnet.pl 05.03.03, 13:33
        All this serious scientific research to find such predictable answer. Sense of
        humour is also affected by age, inteligence, education, gender, health,
        welfare, mood, occupation to name a few. There are also people who have no
        sense of humour regardless their geographical location. They are generally
        refered to as assholes in the English speaking world and quite predictably this
        name also changes with latitude and longtitude.

        A Chinese buys a VCR in a shop. Half an hour later he calls the shop and says:
        twelve o'clock, twelve o'clock, twelve o'clock, twelve o'clock.....

        Two men argue in the street about the correct way of pronouncing Hawaii. One
        says Hawaii the other insists it is Havaii. For some time they can't come to
        agreement. At last one of them says: "lets ask a passerby"
        "ok" the other agrees.
        They ask the first man coming by. "Of course it is Havaii" the man says.
        "Thank you" they say
        "You are velcome" answers the man
        • butter_fly Re: what sort of jokes do we laugh at? 05.03.03, 14:01
          Gość portalu: awalk napisał(a):

          > All this serious scientific research to find such predictable answer. Sense
          of
          > humour is also affected by age, inteligence, education, gender, health,
          > welfare, mood, occupation to name a few. There are also people who have no
          > sense of humour regardless their geographical location. They are generally
          > refered to as assholes in the English speaking world and quite predictably
          this
          >
          > name also changes with latitude and longtitude.


          Yes, there is much more of this scientific research done (I didn't want to bore
          you to death). I just thought that the winning joke was... at least not
          deserving the first place. Didn't YOU find it awkaward? Then you got a reason
          for it to win too. Would you like to get the joke that got the second place?
          >
          • butter_fly Re: what sort of jokes do we laugh at? 05.03.03, 14:22
            SECOND PLACE

            In second place came the joke that was leading the pack when we announced our
            preliminary results in December:

            Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson go on a camping trip. After a good dinner and a
            bottle of wine, they retire for the night, and go to sleep.
            Some hours later, Holmes wakes up and nudges his faithful friend. "Watson, look
            up at the sky and tell me what you see."
            "I see millions and millions of stars, Holmes" replies Watson.
            "And what do you deduce from that?"
            Watson ponders for a minute.
            "Well, astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and
            potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in
            Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past
            three. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.
            Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful, and that we are a small and
            insignificant part of the universe. What does it tell you, Holmes?"
            Holmes is silent for a moment. "Watson, you idiot!" he says. "Someone has
            stolen our tent!"

            This joke was submtted by Geoff Anandappa, from Blackpool in Britain. We
            recently told Geoff that his joke had been piped to the post by the hunters
            joke – here is his reaction:

            "I can't believe I got knocked out in the final round! I could've been a
            contender... I want a re-match, and I warn you, this time I'm going to fight
            dirty! Did you hear the one about the actress and the bishop?"


          • Gość: awalk Re: what sort of jokes do we laugh at? IP: *.warszawa.sdi.tpnet.pl 05.03.03, 16:11
            > I just thought that the winning joke was... at least not
            > deserving the first place. Didn't YOU find it awkaward? Then you got a reason
            > for it to win too.

            Well to me it is obvious that the people who conducted the survey are not good at math and particularly statistics, that is why they are so surprised with the result. The rules were: the joke supported by the majority of voters wins. With the impeccable logic then, considering the vast variety of the voters and their individual taste, the obvious winner from the start was not the funniest or the least funny joke but the most average one in every respect. In other words the winning joke is the funniest for an average voter of the survey in question. The only problem is, there is no such a thing as an average voter. Everybody's different and they have forgot about it. That explains why you think the winning joke is not so funny. You are not "an average voter" of the survey and nobody is. :)
            • Gość: wacko jacko Re: what sort of jokes do we laugh at? IP: *.nyc.rr.com 05.03.03, 17:14
              The joke has to have a punch line.

              "A 10 years old Indian boy wants to see the great chief of the tribe.
              After weeks of begging, finally he is brought into the chief's tippi.
              -What brings you here?- asks the chief.
              -It is the tradition in our tribe that you choose the names for all the
              children of our tribe. I'd like to know what inspires you? - says the boy
              - You see, when child is born I come outside and see the nature. If I see
              flying eagle I name the child "Flying Eagle", if I see galloping horse I name
              the kid "Galloping Horse". That's all. - says the chief and then he continues
              - You seem to be very smart for your age. What is your name?
              - Two Dogs Fucking. "

    • Gość: kidslayer d'ya like stupid ones? IP: *.poleczki.dialup.inetia.pl 06.03.03, 01:21
      what d'ya call 2 lesbos in a canoe?
      ...
      fur traders :)


      what d'ya cal a lesbo dinasour?
      ...
      lick-a-lot-a-puss :)

      what's the difference between a dog and a fox?
      ...
      about 4 glasses of whiskey :)


      • glory Soldiers get compensated. 06.03.03, 12:01
        Upon returning from Afganistan, General Thompson calls his three top SAS men
        to his office. " Gentleman I want to know your efforts were appreciated", the
        General begins. " So the top brass has decided to let each of you choose two
        parts of your body to be measured, then be given $100 for each inch between
        those points. Fair? " The men nod- before the first, a Commando, steps up.
        "Sir!" he shouts, "I choose the tip of me head to me toes, Sir!"
        Nodding, the General pulls out his tape measure. "Very good", he
        barks. "That's 70 inches...which comes to $7,000".
        A sniper is next up. "SIR! I'm going for the trip of one hand to the other,
        sir" he shouts.
        "Even better", replies the General, measuring his outstretched arms. "That's
        72 inches, or $7,200".
        Finnaly, the explosives expert steps forward, looking sheepish. "Sir!" he
        shouts, I'll go for the tip of my dick to my balls, sir!"
        The General frowns. "That's a strange request, soldier", he mutters, "but
        quickly stands up again. " My God, soldier", he cries, "Where are your balls?"
        The soldier smiles.
        "Afganistan, sir".

        And very quick one now- dedicated to our female readers:
        Smile. It's the second- best thing you can do with your lips.
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