April 17th, 2006 | 
Author: Someone once said that only 7 jokes exist, and they’ve all been told. Therefore, every comedian is simply retelling an old joke.
I found this list somewhere (I don’t remember), and I tried to come up with an example for each one:
1. Absurdity – Nonsense, randomness, silliness. Most of Adult Swim, for instance.
Q: How many surrealists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Vibrating Norwegian horse box full of sea-cucumbers
2. Allusion – A reference to something that it is assumed the audience will understand–likely in a different context. MST3K and Family Guy constantly reference (obscure) pop culture.
“Well,” said the Lieutenant, who had listened with amused interest to all this, and now waxing merry with his tipple; “Well, blessed are the peacemakers, especially the fighting peacemakers!”
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Tags: entertainment
8. Shocking – Oh, the humanity! Oh, the fun!
“The best thing about kidnapped little girls is the sound of their screams.”
-Jonny
*Rimshot!*
I would almost think that falls under exaggeration, but I can never really be sure about you…
9. Conceptual
Q: What’s your favorite paradoxical question?
A: What’s your favorite paradoxical question?
10. Yakob Smirnoff jokes:
In Soviet Russia, blog writes you!
My dad had a coronary last week!
Why that’s terrible!
Well it was for the passengers on his bus!
Boom boom!
So where does that fit in the seven joke types then? I ask as these what I call myself – “And then he got off the bus” gags are very common and popular with stand-up comedians. And I’m doing some comic writing, so it would be nice to understand.
If anyone knows an answer, jasonrmudge@aol.com, I’d appreciate it.
It sounds like maybe faulty reasoning, but in this case the humor is that a key fact is left out until the last minute.