# Absurdist jokes **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 10, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absurdist-jokes/627759 "2012-07-10T03:25:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Othersider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/cab0a1/32.png) [@Othersider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Othersider)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absurdist-jokes/627759/21 "2012-07-10T22:43:58Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Scout camp in the 60’s… no, that’s not a joke, this is a story about a joke. > The camp director was fairly humor-impaired, and was late for dinner the first night. So one of the staff came up with an idea, that people take turns during the week telling lonnnng, involvvvved jokes that took most of the dinner hour. The punch line would be absurd, but everyone would laugh themselves silly except the director. > > It worked! In fact, I could recite one right now: > > Two rabbits are separated at birth as their ice floe breaks in pieces (Oh, they were arctic bunnies, you see), and their mother shouts after them to never forget… > _[ten minutes of impromptu plot follows]_ > …and with his dying breath the ancient rabbit says… “Lightbulb!” > > _[cue hilarious laughter, and a food fight]_ [and, cue director looking puzzled] Awesome. Added to my list of “Things to do if I ever get a chance”. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absurdist-jokes/627759/22 "2012-07-10T23:27:24Z")
My niece is a big fan of this one. **Enginerd:** Ask me if I’m a tugboat. **Niece:** OK, are you a tugboat? **E:** Yep. Now ask me if I’m a helicopter. **N:** OK. Are you a helicopter? **E:** No silly, I’m a tugboat! Oh yeah, she’s 3 years old. Should have mentioned that earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absurdist-jokes/627759/23 "2012-07-10T23:30:39Z")
[Why is a raven like a writing desk?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1173/why-is-a-raven-like-a-writing-desk) ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absurdist-jokes/627759/24 "2012-07-11T00:00:33Z")
Question: If you have a bowling ball in one hand, and a ladder in the other, how many pancakes does it take to cover the roof of a doghouse? Answer: None, because cats can’t ride bicycles. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absurdist-jokes/627759/25 "2012-07-11T00:10:51Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Scout camp in the 60’s… no, that’s not a joke, this is a story about a joke. > The camp director was fairly humor-impaired, and was late for dinner the first night. So one of the staff came up with an idea, that people take turns during the week telling lonnnng, involvvvved jokes that took most of the dinner hour. The punch line would be absurd, but everyone would laugh themselves silly except the director. > > It worked! In fact, I could recite one right now: > > Two rabbits are separated at birth as their ice floe breaks in pieces (Oh, they were arctic bunnies, you see), and their mother shouts after them to never forget… > _[ten minutes of impromptu plot follows]_ > …and with his dying breath the ancient rabbit says… “Lightbulb!” > > _[cue hilarious laughter, and a food fight]_ [and, cue director looking puzzled] My friend’s version involved getting the other girls in the bunk to chant Moo Moo Moo Moo Moo Then they went silent, just as their victim tried to join them in with a shouted moo! ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absurdist-jokes/627759/26 "2012-07-11T06:46:42Z")
– ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absurdist-jokes/627759/27 "2012-07-11T10:04:46Z")
This is not a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absurdist-jokes/627759/28 "2012-07-11T12:26:57Z")
What’s got six legs, and if it fell out of a tree, would kill you? A pool table. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absurdist-jokes/627759/29 "2012-07-11T12:32:38Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > Q. Why is an elephant like an eggplant? > A. They’re both purple, except for the elephant. Later in the same session, roll out this one: What did Tarzan say when he saw elephants coming over the hill? Here come the eggplants! (He was colour-blind) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absurdist-jokes/627759/30 "2012-07-11T12:33:50Z")
What’s white, with yellow and red checked trousers? Rupert the Fridge ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absurdist-jokes/627759/31 "2012-07-11T14:18:10Z")
Absurdism is where characters and events are realistic but devoid of meaning or pointless, whereas may of the jokes up above are nonsense jokes assembled from random words. I don’t get how the OP’s joke is absurdist. If you find _Waiting For Godot_ humorous then there’s your classic absurdist joke. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absurdist-jokes/627759/32 "2012-07-11T14:57:33Z")
Here’s one that somebody posted in a similar thread about a year ago: A man is at his doctor’s office because of some pain he’s been having. He waves his arm back and forth and says, “Doctor, it hurts when I move my arm like this.” The doctor tells him, “you have bone cancer.” ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absurdist-jokes/627759/33 "2012-07-11T15:14:31Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I don’t get how the OP’s joke is absurdist. I don’t get your joke. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absurdist-jokes/627759/34 "2012-07-11T15:31:03Z")
> [@Wolverine](#): > > Why is a mouse when it spins? > > The higher the fewer. > > This is a real joke. It was my grandpa’s favorite joke and BG (before Google) I thought he made it up to mess with people. But lo and behold,[other people have heard it too.](http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=125315). Any absurdist will tell you the real punchline is the farther it goes, the much. I mean, really. ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absurdist-jokes/627759/35 "2012-07-11T16:10:34Z")
“What is a lemon wearing a cape?” Answer: “Super-lemon”. (Later on) – “What is a tomato wearing a cape?” (wait for the mark to answer: “Super-tomato”). Answer: “No, silly. It is a tomato disguised as Super-lemon!” ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absurdist-jokes/627759/36 "2012-07-11T16:19:59Z")
My all-time favorite joke is: Q: Ask me if I’m a duck. A: Are you a duck? Q: _(incredulously)_ No! Second favorite joke, and favorite elephant joke: Q: Why are elephants big, grey, and wrinkled? A: Because if they were small, white, and smooth, they’d be aspirin. ---
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absurdist-jokes/627759/37 "2012-07-11T17:05:38Z")
A horse walks into a bar, and the bartender asks, “Why the long face?” Not able to speak or understand English, the horse is startled. It dashes towards the door and knocks over two tables on the way out. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absurdist-jokes/627759/38 "2012-07-11T17:44:34Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Absurdism is where characters and events are realistic but devoid of meaning or pointless, whereas may of the jokes up above are nonsense jokes assembled from random words. I don’t get how the OP’s joke is absurdist. If you find _Waiting For Godot_ humorous then there’s your classic absurdist joke. A lot of these jokes are examples of “meta-jokes”, where the humor lies in the fact that the joke confounds the expectations people have about jokes (mainly, that they should end with a funny punch line). The OP’s joke is an example of this in that a random name is substituted for the name that would make the punch line funny. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absurdist-jokes/627759/39 "2012-07-11T19:29:28Z")
You know what’s sad about a Mercedes full of German engineers exploding? My dad was in that car. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absurdist-jokes/627759/40 "2012-07-11T19:35:28Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > How do you get down from a duck? > > It’s easy. A duck not as tall as a tree. Why a duck? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absurdist-jokes/627759.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absurdist-jokes/627759.md?page=3)