# Did anybody ever really laugh at these? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comedian-jokes\ **Created:** [April 19, 2024, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-ever-really-laugh-at-these/1000511 "2024-04-19T17:33:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2024, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-ever-really-laugh-at-these/1000511/121 "2024-04-22T23:15:47Z")
Possibly the most tasteless joke ever was told by a comedian (sorry, I don’t remember which) on British TV: “You know, I lost an uncle at Auschwitz.” [_Gasps and moans of sympathy from the audience. Then:_] “The dumb arse got drunk and fell out of a guard tower.” ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2024, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-ever-really-laugh-at-these/1000511/122 "2024-04-22T23:17:39Z")
I can never understand women. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2024, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-ever-really-laugh-at-these/1000511/123 "2024-04-22T23:30:55Z")
I was at a Rodney Dangerfield show once. He was killing it, rapid fire. Then at one point he said, “It’s not easy being me…”. To which I yelled out, “How not easy is it?” He stopped, flummoxed, and the audience roared. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2024, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-ever-really-laugh-at-these/1000511/124 "2024-04-22T23:34:25Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > “Hey, Moose! Rocco! Come help the judge find his checkbook!” That’s one of my favorite lines in _any_ movie. Until he said that, Rodney seemed a harmless, lovable buffoon. But we’re quickly reminded that you don’t stiff a Chicago real estate developer. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2024, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-ever-really-laugh-at-these/1000511/125 "2024-04-22T23:52:46Z")
Speaking of old Vaudeville jokes: "Tragedy is ME stubbing my toe, comedy is YOU falling into an open sewer and dying." ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2024, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-ever-really-laugh-at-these/1000511/126 "2024-04-22T23:55:37Z")
What’s worse than biting into an apple and seeing half a worm? The Holocaust ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-ever-really-laugh-at-these/1000511/127 "2024-04-23T00:09:05Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I play poker with guys who are even older than I am, and this one guy’s taste in humor is _so_ bad… > _“How bad IS it?”_ I’ve seen varioius histories and retrospectives of different game shows, but has anyone gone through the archives to find when that started on Match Game? > [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > But we’re quickly reminded that you don’t stiff a Chicago real estate developer. Was he from Chicago? I don’t know where _Caddyshack_ was set (shot in Florida, I think), but I remember references to Al Czervik’s real estate developments being nearby. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-ever-really-laugh-at-these/1000511/128 "2024-04-23T00:16:38Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Was he from Chicago? I don’t know where _Caddyshack_ was set (shot in Florida, I think), but I remember references to Al Czervik’s real estate developments being nearby. Now that you mention it, there is no explicit location mentioned. I always thought it was set in suburban Chicago, possibly because Ramis and Bill Murry were from there. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-ever-really-laugh-at-these/1000511/129 "2024-04-23T00:31:37Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > Now that you mention it, there is no explicit location mentioned. Based on the scene at the marina, it’s near some large body of water. Doesn’t look like Lake Michigan to me, but I don’t know the Chicago waterfront very well. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-ever-really-laugh-at-these/1000511/130 "2024-04-23T00:44:11Z")
I think it was first used in the 1970s iteration of the show, probably '73, when it started getting raunchy. I don’t remember hearing it in the '60s. Of course, Carson had been using it for years as a setup: “It was _really cold_ today.” “How cold _was_ it?” “It was _so cold_ people were jumping _into_ burning buildings” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-ever-really-laugh-at-these/1000511/131 "2024-04-23T01:29:04Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Of course, Carson had been using it for years as a setup Yes, I associate it with Carson, though that doesn’t mean he’s the only or even the first to do it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-ever-really-laugh-at-these/1000511/132 "2024-04-23T01:39:41Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I associate it with Carson, though that doesn’t mean he’s the only or even the first to do it. I try to imply it whenever someone tells me a Polish joke — in that I chuckle amiably before asking, in a just-between-us tone, hey, did I ever tell you about the smartest Polish woman I ever met? _“Heh, no,”_ is usually the expectant reply. _“Well, she’s a lot smarter than me,”_ I explain. This has never once gotten a laugh from the person I’m talking to, but tends to get a pretty good response from bystanders. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-ever-really-laugh-at-these/1000511/133 "2024-04-23T03:49:53Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Everybody quotes _Airplane!_ > > How many people quote _Airplane II: The Sequel_? My favorite bit is from _Airplane II_ [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MabLtuTpDw8/hqdefault.jpg "Airplane II: Everything that's happened up 'til now") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MabLtuTpDw8) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-ever-really-laugh-at-these/1000511/134 "2024-04-23T05:11:17Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > I’ve never seen Bob Hope be funny I read his books, and they made me chuckle. > [@Quondam\_Mechanic](#): > > many of Danny Kaye’s movies, Danny Kaye didnt do topical, his comedy is timeless. Bob Hope did very topical. I tried to watch re-runs of Laugh In. They werent funny to me today- too topical. > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I don’t believe anyone has. I watched som Bob Hope comedy Specials, plus some clicks from his USO shows. His jokes at the USO show were mostly “you gotta be there”. OTOH, his Road films with Bing are hilarious. You havent seen any? > [@bob\_2](#): > > As a Brit, I mostly remember Bob Hope from the “Road To” movies which were often on TV. > > I don’t remember them as funny at all, but I did like Hedy Lamar. I thought they were funny, but not when they tried too hard. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Bob Hope’s stand-up comedy was of a kind that is very much out of fashion nowadays. It’s definitely not the storytelling or relatable observational humor of more modern comics. It’s rapid-fire topical jokes of the sort that go stale very quickly. Yep. Too topical to be funny today. But they were funny _then_, really. GIs said his USO shows were great. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Hope was among the first in the 40s to do programs for troops, first at home and then around the world. And for that he should be remembered. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > How many people quote _Airplane II: The Sequel_? It had only one funny bit I remember- saying “shsst” to the doors to make them open- instead of the doors going shsst when they opened. > [@Quondam\_Mechanic](#): > > And why were Mel Brooks’ _Young Frankenstein_ and _Burning Saddles_ so much better than his _Spaceballs_, or _Men In Tights_? Spaceballs was horrible. Men in Tights had a few good lines " _Because, unlike some other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent._" oohh _snap_! > [@wolfpup](#): > > If I ever gave any thought to Bob Hope at all, I never really thought of him as an asshole, although his political views should have been a clue. Today his political views would almost be Liberal. > **[How Woke Bob Hope Got Canceled by the Right](https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/how-woke-bob-hope-got-cancelled-by-the-right/)** > > The conservative comedian spoke out for gay rights and gun control, and got boycotted and ostracized by friends on the right, including Ronald Reagan. _The conservative comedian spoke out for gay rights and gun control, and got boycotted and ostracized by friends on the right, including Ronald Reagan._…_After a few months of this, the religious right boycotted him. “The Associated Press reported that comedian Bob Hope had been asked by Texaco to stop making jokes about me and ‘gay’ liberation,”… Hope didn’t mention his daughter, but he emphasized his firm support of gay rights. “We’re all entitled to our own sexual habits,” he said._ _\> I believe what these people do behind closed doors is their business…. Most of us today are aware of Anita Bryant’s stand on homosexuals…. I still think jobs should be based on talent, not whether a person is homosexual or heterosexual._ ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-ever-really-laugh-at-these/1000511/135 "2024-04-23T05:16:35Z")
I found out that “Laugh-In” was airing a few years ago on one of the nostalgia channels. I Tivo’ed an episode, and shut it off before the first commercial because I just found it incredibly boring. I don’t find Fatty Arbuckle’s brand of “humor”, which mainly consisted of falling down in a certain manner, funny either, not in itself. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-ever-really-laugh-at-these/1000511/136 "2024-04-23T05:17:38Z")
Someone else who thought “Spaceballs” wasn’t funny either! The concept’s great. The execution, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-ever-really-laugh-at-these/1000511/137 "2024-04-23T05:27:39Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Spaceballs was horrible. Men in Tights had a few good lines " _Because, unlike some other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent._" oohh _snap_! Also, Robin Hood explaining to the Sheriff of Nottingham that he had been away, fighting the Crusades with Richard III in the Holy Land. _“My father couldn’t get me into the National Guard”._ ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-ever-really-laugh-at-these/1000511/138 "2024-04-23T09:51:28Z")
My favorite Stooge bit was when they were down and out, and Moe points out to Curly a “Help Wanted” sign. Curly: “I ain’t smokin’!” ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-ever-really-laugh-at-these/1000511/139 "2024-04-23T10:33:49Z")
In one of the episodes where the Stooges were in the Old West, there was a wanted poster: Wanted for Vagrancy Reward: 50 Cents Each Three for a Dollar ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-ever-really-laugh-at-these/1000511/140 "2024-04-23T11:52:11Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@Quondam\_Mechanic](#): > > > > And why were Mel Brooks’ _Young Frankenstein_ and _Burning Saddles_ so much better than his _Spaceballs_, or _Men In Tights_? > > Spaceballs was horrible. Men in Tights had a few good lines _Spaceballs_ and _Men In Tights_ are parodies, and they’re all about the jokes. IMHO some of the jokes are good ones, and some are bad in an enjoyable way. But different people have different senses of humor, and if you don’t find them funny, there’s not much reason otherwise to watch the movies. _Blazing Saddles_, by contrast, is _about_ something. It and _Young Frankenstein_ (which is as much a Gene Wilder film as a Mel Brooks one) have storylines that are more than just an excuse for jokes, and have interesting performances and filmmaking. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-ever-really-laugh-at-these/1000511.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-ever-really-laugh-at-these/1000511.md?page=8)