# Do you think this (dead baby) joke is funny? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 16, 2009, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-dead-baby-joke-is-funny/481663 "2009-01-16T21:55:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-dead-baby-joke-is-funny/481663/21 "2009-01-17T00:14:11Z")
I think a set-up along the line of, “Did you hear about the dead baby who \ because he was a little stiff?” would have worked better. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-dead-baby-joke-is-funny/481663/22 "2009-01-17T00:39:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > …the baby’s just lying there, er, being dead, I laughed harder at that phrase than at the joke. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-dead-baby-joke-is-funny/481663/23 "2009-01-17T01:15:02Z")
I think I’m the only person on these boards who doesn’t find puns amusing. That one didn’t work for me, either. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-dead-baby-joke-is-funny/481663/24 "2009-01-17T01:46:36Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > The offensiveness is unrelated to the funniness. Jokes can be funny and still be offensive. People who tell offensive jokes should accept that they’re going to offend people. People who trot out the “it’s just a joke!” line are trying to argue that the offended parties shouldn’t be offended. Don’t argue - just read your audience and tell a different joke. Hopefully, a funnier joke. Most people do have a higher tolerance for offensive jokes provided they’re worth the pay-off. Quite so. Offensive jokes can sometimes be the funniest because the point is to get the audience focused on the offensive part so that the actual humor can sneak up and actually be a surprise, making the punchline unexpected usually garners bigger laughs. Offence is a technique, not a payoff unless you’re in the company of hardcore joke tellers, hence the sublime beauty of a film like The Aristocrats. Funny is easy once you learn timing and a bit of a arsenal of punchlines, but to be truly tasteless is an artform. This is why I can laugh at someone like Doug Stanhope, who’s really just crude and filthy. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-dead-baby-joke-is-funny/481663/25 "2009-01-17T01:48:40Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > Dead Babies aren’t actually funny in and of themselves. Sexy, sure, but not funny. You got me. I didn’t see it coming. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-dead-baby-joke-is-funny/481663/26 "2009-01-17T02:37:51Z")
Not funny. > [@SiXSwordS](#): > > too unrealistic or non-sensical? > [@SiXSwordS](#): > > Bonus question: If you heard this joke and commented that you didn’t like it, what would your response be if the teller said, “It’s just a joke.”? Oh whew! I was hoping dead babies didn’t do all that stuff. Then I would think to myself (but not say) that the teller needs to get a life. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-dead-baby-joke-is-funny/481663/27 "2009-01-17T02:38:27Z")
> [@](#): > > A man walks into a bar with a dead baby slung over his shoulder. The bartender looks at him and says “” the man relpys “Oh him? No problem at all, he’s just a little stiff.” See, that doesn’t work for me. The OP was able to play off two different meanings of “a little stiff” with both being applicable to the dead baby’s situation. You lost that dual meaning in your version. And I have no problem with the idea of a dead baby walking into the bar. It’s a convention of the joke - we accept the idea that grasshoppers or kangaroos or horses walk into bars and order drinks for the sake of setting up the joke. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-dead-baby-joke-is-funny/481663/28 "2009-01-17T02:42:26Z")
> [@](#): > > If you heard this joke and commented that you didn’t like it, what would your response be if the teller said, “It’s just a joke.”? “No, if it was a joke it would have been funny. This was something else.” ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-dead-baby-joke-is-funny/481663/29 "2009-01-17T02:50:56Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > “No, if it was a joke it would have been funny. This was something else.” 😃 I like that. Definitely funnier than the “joke”. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-dead-baby-joke-is-funny/481663/30 "2009-01-17T03:44:27Z")
That’s funny as hell. Good setup for a good pun. ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-dead-baby-joke-is-funny/481663/31 "2009-01-17T03:54:27Z")
I vote funny…by reason of a hell of a lot of vodka. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-dead-baby-joke-is-funny/481663/32 "2009-01-17T04:04:10Z")
It would work better if it was something like: Two doctors are looking at a dead baby in the ER. One says, ‘Has rigor mortis set in?’ The other replies, ‘He’s a little stiff.’ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-dead-baby-joke-is-funny/481663/33 "2009-01-17T06:11:19Z")
> [@SiXSwordS](#): > > Not destined to be a classic, but, do you find it amusing? Oh yes. But the bartender needs to say “You okay, Mac?” > [@](#): > > Is is poorly written or related clumsily? Not at all. Three ‘owies’ is just right. > [@](#): > > Is it in poor taste? Well, it is a dead baby joke. > [@](#): > > Is it too unrealistic or non-sensical? It’s got a talking dead baby in it. > [@](#): > > Would it matter where or from whom you heard the joke? Not especially. I’d be a little surprised to hear it from my grandmother, I suppose. > [@](#): > > Bonus question: If you heard this joke and commented that you didn’t like it, what would your response be if the teller said, “It’s just a joke.”? “Yeah, well.” ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-dead-baby-joke-is-funny/481663/34 "2009-01-17T06:15:26Z")
Didn’t do anything for me. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-dead-baby-joke-is-funny/481663/35 "2009-01-17T07:00:33Z")
I didn’t find it funny. It took too long to get to the punchline, and it was predictable- so you don’t really get that dark humor out of it. :shrug: I liked Knead’s joke though, quick and to the point always works better for Dead Baby humor rather than dragging it out for the audience. ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-dead-baby-joke-is-funny/481663/36 "2009-01-17T07:04:29Z")
I think knowing your audience is essential. ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-dead-baby-joke-is-funny/481663/37 "2009-01-17T09:19:51Z")
> [@SiXSwordS](#): > > I’m interested to see if others do or do not find this joke amusing. If anyone cares to know why I’m interested I can try to answer that question, but otherwise I’d like to hear YHOs. > > Not destined to be a classic, but, do you find it amusing? Yes. I giggled, briefly but aloud, when I got to the punchline. It wasn’t what I expected; most DBJs, (which I usually do find pretty funny, as my sense of humor leans heavily toward the cruel and morbid side) are simpler and a lot grosser. This one has a kind of surreal _je ne sais quois_ to it that appeals to the more intellectual end of my funnybone; and as for the howler at the end – well, an atrocious pun is always, _always_ its own reward. > [@](#): > > Do you like jokes of this type, but just not this one? What type do you mean – DBJ or whatever you call the kind that conclude with Mr, Peabodyesque pun-ctuation ? Because, like I said, I’m quite capable of laughing at either sort. > [@](#): > > Is is poorly written or related clumsily? Not annoyingly so, IMNAAHO, no. > [@](#): > > Is it in poor taste? Yes indeed. > [@](#): > > Is it too unrealistic or non-sensical? Those things are not usually considered detrimental to a joke – how many other jokes have a storyline that’s even remotely plausible, after all? > [@](#): > > Would it matter where or from whom you heard the joke? Not really, no. DLux, aka The Mean 13 PS: Why do babies have that soft spot on thier heads? So you can carry ten of 'em at a time! (Now _that’s_ a classic DBJ!) ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-dead-baby-joke-is-funny/481663/38 "2009-01-17T11:30:07Z")
Thanks for all the responses. We’re all in agreement that it is properly a _slew_ of DBJs then? One of the most interesting things about this is that I feel compelled to tighten up the joke. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-dead-baby-joke-is-funny/481663/39 "2009-01-17T12:13:00Z")
Two comments: The baby walked into the bar then crawled across the floor?? I agree with the opinions that puns can be great jokes but generally won’t support a long set-up. Generally they need to be at most a two-line to be effective. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-dead-baby-joke-is-funny/481663/40 "2009-01-17T14:21:35Z")
Without going into an analysis, I’ll just say it made me laugh. I was actually prepared not to like it but it took me by surprise. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-dead-baby-joke-is-funny/481663.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-dead-baby-joke-is-funny/481663.md?page=3)