# How obvious (or not) is this visual joke? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 7, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-obvious-or-not-is-this-visual-joke/624342 "2012-06-07T01:30:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chef\_Troy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-obvious-or-not-is-this-visual-joke/624342/1 "2012-06-07T01:30:01Z")
I want to share with you guys an excerpt from a script for a short film that I’m working on to see if a joke in it works for you or not. The tl;dr of the plot: a man finds a genie who lives in a cell phone instead of a lamp, and you make your wishes by texting them to the genie. This excerpt is exposition provided by the man who gives the main character the cell phone. What I’m seeking input on is the joke in the visuals that accompany his story. > [@](#): > > Aikon’s voice continues over a montage of scenes as follows: > > aikon (V.O.) > You see, sahib, in the days of the tellers of tales, there were many genies - some benevolent, some not so much. This one was one of the worst. > > **A Persian prince rubs a lamp. The lamp billows smoke.** > > AIKON (V.O.) > All genies must grant wishes, but not all enjoy doing so, and some resent it very much. > > **The smoke resolves into a genie, who scowls down at the prince. The prince gestures dramatically as he makes a wish (we cannot hear what he says).** > > AIKON (V.O.) > This genie hated doing the bidding of humans, which it thought inferior; it got its revenge by deliberately misunderstanding its master’s wishes however it could. > > **The genie’s expression goes from sullen to smirking. He claps his hands and there is a blinding flash. When the flash clears, the prince is holding a man nine inches tall and a tiny piano. He looks up at the genie with a disappointed look.** So – if you saw this on screen, would you get the joke? Would you think it was funny? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-obvious-or-not-is-this-visual-joke/624342/2 "2012-06-07T01:34:24Z")
It’s a familiar joke, so yes I’d get it, but it’s perhaps not so funny anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Chef\_Troy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2012, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-obvious-or-not-is-this-visual-joke/624342/3 "2012-06-07T01:40:10Z")
I’m asking because at a table read last week, it got no laugh, not even a token chuckle, and when I asked some people afterwards they didn’t understand it until I explained it. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-obvious-or-not-is-this-visual-joke/624342/4 "2012-06-07T01:41:59Z")
I wish for… a nine inch pianist…pianis…oh. Now I get it. Took me too long, but I think guys would get it faster and laugh. I think you’d need to hear the genie announcing “Behold! Your nine-inch pianist…” ---
**Author:** ![StephenG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@StephenG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StephenG)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2012, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-obvious-or-not-is-this-visual-joke/624342/5 "2012-06-07T01:47:20Z")
Works for me! Mind you, my attention is called to his height because I’m reading your description. A visual way of highlighting his short stature – a ruler next to him? a sign around his neck? – might help. ETA: What **kittenblue** said: the genie announcing it helps. ---
**Author:** ![flano1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f14d63/32.png) [@flano1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flano1)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2012, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-obvious-or-not-is-this-visual-joke/624342/6 "2012-06-07T01:48:23Z")
the joke is too old. number 23, i think. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2012, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-obvious-or-not-is-this-visual-joke/624342/7 "2012-06-07T01:48:44Z")
I like how you’re doing it, but it does require knowledge of the joke. It would work well for me because I love jokes where you have to think for a moment to get. People are going to miss it, but that’s not necessarily a flaw. ---
**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:** [June 7, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-obvious-or-not-is-this-visual-joke/624342/8 "2012-06-07T01:55:23Z")
Ask your friendly, local DM how to crock wishes… The sheik makes his wish (which we cannot hear). The Genie claps his hands and… the sheik is buried under a flood of gold coins… the sheik is surrounded by 100 wives… each holding a screaming baby… ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2012, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-obvious-or-not-is-this-visual-joke/624342/9 "2012-06-07T01:56:20Z")
Who is the target audience? It’s an old joke, and people familiar with the joke would get it right away, but people who don’t know the joke, don’t like puns, or don’t think salaciously (like my SIL) won’t. And, yeah, you’d have to find a way to specify the nine inches. Otherwise, it could be interpreted as asking for a tiny penis, not a large 9-incher. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2012, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-obvious-or-not-is-this-visual-joke/624342/10 "2012-06-07T01:58:08Z")
He wished for a “small pianist”? or “tiny pianist”? or “miniature pianist”? - all seem a more likely interpretation by the audience than a “nine inch” one to me. ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-obvious-or-not-is-this-visual-joke/624342/11 "2012-06-07T02:05:37Z")
> [@flano1](#): > > the joke is too old. > > number 23, i think. It’s all in how you say it. ---
**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:** [June 7, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-obvious-or-not-is-this-visual-joke/624342/12 "2012-06-07T02:08:51Z")
> [@fumster](#): > > It’s all in how you say it. Yah, but some people just can’t do an Italian accent. ---
**Author:** ![Chef\_Troy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-obvious-or-not-is-this-visual-joke/624342/13 "2012-06-07T02:08:57Z")
Those of you who pointed out that the pianist’s height needs to be spelled out are completely right… the sight gag totally fails otherwise, which is something I didn’t realize because IN PRINT it works, at least if you know the joke it’s based on. The truth is that the joke is really not important at all to the film as a whole, so maybe I should just replace it. I do like the visual of wishing for a huge treasure and then being crushed by it. Now I need to make sure the closing credits include Ethilrist in the list of people to be thanked. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2012, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-obvious-or-not-is-this-visual-joke/624342/14 "2012-06-07T02:10:22Z")
I knew the punchline before I even got to it, so it works for me! ---
**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:** [June 7, 2012, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-obvious-or-not-is-this-visual-joke/624342/15 "2012-06-07T02:14:35Z")
> [@Chef\_Troy](#): > > So – if you saw this on screen, would you get the joke? Would you think it was funny? I get the joke, but it doesn’t really play well visually. And… …if the genie is going to be granting wishes that are texted over the the phone, then that sort of misunderstanding won’t be relevant to the later plot, anyway. …if this is a flashback to the days of Persian princes and tellers of tales, the piano hadn’t been invented yet. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-obvious-or-not-is-this-visual-joke/624342/16 "2012-06-07T02:28:02Z")
How about this instead: The genie’s expression goes from sullen to smirking. He claps his hands and there is a blinding flash. When the flash clears, there is a pile of glass jars. The prince picks one up and examines it. Close up of jar’s label. The label says **Honey**. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2012, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-obvious-or-not-is-this-visual-joke/624342/17 "2012-06-07T02:29:25Z")
Yeah, the joke is funnier when someone says, as in the manner of ending a story “… hey, do you think I wanted a nine-inch pianist?” There are a lot of absurdist jokes that are better in the telling than in the showing. For this particular example, I’d guess you’d get a mild chuckle from people who already know the pianist joke, and nothing from everyone else. ---
**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:** [June 7, 2012, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-obvious-or-not-is-this-visual-joke/624342/18 "2012-06-07T02:31:35Z")
One hopes the movie will raise “I hate autocorrect” to a new level. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2012, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-obvious-or-not-is-this-visual-joke/624342/19 "2012-06-07T02:32:43Z")
“No, no, NO! I said I wanted a tiny PIANIST!!!” ---
**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:** [June 7, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-obvious-or-not-is-this-visual-joke/624342/20 "2012-06-07T02:33:26Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > He wished for a “small pianist”? or “tiny pianist”? or “miniature pianist”? - all seem a more likely interpretation by the audience than a “nine inch” one to me. It depends on whether they’re familiar with the joke, I suppose. For me, genie + tiny piano = twelve-inch pianist joke (or however many inches your version has). But I spend a lot of time telling and reading corny jokes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-obvious-or-not-is-this-visual-joke/624342.md?page=2)