# ID this joke from its punchline **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 28, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-joke-from-its-punchline/675021 "2013-11-28T18:41:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-joke-from-its-punchline/675021/1 "2013-11-28T18:41:03Z")
When I was quite young (details foggy here) my mother did something I thought was clever, and I asked “How did you do that?” Her reply was to tap her temple and say, “Kidneys, my boy. Kidneys” In response to my puzzled look she elaborated, “That’s the punchline of a joke.” “Oh. Tell me the joke” “Um, I forget” It’s been decades and she still doesn’t remember the joke. This bugs me. I do the temple-kidneys thing with my own kids, perpetuating the intergenerational angst. Help me ease my family’s suffering: What joke has the punchline “Kidneys, my boy. Kidneys”? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-joke-from-its-punchline/675021/2 "2013-11-28T19:02:11Z")
Several possibilities. > **[What is the kidneys man kidneys joke? - Answers](https://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_kidneys_man_kidneys_joke)** > > A man was in a line of patients trying to get his release from a mental institution. He watched as the others went in to meet with the doctor and heard the questions the doctor asked, which were: "point to your right arm", "point to your stomach",... > **[Kidneys, man, kidneys](http://pinkslipblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/kidneys-man-kidneys.html)** > > There was a popular joke when I was a kid that had, as its punch line, “Kidneys, man, kidneys.” The set up was that a moron, when asked how ... > **[Okay, I've spent the past several (many, many) years trying to remember a...](http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/1454770)** > > Ask questions on any topic, get real answers from real people. Have a question? Ask it. Know an answer? Share it. > **[puff.com is for sale | www.oxley.com](https://oxley.com/domain/puff.com/)** > > This premium domain name is available for purchase! None of them really make any sense. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-joke-from-its-punchline/675021/3 "2013-11-28T19:21:58Z")
I think the basic idea is that someone who is otherwise considered to be a total dipstick correctly identifies and locates several body parts (e.g. femur, ulna, collarbone). When asked how this seemingly impressive task was accomplished, the total dipstick errantly points to the head and says, … Get it? I figured this out by reading [here](http://animal.discovery.com/pets/home-remedies-for-cats-with-fleas1.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-joke-from-its-punchline/675021/4 "2013-11-28T19:26:06Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > None of them really make any sense. Agreed. Somehow I was expecting… more. Maybe I should try to write my own setup. I always imagined the joke would entail hilarious miscommunication at a butcher’s shop (or maybe better: a chef, involving headcheese and/or steak & kidney pie). ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-joke-from-its-punchline/675021/5 "2013-11-28T19:27:16Z")
What I’ve heard, back in the '60s, was “It’s all in the kidneys.” And it’s not a punchline, it’s the entire joke. If you’re so smart, why do you confuse your brain with your kidneys? ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-joke-from-its-punchline/675021/6 "2013-11-28T19:31:42Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > What I’ve heard, back in the '60s, was “It’s all in the kidneys.” > > And it’s not a punchline, it’s the entire joke. If you’re so smart, why do you confuse your brain with your kidneys? Now that has a ring to it. The “mental competency test” stories may have been attempts to construct a joke setup after the phrase itself had already caught hold. ETA: could [this](http://leminhkhai.wordpress.com/2010/05/16/it%E2%80%99s-all-in-the-kidneys-my-dear/) be the original source? ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-joke-from-its-punchline/675021/7 "2013-11-28T19:34:38Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > If you’re so smart, why do you confuse your brain with your kidneys? Urea real fart smeller. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-joke-from-its-punchline/675021/8 "2013-11-28T19:36:00Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And it’s not a punchline, it’s the entire joke. If you’re so smart, why do you confuse your brain with your kidneys? I’d never heard it before and that was my first impression, and I’m certainly no Alfred Einstein. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-joke-from-its-punchline/675021/9 "2013-11-28T19:41:00Z")
Moved Cafe Society --\> MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-joke-from-its-punchline/675021/10 "2013-11-29T00:56:03Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > If you’re so smart, why do you confuse your brain with your kidneys? Hey, I’m smart too except that I’ve always confused my kidneys with my ass. I can never keep straight which is which. Does that make me a smart ass? That’s a rhetorical question, of course. I already know the answer. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-joke-from-its-punchline/675021/11 "2013-11-29T03:00:59Z")
Sometimes a line about the kidneys is renally nothing more than that. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-joke-from-its-punchline/675021/12 "2013-11-29T03:19:55Z")
There was an advert for beer (I think) in Australia that used the punchline “now we can all get some sleep” there was no joke, that was the joke. I remember that we would say the punch line if someone said an unfunny joke, yep we cracked up all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-joke-from-its-punchline/675021/13 "2013-11-29T08:14:20Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > There was an advert for beer (I think) in Australia that used the punchline “now we can all get some sleep” there was no joke, that was the joke. > > I remember that we would say the punch line if someone said an unfunny joke, yep we cracked up all the time. I think that ad was for Claytons and starred Jack Thompson - the film actor. Claytons was a non alcoholic spirit - ‘the drink you have when you’re not having a drink’. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-joke-from-its-punchline/675021/14 "2013-11-29T12:07:40Z")
I needed a human kidney for a stage prop for a show. I couldn’t get a real human kidney so I needed to come up with a good fake. I put a potato inside a red condom. Went over pretty well actually. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-joke-from-its-punchline/675021/15 "2013-11-29T12:17:02Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > I needed a human kidney for a stage prop for a show. > I couldn’t get a real human kidney so I needed to come up with a good fake. I put a potato inside a red condom. Went over pretty well actually. I’m really hoping you didn’t even _try_ to get a real human kidney. Otherwise I’m seeing a “bathtub full of ice” scenario here. ---
**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:** [November 29, 2013, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-joke-from-its-punchline/675021/16 "2013-11-29T14:18:12Z")
> [@SiXSwordS](#): > > I think the basic idea is that someone who is otherwise considered to be a total dipstick correctly identifies and locates several body parts (e.g. femur, ulna, collarbone). > > When asked how this seemingly impressive task was accomplished, the total dipstick errantly points to the head and says, … This is the answer. My father used to say this all the time, it was his favorite joke. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-joke-from-its-punchline/675021/17 "2013-11-29T14:48:46Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > This is the answer. See! I _TOLD_ you guys I’d get one right sooner or later. Hell, even a _blind_ camel finds a coconut sooner or later. ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-joke-from-its-punchline/675021/18 "2013-11-29T15:04:20Z")
> [@SiXSwordS](#): > > See! I _TOLD_ you guys I’d get one right sooner or later. Hell, even a _blind_ camel finds a coconut sooner or later. How did you do it, **SiXSwordS**? ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-joke-from-its-punchline/675021/19 "2013-11-29T15:48:36Z")
> [@Nature\_s\_Call](#): > > How did you do it, **SiXSwordS**? I used [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidney), why do you ask? ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-joke-from-its-punchline/675021/20 "2013-11-29T16:46:33Z")
> [@SiXSwordS](#): > > I used [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidney), why do you ask? Sorry. I was setting you up, hoping you’d respond with, “Kidneys, man. Kidneys” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-joke-from-its-punchline/675021.md?page=2)