Ding, dong. Bard of Avon calling.
Considering the Op’s username I would assume that he already knows the answer to this.
OR is this some kind of joke? :dubious:
That’s just the first successful knock knock joke, there were earlier versions that never caught on.
Adam: Knock knock
Eve: Who’s there?
Adam: Seriously?
Looking on Google Books I find this snippet from a 1936 issue of Baltimore Transit Topics:
Knock knock
Who’s there?
C. Mag
C. Mag who?
C. Maggersupp, our ex-commissioner
Really want more than a snippet in case there is actually something funny in there.
That said, looking at how knock knock jokes appear to have exploded onto the scene in 1936 based on the Google Book results it must have been a really annoying fad.
Oh, and does anybody know what form of scintillating parlor game “What’s This?” was if it was replaced by the abundant wit of Knock Knock jokes?
From this link:
“Knock, knock” is a parlor game. It is the natural successor to “What’s This”. That one, you may remember, was played with the hands and fingers, which were used to illustrate such killing conceits as the Dionne quintuplets taking a bath. It was exceedingly jolly while it lasted, but inventiveness soon lagged."
Comics historian Craig Yoe, in his book Weird But True Toon Factoids, attributed the invention of knock-knock jokes to cartoonist Bob Dunn, who published a collection of them in 1936, featuring a character named Enoch Knox.
No. What’s the designated hitter.
No, What’s on second. Third, I don’t know.
Hm. That reminds me of a game that was endlessly amusing when I was five.
‘What’s this?’ [Hands held horizontally, one above the other, fingertips touching, fingers spread apart, pushing hands together and relaxing them back]
‘A spider doing pushups on a mirror.’
‘What’s this?’ [hand held palm up, fingers slightly spread and curled]
‘A dead one of these.’ [invert hand]
‘What’s this?’ [wiggle index finger and move hand laterally]
‘I don’t know, but there is goes again!’ [repeat movement]
‘What’s this?’ [hand held out like a fence, snap fingers on either side of it]
‘Mr. and Mrs. Yehudi playing tennis.’ (‘Yehudi’ was an invisible man, so all you saw was the ball being hit.)
Correct.
Ah…good to know that “What’s this? Dolly Parton standing behind a tree.” which amused everybody so much in the 2nd grade has such a timeless pedigree.
I don’t give a darn! (Shortstop?)