Lampshade on the head

The cliche involves some drunkard at a party who ends up with a lampshade on their head. Where did this originate? Why do people think this is funny? I never understood this as a kid, and I don’t understand it as an adult.

If it’s wider than it is tall, lampshade = fake Chinese conical hat.

And no, it’s still not funny.

I always assumed that when you were super-drunk, you’d feel the urge to put even vaguely hat-like object on your head. Has anyone ever seen someone actually do this?

I’ve seen it used as an evasive disguise in quite a few cartoons, including, I think, some really early ones of the cat and mouse variety.

having worn a lampshade on several occaisions i can answer the last half of the
OP. its not that people think the lampshades funny, thought the drunk usually thinks he’s a hoot, its usually the people laughing at how much of an idiot the sot is.

C’mon. It beats puking in the avocado dip, feeling up the hostess, or being led away in a police car.

And it has a certain 50s sitcom charm. It’s anti-funny and therefore funny. I can handle that.

I can’t completely agree.

“And” or “or”?
[Emperor’s New Groove]
Well, which is it? Seems like a pretty crucial conjunction.
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Maybe it’s their way of doing an impression of Dumb Donald.

Something that occurred to me for the first time, reading the thread title – one (older) slang term for drunk is “lit.” Maybe it’s a kind of visual pun on that?

I think the point is that putting a lamp shade on your head is so lame that only a truly drunk person would think that it’s funny.