What is the history, origin, derivation and/or evolution of the “knock knock” joke?
IIRC, it originated on Captain Kangaroo.
It’s a hell of a lot older than that:
MacBeth, Act II, Scene III:
[Knocking within. Enter a Porter]
Porter. Here’s a knocking, indeed! If a man were porter of hell-gate he should have old turning the key. [Knocking within. ] Knock, knock, knock! Who’s there, i’ the name of Beelzebub? Here’s a farmer that hanged himself on the expectation of plenty: come in time; have napkins enough about you; here you’ll sweat for ’t. [Knocking within. ] Knock, knock! Who’s there i’ the other devil’s name! Faith, here’s an equivocator, that could swear in both the scales against either scale; who committed treason enough for God’s sake, yet could not equivocate to heaven: O! come in, equivocator. [Knocking within. ] Knock, knock, knock! Who’s there? Faith, here’s an English tailor come hither for stealing out of a French hose: come in, tailor; here you may roast your goose. [Knocking within. ] Knock, knock; never at quiet! What are you? But this place is too cold for hell. I’ll devil-porter it no further: I had thought to have let in some of all professions, that go the primrose way to the everlasting bonfire. [Knocking within. ] Anon, anon! I pray you, remember the porter. [Opens the gate.]
Taking place just after the bloody murder of King Duncan, it’s pretty hilarious.
SDMB Thread : “What was the first modern knock-knock joke ?”
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=78955
Ok, but it doesn’t answer the question.
I’m sorry. I thought the question was of the origin of THAT PARTICULAR knock-knock joke.
As I said, I believe the ‘orange you glad I didn’t say banana’ originated on Captain Kangaroo.
Actually I was asking about knock-knock jokes in general, not just that one specific one (I just used it as an attention-getting subject, although it’s interesting to note how that one originated).
I’m kicking myself for not thinking of the Porter’s soliloquy from the Scottish play. Is that really the earliest evidence of the knock-knock joke then, and if so, are the origins forever lost in antiquity?
In the UK, ‘knock, knock’ jokes are thought to originate from a game played in Victorian England (Joseph Shipley, In Praise Of English, 1977, P166)
A Mr. Robert Claiborne, in 1978, recalls it as having its US origin in a craze of the 1930’s.
Example:
‘Knock knock?’
‘Who’s there?’
‘Mayonnaise.’
‘Mayonnaise who?’
‘Mayonnaise have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.’
Source: Eric Partridge, ‘A Dictionary of Catchphrases’.
None of this denies the ‘knock, knock’ in the Scottish Play but, in my opinion, Shakespeare is not telling a true ‘knock, knock’ joke.
Would you be so kind as to post the relevant passage from that book, or an excerpt thereof?
Interesting – if that’s true, I wonder if there’s a Great Depression connection? Could the form have come to American prominence in the form of jokes that went something like:
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Bud.
Bud who?
Buddy can you spare a dime?
That’s pure speculation of course. 
Offhand, the earliest historical referent in a knock-knock joke that I can think of is from the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical “South Pacific”.
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Salmon (or Sam & Janet).
Salmon (or Sam & Janet) who?
Salmon-chanted (or Sam & Janet) evening…
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by struct *
**
Regrettably that’s all I can tell you. I don’t have the book. Eric Partridge, the source of the above quote, is reliable.