# Setup and punchline are the same **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2020, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setup-and-punchline-are-the-same/845790 "2020-01-02T17:49:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setup-and-punchline-are-the-same/845790/61 "2020-01-17T12:04:51Z")
A sub-variety is one where the punchline appears first but appears to be the setup; only after you hear the final line do you realize the wordplay was in the first line. Two parrots are sitting on a perch. One says, “Do you smell fish?” Two fish are in a tank. One asks, “Do you know how to drive this thing?” ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setup-and-punchline-are-the-same/845790/62 "2020-01-17T12:54:55Z")
Steve MB: > [@](#): > > From The Avengers: > > Loki: The soldier. A man out of time. > Captain America: I’m not the one who’s out of time. In the same vein: Captain America: Hold on! We need a plan of attack! Iron Man: I have a plan: attack! ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setup-and-punchline-are-the-same/845790/63 "2020-01-17T12:57:39Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > Let’s not forget some “Henny” Youngman classics: > > “Take my wife … please”. > > “Last night my wife said the weather outside was fit for neither man nor beast, so we both stayed home.” "I went to the doctor, ‘I said Doc it hurts when I do this’ _bends wrist_ Doctor said ‘don’t do that.’ " ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_Maven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_maven/32/3272_2.png) [@Steven\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Maven)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setup-and-punchline-are-the-same/845790/64 "2020-01-19T01:52:43Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > I like one where a guy is on the phone saying “You don’t say…You don’t say…” And when he hangs up the person with him asks who it was. “He didn’t say.” That is probably my all-time favorite joke. It is by the under-appreciated Spike Jones from his magnum opus “Chloe.” The part **drad dog** quoted comes in the middle of the song. At the end of the song they repeat the exchange except when the second person asks, “Who was it?” the first person says, “Same guy.” ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setup-and-punchline-are-the-same/845790/65 "2020-01-19T02:35:37Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > A sub-variety is one where the punchline appears first but appears to be the setup; only after you hear the final line do you realize the wordplay was in the first line. > > Two parrots are sitting on a perch. One says, “Do you smell fish?” > Two fish are in a tank. One asks, “Do you know how to drive this thing?” A man walks into a bar. He says “ouch”. ---
**Author:** ![atimnie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atimnie/32/11_2.png) [@atimnie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atimnie)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setup-and-punchline-are-the-same/845790/66 "2020-01-19T05:31:53Z")
A priest and a minister walk into a bar. The rabbi ducked. ---
**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setup-and-punchline-are-the-same/845790/67 "2020-01-19T07:13:44Z")
Alfie Moore started his show once with “I have twenty years experience as a policeman in Scunthorpe, but I’m on break from the police force. Why? I have twenty years experience as a policeman in Scunthorpe.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setup-and-punchline-are-the-same/845790.md?page=3)