I probably could do a poll for this, but it seems a bit beneath a poll somehow. But really, what musical instrument has the most jokes made about it and in the words of Rodney Dangerfield “can’t get no respect around here!?” I did an informal poll on Facebook and predictably everyone chose the instrument they played. Apparent front runners, however, did seem to be the accordion and banjo with orchestra types choosing cello (sex related, apparently) and marching band people leaning towards the tuba (obviously size related).
I’ve heard far more jokes about bagpipes than any other musical instrument. Accordions also seem to be a go to sight or situational gag meaning “instrument played by dweeb.”
All specialists believe their specialty has more and funnier jokes than anyone else’s. My Wife has a number of guitar jokes which are (presumably) hilarious to other guitar players but which mean nothing to me.
As a non-musical person I find that bagpipes (as I said upthread) are the subject of more humor than any other instrument, with banjos and accordians close behind. I don’t think the average person would recognize an oboe if they tripped over one.
My musically inclined friends tend to crap on banjo players more than anyone else. I think bagpipes and accordions are simply beneath their notice.
Also, what sort of musical combos involve bagpipes? Musically, they’re more or less in a world of their own. Accordions are close to it, AFAICT - outside of polka bands and Weird Al Yankovic, who plays accordions?
But the jokes are very different. The banjo is equated with toothless, backwoods hillbillies (thanbks to Deliverance), so anyone who plays a banjo will be greeted with a lot of “squeal like a pig” jokes and “you might be a redneck” lines.
The accordion is a joke because it’s seen as antiquated, the kind of instrument played by Lawrence Welk, or by old men in knickers at dances our grandparents might have attended.
Let me add, as a banjo player, that anytime anyone finds out you play, all they want to hear is Dueling Banjos. Except they’ll call it “that Deliverance music”.
I don’t know if there’s a specific instrument that gets the most jokes made about it, but it does feel as though there are stereotypes of people who play particular instruments, and that’s where a bunch of the jokes come from. For instance:
What do you call a drummer without a girlfriend?
[SPOILER]Homeless.
(Stereotype: Drummers are too poor to have their own place.)[/SPOILER]
How many flute players does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
[SPOILER]None, they get their boyfriends to do it for them.
(Stereotype: Flute players are divas who expect other people do stuff for them. And are mostly women.)
[/SPOILER]
How many trumpet players does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
[SPOILER]One. He holds the bulb in place and allows the world to revolve around him.
(Stereotype: Trumpet players are self-important egomaniacs.)[/SPOILER]
Are we distinguishing between jokes about the instrument itself vs. jokes about the people who play that instrument?
Before reading any replies, my first thought was that the accordion is the instrument that is the butt of the most jokes, but that drummers are the musicians who are the butt of the most jokes.