A completely nonsensical story with a wholly unrelated and pointless punch line is told ... when those in-the-know laugh, the suckers wonder what's wrong with their sense of humor

A classification for shaggy dog stories.

For each type classified a very short synopsis is given; naturally reading the synopses is no substitute for experiencing the fully drawn-out version of the joke, but (as I may not have related in this forum previously but have certainly observed viva voce on occasion) there's also something amusing about shaggy dog stories reduced to extremely telegraphic form, especially in their non-shaggy-dog-involving incarnations. Thus: B220.2. Horse Complains that his Feet Hurt. Owner says that there's nothing wrong with his feet., or The Mouse that Looked Jewish. A mouse can sing, play a piano, tap dance; but a theatrical agent will not book him. He looks a little Jewish. (this one also benefits from the extreme redundancy created when prefaced with the name the classifiers have given it), or The Dog Fight. Strong dog is beaten by a large yellow dog in a bar. Bartender says, You should have seen him before I cut off his long yellow hair.—and these are all from the early B group.

A later-grouped joke (B657. The Man who got Sick Riding Backwards. A man complains that riding backwards on a train has made him sick. He says he couldn't change with the person opposite because, There was no one sitting opposite me.) operates apparently on the same principle as the joke about the man in the cafe who couldn't get his coffee with no cream, since they were out. Under "impossible occurrences" we find B810. The Man who Bit Himself on the Ear. A man explains to his doctor that the wound on his ear (or forehead) is where he bit himself. He explains, I stood on a chair.. And so on. Heading C is where all the puns live.

Comments

[K-sky]

I don't have permission to access it on this server. But I want to.

[ben]

Permissions fixed!

[K-sky]

Two Horses Talking. They discuss their racing and are overheard by a dog who comments on their remarks. One horse says to the other, "Hey, look at that, a talking dog.

Upon hearing this one -- in properly drawn out shaggy form -- in a cafeteria at Northwestern University in 1991, I laughed harder than I can remember laughing before or since.