Icebreaker Jokes

I’ve talked about icebreakers way, way back when the blog was young, but one specific subset of “say something interesting about yourself” type vagaries is the “tell a joke” section. Just like having one good interesting thing about oneself to just have in your back pocket is a good idea, I’ve found it’s also a good idea to have a joke ready just in case. Of course, it should be short and sweet -- you’re not going to get any friends by rattling off Nate the Snake on command.

One of my personal favorites is one I heard at summer camp, and it’s a freshly squeezed take on an old classic.

Knock knock (Who’s there?)
Banana (Banana who?)
Knock knock (Who’s there?)
Banana (Banana who?)
Knock knock (Who’s there?)
Orange (Orange who?)
Knock knock (Who’s there?)
Banana’s back!

There are some problems with this particular adaptation, though. I mean, I’m not a jokesmith by any means, but the fourth iteration (the one after “Orange”) loses a lot of anticipation value in its unexpectedness. The normal punchline is so ingrained that it’s hard to imagine anything else. Really, the only solution I have to this is to be extra jubilant in your delivery of the final line, which I guess subverts expectations in an irony-poisoned world but definitely isn’t for everyone. The other option, I suppose, would be to cut one of the initial “banana” lines, but that means there’s no buildup at all.

On the other hand, maybe that’s everyone else’s punishment for demanding you tell a joke in the first place.

-F