Ditched the punny punchlines for straight dad jokes at my kid's school event

I had to pick between writing a clever pun or a simple one-liner for the school talent show intro last month. I went with the groaner "Why don't skeletons fight each other? They don't have the guts" instead of a wordplay joke. What's your go-to move when you need a quick laugh without the setup?

3 comments

3 Comments

james53317d ago

and honestly I think you made the right call there. Simple jokes almost always land better with kids because they don't have to stop and think about a pun. The skeleton joke is perfect for a school event since it's clean and the punchline hits quick. My go to move when I need something fast is to keep a few short one liners in my back pocket like "What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta." Stuff like that works because kids remember it and can repeat it to their friends later. The key is to say it with confidence and move right along before anyone has time to groan too loud.

john43017d ago

My third grade nephew told me the impasta joke last week actually. He heard it from a kid in his class and thought it was the funniest thing ever. I laughed mostly because of how serious he looked delivering it. @james533 is right about the confidence part though. Kids can smell hesitation on a joke faster than a teacher can spot a phone in class. The skeleton one works well too because you can do a little shiver motion after the punchline. I keep a few animal ones memorized for emergencies. What do you call a bear with no teeth? A gummy bear. Never fails.

margaret_singh114d ago

My three year old daughter told me the impasta joke last week and mixed it up completely. She said "What do you call a fake potato? A pastrami." I have no idea where the pastrami came from but she was SO proud of herself. @john430 you're totally right about the serious delivery thing, that's what got me too. I think I actually prefer the messed up versions kids come up with, honestly. The gummy bear one is genius for emergency situations, I'm stealing that for this weekend's birthday party.