Let’s go to the zoo

Original Joke: Let’s go to the zoo

In the summer between my 4th & 5th grade, I got up early one morning and heard mom and dad talking in the kitchen. Mom said, “why don’t you take him (me) to the zoo today?” My dad replied, “if they want him, they’ll come get him.”

Joke Poo: Bake Sale Surprise

In the summer between my sophomore and junior years, I overheard my mom and dad talking in the kitchen. Mom said, “Why don’t we enter his (me) baked goods in the county fair bake-off?” Dad replied, “If they want him, they’ll send a judge.”

Okay, I’m ready to analyze this “zoo” joke and spin something new out of it.

Joke Dissection:

• Setup: A seemingly innocent eavesdropping scenario where a child overhears their parents discussing a trip to the zoo.
• Punchline: The father’s darkly humorous reply implies the child is unwanted and could be left at the zoo for adoption by the animals.
• Humor Mechanism: The humor derives from the unexpected and slightly morbid twist. It plays on the child’s eagerness for a fun outing versus the implied parental exasperation (or dark humor). It’s also funny because the dad’s response is completely out of proportion to the initial question. There’s a subversion of parental affection.
• Key elements: Zoo, parental exasperation, child’s naiveté, dark humor, adoption, animals.

Enrichment & New Humor Attempt:

Let’s focus on the “zoo” and the adoption aspect, and add a dash of real animal facts:

New Piece: “The Zoo Internship Dilemma”

I was thinking about interning at the zoo this summer, specifically in the primate section. I figured, I’ve got a decent understanding of chaos, throwing things is second nature, and I’m pretty sure I can groom myself with my feet if I really needed to.

But then I overheard the zookeeper saying, “We’ve had a surge in applicants… if they’re particularly annoying, we’ll just tell the orangutans they’re up for adoption. Did you know orangutans are so genetically similar to humans that some zoos have considered offering them 401k plans?”

Suddenly, stacking shelves at the grocery store seems a lot less… primate-like-adoption-risky.

Humor Analysis of the New Piece:

• Plays on: The original joke’s fear of zoo abandonment and animal adoption.
• Adds: Self-deprecating humor (the speaker’s self-assessment), a touch of reality (zoos and orangutans).
• Animal Fact: Orangutan genetic similarity. This is a real fact that amplifies the creepiness of the ‘adoption’ threat. Some zoos have considered extending certain benefits to great apes, leading to philosophical debates on animal rights.
• Type of Humor: Situational, observational, with a hint of dark humor.

I think the new piece uses the “zoo” and “adoption” concept but twists it into an internship anxiety scenario, leveraging a real (and slightly unsettling) orangutan fact to enhance the comedic effect. The humor shifts from parental dark humor to a more relatable anxiety about job prospects and weird zoo practices.