A man just bought himself a new sportscar so he thought he'd take it out on some back roads to see what it will do. As he's cruising a lovely country road at 50 mph he glances to his right and spots a chicken running right next to him! So he gives the car a little gas and bumps it up to 70. Sure enough the chicken hangs right with him. Thinking "this is rediculous!" He grabs and gear and sprints up to 90 mph. He looks over and there's the chicken effortlessly keeping up. The man then watches with amazement as the chicken pulls ahead and turns down a gravel road in a cloud of dust.
Overcome with curiousity the man decides to follow. Tracing the dust cloud he finds himself in a farmers yard and sees the chicken headed for the coop. As he pulls up the farmer come walking out of his house towards the car.
"Is that your chicken?" Asks the man.
"Yup" replies the farmer.
"How the hell are they so fast?"
"Well you see, we bred em that way. They got three legs. I like a drumstick, my wife likes a drumstick and my boy there, he likes a drumstick too. So we bred em to have three legs."
"That's amazing!" Replies the man "how do they taste?"
"Don't know, ain't caught one." replies the farmer.
Joke Poo: Three-Eyed Aliens
A woman just bought herself a new telescope, a powerful Dobsonian, so she thought she’d take it out to the dark desert to see what she could see. As she’s scanning the night sky, she spots a UFO zipping across her field of view! She adjusts the focus and finds it’s keeping pace with the Earth’s rotation at incredible speed. Thinking, “this is ridiculous!”, she grabs her binoculars and tries to track it. Sure enough, the UFO maintains its strange flight, even as she zooms in on it. The woman then watches with amazement as the UFO abruptly changes direction and lands in a nearby alfalfa field.
Overcome with curiosity, the woman drives her truck into the field. She finds the landed UFO, and a tall, lanky alien walks out towards her.
“Is that your flying saucer?” Asks the woman.
“Yup,” replies the alien.
“How the heck can it maneuver so fast?”
“Well you see, we built ’em that way. They got three eyes. The pilot can look at speed, the co-pilot at direction and the navigator for distance. They help coordinate their task.”
“That’s amazing!” Replies the woman. “So, what’s that UFO’s mission?”
“Don’t know, ain’t seen it in daylight yet.” replies the Alien.
Alright, let’s break down this three-legged chicken joke and then cook up something new.
Analysis of the Original Joke:
- Setup: A man with a sports car encounters an unusually fast chicken. The escalation of speed creates absurdity.
- Premise: The chicken’s speed is attributed to selective breeding for three legs, providing a drumstick for each family member.
- Punchline: The incongruity of breeding for extra legs yet failing to catch the chickens creates the humor. It’s a reversal of expectation – all the effort, no reward.
- Key Elements: Fast chicken, sports car, farmer, selective breeding, drumsticks, failure.
Comedic Enrichment:
Let’s focus on the “selective breeding” aspect, combined with the farmer’s lack of success. We’ll riff on the idea that sometimes, even the most ingenious plans fall apart in practice.
New Joke/Observation:
A genetic engineer is showing off his latest creation: a cow with square udders. “See?” he says proudly, “Now milk cartons fit perfectly!”
A farmer looks skeptical. “That’s all well and good,” he says, “but can you get it to agree to be milked? Last week, I spent 30 minutes trying to convince Bessie that, while her new udders look like high-end modernist design, they still served the same ol’ boring purpose.”
Explanation of Enrichment:
- Element connection: We maintain the “selective breeding” theme.
- Twist: The problem isn’t the design of the improvement, but the animal’s cooperation. It’s an unexpected challenge that highlights the gap between theoretical science and real-world application.
- Humor: The humor arises from the relatable frustration of technology not working as intended, even when technically superior. The absurdity of negotiating with a cow about the purpose of its udders heightens the comedic effect.
Why this works:
It builds on the original joke’s theme of a “brilliant” idea being undermined by practicality. It’s a subtle shift, but it allows for a new angle on the same kind of humorous incongruity. And, well, who hasn’t been frustrated by technology that should be better, but isn’t?