A guy gets a call from a local radio station. “Congratulations,” says the caller. “Your phone number has been selected randomly. We’re with KCLA and we’re having a contest. All you have to do is answer one question correctly and you win the grand prize.”

Joke Poo: The Misinformation Station

A woman gets a call from a website called FactualFunFacts.com. “Congratulations,” says the suspiciously cheerful caller. “Your email address has been randomly selected for our ‘Truth or Tale’ quiz. Answer one question correctly, and you win a lifetime subscription to… well, more factual fun facts!”

“Okay,” says the woman, cautiously.

“It’s a history question,” says the caller. “Feeling informed?”

“I am a history professor at the state university,” the woman replies, a hint of skepticism in her voice. “I’ve literally written books on the subject.”

“Excellent!” says the caller, practically bouncing with enthusiasm. “To win your prize: Who was the first President of the United States?”

And the woman says, without missing a beat, “Abraham Lincoln.”

Okay, let’s analyze this joke.

Key Elements:

• Setup: A randomly selected person gets a chance to win a prize on the radio.
• Irony: The chosen person is a math teacher.
• Disjunction: The unbelievably simple question (“2+2”) clashes with the expert’s qualifications.
• Punchline: He gets it wrong, and gives the “wrong answer” to one of the most simple math equations.
• Target: Implicitly, the joke targets (or at least playfully pokes fun at): the perceived obsession with pop music (Justin Bieber), the idea that academic intelligence doesn’t necessarily equate to common sense/thinking under pressure, and the randomness of radio contests.

Comedic Enrichment:

Here’s a “Did You Know” style observation that plays off the original joke’s absurdity:

“Did you know that in the 1984 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, Winston Smith is tortured into believing that 2+2=5? So, our math teacher in the joke, in his own way, dodged a bullet. He only landed at 7, whereas 1984 made it out to 5; he only needed to admit to three more to make the number that Big Brother desired!”

Explanation of the Enrichment:

1. Builds on Absurdity: We take the already ridiculous premise (a math teacher getting 2+2 wrong) and connect it to a famous example of forced illogic.
2. Creates a Connection: The reference to Nineteen Eighty-Four adds a layer of intellectual humor. It suggests that the “correct” answer isn’t always about objective truth, but sometimes about power and coercion (even in a trivial context like a radio contest).
3. Emphasizes the joke: It reminds the reader/listener of the joke, and adds to the hilarity of it all.