I woke up from a nightmare.. my wife asked what was wrong..

Okay, here’s my “Joke Poo” version of that joke:

Joke Poo: The Server Crash

I woke up in a cold sweat from a tech support nightmare. My partner asked what was wrong.

I said, “I just had a nightmare where all the error messages were written in Shakespearean English!”

They sighed and replied, “Hark, that’s just a bug, a bug in your code.”

Alright, let’s break down this R.E.M.-infused dream joke!

Joke Dissection:

• Premise: A nightmare scenario where everyone communicates solely through R.E.M. lyrics.
• Punchline: The wife, upon hearing the nightmare description, replies with the R.E.M. lyric “That’s was just a dream, just a dream.” (from the song “Everybody Hurts”).
• Humor Source: The humor derives from the unexpected and slightly absurd application of song lyrics to a mundane situation (waking up from a nightmare), the familiarity of R.E.M. songs (the humor works best if the audience recognizes the lyric), and the meta-commentary on the inherent dreamlike quality of R.E.M.’s often ambiguous and poetic lyrics.
• Key Elements:
  • Nightmare: A generally unpleasant or disturbing dream.
  • R.E.M.: The band, their specific lyrical style.
  • “Everybody Hurts” – the specific song referenced.
  • Irony: The whole scenario is dream-like, thus the wife’s response is a confirmation that the nightmare is ending.

Comedic Enrichment:

Now, let’s leverage some R.E.M. trivia and the dream concept to create something new:

1. The “Did You Know?” Enhancement:

“Did you know that Michael Stipe, R.E.M.’s lead singer, has said he often incorporated lyrics he’d hear in his own dreams into their songs? So, the guy who caused the nightmare in the joke was probably just trying to work through some writer’s block.”

2. The “Further Nightmare” Extension:

I woke up from a nightmare where everyone spoke using only R.E.M. lyrics. My wife rolled over and said, “That’s was just a dream, just a dream.” Then the alarm went off, and the snooze button only played the opening riff of “Losing My Religion” on repeat. I bolted upright and yelled “STAND UP FEELIN’ SMALLER THAN YOU EVER FELT BEFORE!” because the cat was on my chest again. The cat responded “I’ve been high, I’ve been low”. I’m calling in sick.
(The Humor is in the escalation and the expanding use of R.E.M. song titles and lyrics in increasingly absurd and relatable ways.)

3. The Witty Observation:

“You know, the nightmare of everyone speaking only in R.E.M. lyrics is a pretty good metaphor for trying to decipher the meaning of their music videos.”
(Here, we use the core premise of the joke to make a humorous observation about R.E.M.’s often enigmatic and artistic visuals.)

4. The “Alternate Punchline” Joke:

I woke up from a nightmare.. my wife asked what was wrong… I said.. “I just had a nightmare where everyone spoke using only R.E.M. lyrics..”

She rolled over and said, “It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.”
(This is a more direct substitution, replacing one R.E.M. lyric with another relevant one. The humor comes from its unexpectedness.)

The key in all of these is to either lean into the existing elements of the original joke (R.E.M., dreams, unexpected lyrics) or to subvert those expectations in a playful way. Hopefully, these provide some comedic enrichment!