Her grandma gives her a hug. "Nonsense, sweetheart. You have such beautiful cheeks and lovely eyes!"
Still unconvinced, the girl runs to her mom. "Mommy, is it true? Do I have a buttface?"
Her mom kisses her forehead. "Of course not, honey! You have such a cute little nose and a sweet forehead."
She runs to her dad, but he can't console her either.
Heartbroken, the little girl wanders sadly down the street. She sees an open manhole cover and, curious, she holds down her little dress, leans over the hole, and peeks down into the darkness.
Suddenly, a voice from the sewer shouts up:
"DON'T SHIT! DON'T SHIT IN HERE!"
Joke Poo: The Case of the Misunderstood Mascot
A brand new, state-of-the-art waste management facility is being celebrated in the town of Poo-ville, and the town has invested in a Mascot to promote the cause: Mr. Manure.
The man in the Mr. Manure Mascot costume is at the opening ceremony when he notices the crowd’s growing discomfort. People are turning away, wrinkling their noses, and whispering.
Confused, he approaches the Mayor. “Mr. Mayor, is something wrong? People seem…uncomfortable.”
The Mayor pats him on the back, avoiding eye contact. “Nonsense, Mr. Manure! You have such a vibrant, earthy hue! And your… well, your aroma is… distinctive!”
Still uneasy, Mr. Manure waddles over to the Head of Sanitation. “Is it me? Is there something wrong with the costume?”
The Head of Sanitation gives a nervous laugh. “Of course not! You have such a robust physique and a truly…groundbreaking presence!”
Dejected, Mr. Manure shuffles towards the edge of the crowd. He spots a group of children playing near a compost heap. He ambles over, hoping for some positive reinforcement.
Suddenly, one of the children points at him and shouts:
“HEY EVERYONE! LOOK! IT’S THE NEW RECYCLING BIN! LET’S THROW OUR LUNCH SCRAPS AT HIM!”
Alright, let’s dive into this joke. It’s a dark, somewhat absurd, and relies heavily on expectation subversion.
Joke Dissection:
- Premise: A little girl is distressed because people are calling her “buttface.”
- Misdirection: The family (grandmother, mother, father) all offer reassuring platitudes, focusing on other facial features. This builds the expectation that the girl is simply being unfairly criticized. We expect a heartwarming resolution about inner beauty.
- Punchline: The abrupt and crude voice from the sewer confirms the worst. The expectation of a comforting message is brutally shattered by the sewer dweller’s pragmatic concern.
- Key Elements:
- Wordplay: “Buttface” itself is crude and immediately funny due to its incongruity with a child.
- Innocence vs. Vulgarity: The juxtaposition of the child’s innocence with the vulgar term and the sewer dweller’s language is critical to the humor.
- Sewer as Voice of Truth/Reality: The sewer dweller, in this case, represents a brutal, unfiltered version of reality.
Comedic Enrichment: New Humor Inspired by the Original
Let’s play on the “sewer as voice of unfiltered truth” angle, with a dash of “did you know?”
New Joke:
A politician is touring the city’s sewage system for a photo op, wanting to project a down-to-earth image. He leans over a particularly fetid manhole and asks, “What can the people expect from my new policies?”
A voice booms up from the darkness: “The same crap, different flush!”
Comedic Observation/Witty Tidbit:
Did you know that in some cities, particularly older ones like London, the sewer systems are so vast and complex that they are, in a sense, underground rivers of information? Not just about waste disposal (though that’s a big part of it), but about societal trends, health conditions, and even criminal activity. One could argue that the sewer is a city’s id, its raw, uncensored subconscious, constantly murmuring truths that polite society prefers to ignore. So, next time you hear a conspiracy theory, remember: some of the wildest truths are probably floating downstream.
Why this works:
- It takes the element of the “sewer as voice of truth” and applies it to a political context.
- The language used in the punchline mimics the crude bluntness of the original joke, making it comedic
- The “did you know?” adds an element of playful absurdity, highlighting the idea that the sewer holds a darker truth than you might realize.
- The second joke combines the “sewer as voice of truth” angle from the original joke with the notion of politicians being out of touch.