I was throwing a housewarming party last night, and this morning someone who I vaguely knew — a friend of a friend was lying on my kitchen floor.
“Show to the door, my friend, it’s time to go home.”
But each time I bent down to help him up he would just crumple back down to the ground.
“okay, you are evidently still little drunk, where do you live? I will drive you home.”
“24 Long House Avenue,” he muttered.
So I made my way to the car with at least fingers on him, and every time I put him near a standing position on his feet and took my hand away, he immediately face-planted on the floor. After doing this for what felt like 100 times, I finally managed to get him into the car and drove him to the address.
When we arrived at his house, he fell over about 3 times coming out of the car before I dragged him to his front door.
A woman answered, and I told her that her husband had a bit too much fun last night.
“Indeed,” she said,“My husband does like to get pissed .”
Then she asked,“But where is his wheelchair?”
Joke Poo: The Potty Training Accident
I was hosting a toddler playdate in my living room yesterday, and this morning a little girl – Sarah, Emily’s youngest – was slumped against the sofa.
“Sarah, honey, playdate’s over, time for mommy to pick you up.”
But every time I tried to coax her towards the door, she’d just giggle and slide back down to the floor. “Okay, you’re clearly still a little tired, where’s your mommy? I’ll call her.”
“My house,” she mumbled, pointing towards the window.
So, I scooped her up in my arms, and every time I tried to put her down, she’d do a little jig and promptly plop down on the floor with a splat. After doing this about a dozen times, I finally carried her all the way to her house next door.
Emily answered the door, and I explained that Sarah seemed a bit… “over-stimulated” from all the playing.
“Oh dear,” Emily said, “she does get a bit excited sometimes.”
Then she glanced down at my arms and asked, “But where’s her diaper?”
Alright, let’s break down this joke and then inject some humor into the situation.
Joke Dissection:
- Setup: A housewarming party leads to a heavily intoxicated guest found on the kitchen floor. The host attempts to help the guest get home.
- Rising Action: The increasingly difficult, repetitive struggle to get the guest upright and into the car. The sheer effort involved.
- Punchline: The wife reveals the guest needs a wheelchair, completely reframing the host’s interpretation of the situation and the guest’s apparent drunkenness as a disability. It’s a twist ending that relies on the audience assuming intoxication as the cause of the guest’s unsteadiness.
- Humor Elements:
- Situational Irony: The host assuming drunkenness when it’s a disability.
- Exaggeration: The repeated face-planting and effort to get the guest into the car.
- Misdirection: The narrative leads the audience (and the host) to believe the guest is just drunk.
Key Elements to Play With:
- The Housewarming Party: A celebration of a new home.
- Intoxication vs. Disability: The core misdirection.
- The Struggle: The physical comedy of trying to move a seemingly drunk person.
- The Wheelchair: The unexpected reveal and source of the humor.
New Humor Generation:
Let’s focus on the “struggle” aspect and weave in a ‘did you know’ factoid to create an amusing observation:
Observation:
You know, trying to get someone who appears severely inebriated from point A to point B is like trying to parallel park a shopping cart with a broken wheel. You think you’re making progress, but then you just end up further from your goal and slightly more embarrassed. It’s especially ironic when you learn later the person just needed a wheelchair, because did you know that the world record for the fastest 100m in a wheelchair is held by Brent Lakatos at just 13.94 seconds? Makes you think, maybe if I’d just yelled “Brent Lakatos!” he would have magically propelled himself into my car. Still faster than the half-hour I spent just trying to get him standing upright for 3 seconds.
Explanation of Humor:
- The shopping cart analogy is relatable (everyone hates maneuvering a bad shopping cart) and evokes the feeling of futility and frustration.
- The Brent Lakatos fact is unexpected and highlights the disparity between the assumed “drunk” state and the actual potential mobility with the right assistance.
- The absurdity of yelling “Brent Lakatos!” is funny because it contrasts with the real situation the host experienced and is a humorous twist.
By dissecting the original joke and focusing on a specific element (the struggle), we can use factual information to add another layer of humor and create a new, relevant observation.