A man has gotten a new job, and is pulling himself out of a financially difficult time. He has no car, so he has to walk to work. By cutting through an old graveyard, he saves close to a mile on his walk.
He is a little bit spooked by having to walk through a cemetery in the dark after getting off his night shift, but everything has been going OK. Then one night, just as he's a little more than halfway through the cemetery, he hears an eerie, forlorn "Mark, Mark." His name is Mark, so he is really concerned.
"Mark, Mark," it continues, getting sadder but louder as he nears the gate where he exits the cemetery. "Mark, Mark."
He thinks his best chance is to just keep going and get on out of there, but it keeps getting louder, almost like a moan. "Mark, Mark."
Then, as he gets to the cemetery gate, he sees a mangy, medium-sized dog, with a harelip. "Mark, Mark."
Okay, here’s my “Joke Poo” riff on the graveyard joke, titled “Call Center Callback”:
Joke Poo: Call Center Callback
A woman, Sarah, had just landed a work-from-home job as a call center agent after months of unemployment. The job was graveyard shift, so she was struggling to adjust her sleep schedule. To make things worse, her internet connection was terrible, leading to constant dropped calls.
One night, during a particularly busy shift, she’s in the middle of handling a complicated customer complaint. Suddenly, her connection gets choppy, and through the static, she hears a faint, echoing, “Sarah… Sarah…” Her name is Sarah, and she feels a shiver down her spine.
“Sarah… Sarah…” the voice continues, getting distorted and echoing more as she tries to resolve the customer’s issue. “Sarah… Sarah…”
She tries to ignore it, focusing on troubleshooting the caller’s problem, but it keeps getting louder, almost like a garbled, digital moan. “Sarah… Sarah…”
Then, as she’s about to finally hang up with the customer, who at this point is furious about the dropped call, she hears it one last time. She looks around, thinking it’s some kind of tech glitch. She sees that her toddler has gotten out of bed and is trying to get her attention. “Sarah…Sarah…Siri…Siri”
Okay, let’s break down this joke:
Core Elements:
- Setup: Man in a tough spot uses a graveyard shortcut to save time walking to his new job.
- Rising Tension: The spooky atmosphere, the night shift, and the mysterious “Mark, Mark” call.
- The Twist/Punchline: The source of the spooky calls is revealed to be a dog with a harelip struggling to say “Bark, Bark.”
- Humor Type: The humor is derived from a subversion of expectations. We anticipate a supernatural explanation, but it turns out to be a mundane, albeit slightly grotesque, animal sound. It’s a bit of a “shaggy dog story.”
Analysis:
The joke works because it plays on common fears and tropes associated with graveyards and the supernatural. The tension builds gradually, leading us to expect something scary, but ultimately delivers a silly and somewhat absurd explanation. The harelip detail adds a visual and auditory component to the humor.
Comedic Enrichment – The “Did You Know?” Spin:
Joke:
Why did the ghost invest in a speech therapy clinic?
Because he kept hearing, “Boo, Boo!” and thought he was just misunderstood. Turned out, he had a severe case of “spectral slur.”
Did You Know?
- While the dog in the joke has a harelip (cleft lip), it’s similar to the cleft palate more commonly referenced in medical cases.
- The origin of the phrase “shaggy dog story” stems from the notion that they lack any real punchline.
- Speech impediments are common in animals, just as they are in humans.