When one of the parents was picking up their kid they commented,”Did you get the idea for this from that movie?”
I said,”I did!”
They go,”Oh my god! I loved Daddy Daycare!”
I replied,” Actually, it was Apocalypse Now”
Joke Poo: Potty Training Apocalypse
I’m a kindergarten teacher and I started an intensive potty training camp for particularly resistant kids.
When one of the parents was picking up their (finally) successful child, they commented, "Did you get the idea for this from that book?"
I said, "I did!"
They go, "Oh my gosh! I loved Everyone Poops! Such a great resource!"
I replied, "Actually, it was Heart of Darkness."
Alright, let’s dissect this joke.
Core Elements:
- Premise: A stay-at-home dad runs a daycare. This is a fairly standard setup, suggesting wholesome family values and responsible childcare.
- Misdirection: The parent’s comment about getting the idea from a movie immediately points to the expected answer: "Daddy Day Care," a lighthearted comedy about stay-at-home dads starting a daycare.
- Punchline: The unexpected and absurd answer, "Apocalypse Now," creates humor through incongruity. "Apocalypse Now" is a dark, intense war film, the antithesis of a typical daycare environment. The humor lies in the clash of expectations and the implied (but hopefully not actual!) chaos and trauma of the daycare.
- Implied Horror: The humor also stems from the unspoken implication: what exactly is going on at this daycare if "Apocalypse Now" inspired it?
Now, let’s use these elements to generate some comedic enrichment:
1. New Joke:
I run a coding bootcamp for toddlers. Parents are always asking about the curriculum. One mom said, "Wow, it must be based on ‘Hello Ruby’ or something equally wholesome." I said, "Actually, it’s a deep dive into the Linux kernel. By age four, they’re contributing patches. We call it ‘Full Metal Jacket… for diapers!’"
Analysis: This joke mirrors the original structure.
- Premise: Toddlers coding bootcamp
- Misdirection: Expectation is "Hello Ruby" (children’s coding book)
- Punchline: "Full Metal Jacket" (another intense war film), which is incongruous and slightly disturbing.
2. Witty Observation / Amusing ‘Did You Know’:
Did you know that Francis Ford Coppola, director of ‘Apocalypse Now,’ actually considered having his son Roman Coppola, then just a child, play a role in the film? It makes you wonder what the "End of days" scene would look like in this daycare
Analysis:
This capitalizes on the "Apocalypse Now" element of the original joke and introduces a slightly unsettling factual tidbit. This makes the connection to daycare even funnier.
3. Extended Joke / Anecdote:
So, about that "Apocalypse Now" daycare… Yeah, the kids are okay, mostly. It’s me I’m worried about. Every morning, I look in the mirror and tell myself, "I love the smell of napalm… I mean, lavender baby lotion… in the morning." And during snack time, I find myself whispering, "The horror… the horror…" as they smear pureed peas on their faces. I even started calling circle time "The Heart of Darkness" because, let’s face it, getting 10 toddlers to sit still is a descent into madness.
Analysis: This continues and escalates the original premise by creating a whole world of humorous connections between the film and the daycare experience. This makes the joke a longer punchline which could be funny depending on delivery.