Tarzan and Jane

Joke Poo: Farmer Giles and Bess

After Farmer Giles and his prize-winning sow, Bess, had spent years together tending the fields, Giles finally decided to confess his… intimate feelings.

Giles, bless his simple heart, had never been with a woman before, so Bess, being a worldly pig, asks him what he normally does when he gets… well, lonely.

“Giles find muddy puddle,” he confessed, blushing crimson.

“Right,” Bess grunted. “Well, just do to me what you do to the muddy puddle.”

Giles gives a nod, understanding dawning in his eyes, and Bess stretches out, closing her eyes and presenting herself.

Suddenly, Giles lets out a mighty bellow and starts splashing mud all over Bess.

“OI! WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?” Bess squealed, covered head-to-trotter in muck.

“GILES CHECK FOR WORMS!”

Alright, let’s break down this Tarzan joke.

Key Elements:

• The Setup: Tarzan’s naivete regarding human intimacy, contrasted with Jane’s (relatively) modern understanding.
• The Misunderstanding: Jane’s attempt to translate Tarzan’s previous experience into a relatable instruction goes horribly wrong. The punchline hinges on a literal interpretation.
• The Pun: The double meaning of “hole” and “bees” (or lack thereof in Jane’s situation) provides the humor. It plays on the jungle theme and primitive living.

Analysis:

The joke derives its humor from the incongruity between expectation and reality. We expect a romantic encounter, but receive a primal, violently literal interpretation. The “bees” punchline is effective because it is unexpected, illogical within the context of human intimacy, but perfectly logical within the context of Tarzan’s previous (implied) actions. The joke relies on stereotypes of Tarzan as unsophisticated and Jane as a woman trying to introduce civilized ways.

Comedic Enrichment:

Let’s build on this. Here are a few options:

Option 1: A “Did You Know?” approach

Did you know that the fear of bees is called apiphobia? The irony, of course, is that Tarzan isn’t afraid of bees; he’s just checking for them in the most… Tarzan-esque way possible. Apparently, his jungle training didn’t include a course on appropriate apiary inspection techniques in romantic situations, which is a real shame, given how often that comes up on dates.

Option 2: A New, Related Joke:

Tarzan and Jane are discussing their honeymoon plans.

Jane says, “I want to go somewhere romantic, maybe Paris!”

Tarzan frowns. “Paris? No good. Tarzan try swing across Seine River. Fall in. Smell like fancy cheese for weeks!”

(Analysis: Builds on Tarzan’s jungle background, emphasizing conflict with his increasing ‘civilization.’)

Option 3: A Witty Observation

The problem with asking Tarzan to improvise is that he never seems to understand the difference between “Think outside the box” and “Break the box with extreme prejudice.” He always takes the path of least resistance and most potential for accidental (and hilarious) bodily harm.

Option 4: A Meta-Commentary on the Original Joke:

You know, the real tragedy of that Tarzan and Jane joke isn’t the accidental crotch-punt; it’s that Jane, even after years of living in the jungle, still hadn’t mastered the Tarzan-to-English dictionary of euphemisms. She should have known that any sentence involving “hole” and Tarzan had a 90% chance of ending with property damage and/or a tetanus shot.

I tried to generate different types of jokes based on the original, using the key elements I identified. Hopefully some of these additions were worth a chuckle.