The bartender asks, “What is this? Some kind of sick joke?”
Joke Poo: The Programming Bugs
NullPointerException, BufferOverflow, and MemoryLeak walk into a bar.
The bartender sighs and asks, “Seriously? And you’re wondering why everything’s crashing?”
Alright, let’s get our hazmat suits on and dive into this joke.
Dissection:
- Premise: The joke sets up an unexpected gathering of three major diseases: The Bubonic Plague, Covid-19, and HIV. This creates immediate incongruity – diseases don’t usually hang out in bars.
- Punchline: The bartender’s question, “What is this? Some kind of sick joke?” is a clever double entendre. It acknowledges the unusual situation literally (sick entities in a bar) while also recognizing the situation is a joke, and a rather dark one at that. The word “sick” ties everything together.
- Humor Source: The humor comes from the dark absurdity, the wordplay, and the unexpected personification of diseases. We’re laughing (nervously) at the juxtaposition of serious, life-threatening illnesses with a commonplace social setting. It’s gallows humor.
Enrichment & New Humor Creation:
Okay, time to build on this. Let’s focus on the Bubonic Plague element and twist it with a historical fact.
Fact: During the peak of the Black Death (Bubonic Plague) in the 14th century, people believed various things caused it, including bad air (miasma), the wrath of God, and even Jewish people poisoning wells. One bizarre “cure” was bloodletting, which, you guessed it, often just made things worse!
New Joke/Observation:
The Bubonic Plague, Covid, and HIV are sitting at the bar. The Plague orders a pint of blood and asks the bartender to set up a vein draining kit. The bartender raises an eyebrow. “You gonna bleed yourself in here?” The Plague sighs, “Look, I’m trying to go low-carb. All this ‘bad air’ talk is making me bloat.”
Explanation of the New Humor:
- Builds on Original: Keeps the original setup of the diseases in a bar.
- Incorporates Fact: References the belief in bloodletting as a “cure.”
- Adds Incongruity: The Plague being concerned about “low-carb” and “bloat” adds a modern, superficial concern to a historical disease. The absurdity is heightened. Also, a “vein draining kit” is a pretty dark callback to the actual effects of the disease.
- Dark Humor: Continues the original joke’s dark humor tone. We’re laughing at the absurdity of a deadly disease worrying about its figure.