World's Funniest Joke?

Via Lew Rockwell, I learned that the world’s funniest joke has been discovered by scientists: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=ATGBVHLUPSAEFQFIQMGSFGGAVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2006/06/09/njoke09.xml

I have to admit that the joke is pretty funny, but I don’t think it’s the very funniest ever told. It’s nice and brief, and it is not predictable. It’s got death in it. But there is surely a funnier joke.

One of my personal favorites involves a traveling salesman who saw a farmer holding a pig up to an apple tree so the pig could eat the apples on the branches. The salesman stopped and asked the farmer whether it wouldn’t save time just to shake the branches and let the pig eat the apples that fell to the ground. The farmer replied, “What’s time to a pig?” Anything with a pig in it is funny. The classic pig with a wooden leg joke is hilarious no matter how often you hear it. Is the world's funniest joke funny no matter how often you hear it?

My friends and I used to get high and exchange punch lines only. Many of the jokes were familiar classics, but even if they weren’t it could be pretty amusing (especially to someone who was baked) imagining what set up went with an unfamiliar punch line. Sometimes the funniest punch lines were related to pretty bad jokes, e.g. “Here comes Joe with a watermelon!” or “The world’s smartest man just stole my backpack.” This is a good way to recycle your jokes.

We also experimented with a new literary form known as the “unjoke”. Set up: “I met a man the other day who hadn’t had a bite in days.” Punch line: “So I treated him to a hot meal.” See what I did there? You were expecting a bad pun, but I turned it around on you. Here’s another. Set up: “A traveling salesman broke down in a rural area and asked a farmer if he could spend the night.” Punch line: “That would be fine, but I don’t have a daughter.” See what I did there? You get the picture.

Also amusing are “unriddles”. Q: “What has four wheels, a handle and a spinning blade?” A: “A lawnmower.” That cracks me up every time. My favorite unriddle goes like this. Q: “When geese fly in formation, why is one line of the ‘v’ sometimes longer than the other?” A: “Because there are more geese in that line.” I can’t keep a straight face with that one.

Of course, I can never get enough of "No soap. Radio."