I help run a podcast called Technically Religious, which (naturally), I strongly encourage you to go check out, subscribe, and follow. You’ll thank me for it.
In podcast #5, “Jokes I Wish I Could Tell You”, Josh Biggley, Doug Johnson, and I talked about the nature of humor, and specifically the nature of tech/IT (or more broadly, “Geek”) humor, as well as humor that is based in a particular religion.You can listen to it here: https://technicallyreligious.podbean.com/e/s1e5-jokes-i-wish-i-could-tell/ (or check the Technically Religious homepage for links to other podcast platforms like iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, PocketCast, etc).
In the course of our discussion, there were a few thoughts (and a couple of jokes) we weren’t able to include, and I simply can’t let the opportunity pass by.
First, was a joke about jokes that, in a weird twist of ironic happenstance, my 15 year old son had heard, but I hadn’t:
What do frogs and jokes have in common? When you dissect them they’re not funny
Which really sums up the essence of the whole episode, right?
Second, after I had waxed poetic about a tweet by my friend Phil Setnik (which you can still find here: https://twitter.com/PhilipSetnik/status/1105500985617719296 ), I remembered an even more obscure joke that required both religious (Jewish) knowledge, and geek street cred. It’s this one, titled “Callah Cthulhu”:
Get it??? “Bride” in hebrew is “Callah”, right?!? Also, the inscription on the bottom reads “H.P. Lovecraft – Mazel Tov!”. This is INNER JOIN ALL comedy gold, my friends.
After talking through things during the podcast, and giving it another listen, I’ve come to the conclusion that maybe Doug was right, that geek and religious humor isn’t any more “specialized” than jokes that rely on a knowledge of sports or a particular city or age, but that the population of folks who have the knowledge to make a joke work is simply smaller.
What do YOU think? Let us know in the comments below, and maybe leave a joke or two of your own.