You're Joking: Create your own Knock-Knock Jokes

by Tom E. Moffatt

Knock bad jokes on the head!
Learn everything there is to know about knock-knock jokes, from their history and types to crafting your own knock-out punchlines.
Packed full of tips, easy-to-follow exercises and 100+ hilarious examples, this book gives you know-how to knock together thousands of your own jokes.

Craft classic knock-knock jokes, like this
Knock, knock...
Who's there?
Ewan
Ewan who?
Ewan me need to talk.

Or Unrestricted knock-knock
Knock, knock...
Who's there?
Waiter
Waiter who?
Waiter minute, I think I'm at the wrong house!

And have a go at making your own sound-play
Knock, knock...
Who's there?
Howie
Howie who?
I'm fine, thank you.

And can you break the rules, like this?
Ding-dong!
Who's there?
Isabelle
Isabelle who?
Isabelle not better than a knocker these days?

This book will make you so funny, your friends will be knocking your door down for more jokes!

216 pages, Paperback

Published November 9, 2021

About the author

Tom E. Moffatt writes humorous stories and jokes for kids, but if you spotted him walking around town you wouldn’t know it. To the untrained eye, he looks like a normal 40-something father of three young girls. You know … with a glittery school bag slung over his shoulder and nail polish on his fingers.

Reviews

[Conscientious · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humor at its best! Tom E. Moffatt in his book You're Joking: Create your own Knock-Knock Jokes has illuminated simple knock knock jokes to a league of its own. The author has well-crafted guideline with which one can easily learn to make hilarious punchlines to the joke. The book is divided into chapters which gives information on the history, the number of types, what to include and so much more that skillfully teaches for a guaranteed fun filled journey of knock knock jokes merriment.

I personally know that it is not easy to deliver a joke that drives the point but the author has explained with humor and easy to understand tips with illustrations for a winning result. I could not keep the book down and it had me cracking with delight with each page with all the useful information to become an artist of my own for the knock knock jokes with an outstanding punchline. Highly recommend it to anyone to deliver fun filled enjoyment at a family gathering or at a party, it is bound to work everywhere.

[Ashley Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A niche must read!

I have never before realized that I wished to know where knock-knock jokes came from. I picked up Tom Moffatt’s You’re Joking: Creating Your Own Knock-knock Jokes because it felt like weird and fun skill to have, and I was not disappointed. Moffatt breaks down the structure of a knock-knock joke and its origin, and is very funny whilst doing so. It’s not easy to teach people to be funny, so writing this book was really taking a shot, but I think it's great. I’m excited and fully willing to be that person that exists through knock-knock jokes, and am glad to have a different one for each encounter rather than just saying the same one over and over again. Really fun, and interesting!

[Dani Savante · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must say that I was very surprised when I found this book in the story. I would have never imagined that such a clever book about this topic existed. I understand that the subject matter is one especially difficult to transmit and teach but the author does it perfectly. He not only gives more than a hundred examples but he also helps people develop their own capacity to create jokes through exercises and practical advice.
I have always thought that good joke tellers are born with the ability of making people laugh but after reading this book I understood that it is possible to train and learn this technique to charm the public. I found this work enlightening and entertaining and I enjoyed it a lot. I recommend it.

[Carlee Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very niche read, but with the pictures and the style of writing, I felt it was very appropriate for a middle grade reader and written in an accessible way. I think kids that read at this level would find this book entertaining and educational. It’s very engaging, but I am unsure if the average middle grade reader would want to follow this book all the way through, unless they are extremely interested in joke-telling. I did appreciate how it went so detailed into the process of creating different types of knock-knock jokes. Overall, I really enjoyed this fun and humorous read! I will definitely keep trying to create my own knock-knock jokes to share. Thank you Book Sirens for providing me with a copy of this book.

[Manu Sanchez · Rating 4 out of 5]

We all know the aim of a joke is to make people laugh, however, this laugh is not always taken for granted, jokers need to know how to joke well.
This book is packed with useful tips and exercises that allow us to craft chucklesome jokes. Also, 100+ hilarious jokes are disclosed for us to have as good instances of proper jokes. Building them is easier after reading this book, and it has been great to learn how to make good knock-knock jokes while laughing out loud during the reading.
The line between a witty joke and an offensive one isn't always clear and Moffatt helps us avoid crossing it and look like a clown, or something worse than that.

[Aneley Sánchez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laugh out loud!

Making someone laugh is for me one of the best talents out there. But it is a big challenge, a really difficult task. The New Zealand humorist Tom E. Moffatt is the author of You're Joking: Create your own Knock-Knock Jokes, a book which tells the story of knock-knock jokes and offers a practical guide for creating our own jokes.
I don't consider myself very good as a joker but I would really like learning. This book has interesting and funny information about jokes, their structure and how to write and to tell them. Also, it is one of those cases where I honestly appreciate images and drawings in a book, they give it a nice touch. I recommend it!

[Laura Lea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fabulous! As a parent of 9 and 6 year old boys I constantly hear their own invented knock knock jokes that fall totally flat! This book lays out in clear and concise terms how to create your own joke that lands, in a way both I and my boys understand. The techniques to use make sense and are fun to do together. Not only that but the author provides many examples that my boys loved and had them shouting "I get it!". Highly recommend for all ages who are wanting to create their own knock knock jokes!

Thank you to the author and publisher for this ARC. My opinions are solely my own.

[Mia C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was very surprised to find this book because, although I’ve read books with jokes, I have never found one that tells how to make a joke or the history of the knock-knock ones. My nieces loved it. The one who’s 13 read it to her little 5-year-old sister and they both had fun.
The drawings included are very entertaining although I would put them in colour to make the best of them. Another slight criticism is that I believe it is quite long for the intended audience.
Anyways, it is very entertaining and it’s great as a gift to the kids at home so that they start reading.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would like to thank Book Sirens for a copy of this book.

I must say that I am not the target audience for this book. It perked my interest when I saw it as I thought it could be fun to go through with the grand kids. On the negative side, the jokes are worse then anything my grandfather would say. They are not funny. The positive side of this book is that it can help work with kids to develop creativity skills. Things such as brainstorming and mind mapping are covered and can be very helpful.

[Clotilde Menendez · Rating 4 out of 5]

All a kid would ever want to know about knock-knock jokes, from their history (the fact that Shakespeare possibly was the first to come up with one of them in 1606, wow!) to how to come up with their own. Maybe this book is excellent for a shy wallflower or an awkward young person who wants to come out of their shell and blossom into someone really popular among their peers.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a ARC free from Book Sirens and this is my voluntary honest review.
Hilarious illustrations!
Fun!
Clever!
Imaginative!
Entertaining!
Fabulous!
Excellent!
Enjoy!

[Monkeys Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! It was amazing. It was so beautiful. I was hooked from the beginning. I was hanging onto every word.