Humorless jokes/Absurdity

[Ethan]

Wow. Great example. Definitely not funny.

[Joel]

On a lighter note:

Q: Know why there's only one Eiffel Tower?

A: It eats its young.

[Gary]

A long story:

I was in a standup club a few decades back during that whole Improv craze. The "comedian" on stage, doubling as the MC and "warming up" the crowd, was a mustachioed white guy. He looked like a young Gabe Kaplan, but not as sophisticated and debonair, shall we say. White jacket. Gold bracelets. He launched into this long "impersonation" of Jesse Jackson in which he used a voice that didn't just sound nothing like Jackson, but was one of the worst, stereotypical voices imaginable. It was like a late 80s/early 90s amateur version version of a blackface minstrel act out of vaudeville without the makeup. I've heard self-professed racists attempt an insulting characterization of Ebonics that were not this bad. This whole routine had no setups more than naming celebrities and politicians followed by some sort of declaration. "Madonna? Yeah! Come git sum o' 'dis, cracker ass bitch! Oh, yeah!" or "Mike Tyson? I beat yo' ass! Oh, yeah! Dat right, I'm Jesse muther fuckin' Jackson! Yeah!"

There's several minutes of this. It just goes on and on. I got way, WAY past thinking it was actually some sort of subversive, underground performance art piece that I had stumbled into. It wasn't good enough to be that bad, or bad enough to be that good. It just was what it was. The crowd, which was also almost entirely white and suburban, is stone silent, just staring at the guy. Finally, I just sighed, but I was in about the third row, and with the silence of the crowd, it's pretty audible. So, he turns to me and says, "Oh, you got a problem, muther fucker?" Still doing his "Jesse Jackson" voice.

"Where do you think you are?" I asked him.

"Oh, yeah! He wants sum! He wants sum o' 'dis! Yeah! You wants sum o' 'dis, huh? Yeah! I'm Jesse Jackson! You wanna fuck with me, muther fucker?" He kept going with this question, repeating it several times. Seriously, there's a good half minute of him asking me if I "wanted sum."

"Sure. If it's funny then bring it," I said.

But he didn't. He just turned away and kept going with his routine, facing the other side of the stage. "Janet Jackson? I'm Jesse Jackson, bitch! Yeah!" This went on for another 2-3 minutes. Seemed longer. The crowd just sat there, not even sipping their drinks. Finally he says, "Well, that's all for me tonight, folks." He introduced the next comedian and put the mike back on the stand. The whole place is still silent. Next guy comes up, claps his hands and says the MC's name. The crowd is still just sitting there, staring at the new guy.

"Do you want to go?" I asked my buddy.

"OK," he said.

We got up and had to sidestep out of the crowded seats, so it took a bit. It's still silent. The guy on stage is watching us leave, just standing there in front of an open mike. Finally when we got to the door he started: "How's everyone doin' tonight? Having fun? Having fun yet?" Silence.

Worst thing I ever saw on stage, and I sat through Starlight Express twice.

[Martin]

Those who enjoyed watching the British comedy series "Allo Allo" will remember:

"A German joke is no laughing matter"

[Joel]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBYZi...