For this post, I want to tell you about what I call the "I'll Start Packing" Joke which is at the same time my favorite typical joke and the one I dislike the most. My favorite because it is so simple and so often used that, just like a word you repeat over and over again, it lost all meaning. The one I dislike the most because I really hate seing it in modern shows since it is so unoriginal.
You might have guessed from its name what joke I'm talking about, just in case, here's a basic example :
Imagine a couple in bed discussing vacation plans when their son enters.
WIFE : Honey, we could use a vacation.
HUSBAND : You know we can't afford it.
Enter SON who is a trouble-maker of some sort.
SON : Dad ! Dad ! I just managed to build my own flame-thrower !
WIFE and HUSBAND look at each other.
HUSBAND and WIFE together : I'll start packing !
Ok. So, see how that works ? The joke has the same reversed outcome as Typical Joke n° 1.
You know how they say that if you explain a joke, it's not funny anymore ? It doesn't apply in this post since the joke was never funny.
What this joke creates, is a virtual reality where (in the example I just gave you) the family can't afford a vacation. Yet, the rest of the episode will be about the family on vacation ! and we forget the money problem. The need to take a vacation is greater than staying at home dealing with the pyromaniacal son or the lack of cash.
Usually, the tipping point that makes the characters change their mind is either so serious it becomes funny, or completely absurd. Also, the tipping point, if related to a character just like in our example, must surpass the said-character's behavior to insure that the joke will be funny.
This joke appears mostly in "audience" type sitcoms which are, in my opinion, less funny than "non-audience" shows. I think the laugh-box is a turn-off for me.
The fact that the couple says the punch-line together is really important, although not mandatory. When characters say the same line together, it's often a sign that they are saying what the viewer is thinking, thus making the joke relatable since the viewer had already got to the punch-line in his/her mind.
I understand that this joke might appear in pre-1990's sitcoms but not after. It's so weak, it's not even funny and we should lock up any writer that puts it in an episode nowadays.
The joke has many shapes, not always with two characters saying the punch-line. It can be a character having planned a quiet evening at home when someone offers to spend the night out and the first character refuses only to enter his/her apartment and find all kinds of shenanigans happening and then says to the second character : "So what time did you say you were going out ?".
Well, that Typical Joke n° 2 for you, 'hoped you liked it !
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Thank you,
TRJ
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