Ninety Nine Red Baboons

Hi everyone

Can you remember the first joke you ever heard? I think this one is probably mine.

If an elephant climbs up a tree, how does it get down again?

Sits on a leaf and waits until Autumn.

That was definitely a "dad joke" as it was my late father who told it to me. I think I might have been about six at the time. Sixty years on, I can still remember laughing at it but also not really understanding why it was funny. But I could definitely see the elephant on the leaf up in the tree and that was the part of the experience which made me laugh.

When I was about the same age, I also found an old First Aid book which had jokes in it and they weren't even Doctor, Doctor jokes, either.

One of the very first ones I remember reading and understanding, if not finding absolutely hilarious, was a variation of this old favourite:

Johnny: My sister's gone on holiday.

Peter: Jamaica?

Johnny: No, she wanted to go.

Although I think I liked the rhythm of the way the joke was written, it was definitely the clever play on words to create the humour which struck me. Although I had no idea then, I was probably hearing my first ever "pun" and jokes that rely on puns are something I've loved hearing and writing, ever since.

So if you asked me what my favourite joke is, I'd probably say the one that made me laugh really, really loudly in a cinema packed full of people. It's the scene from the film Airplane! when one of the characters requests a ticket to board a plane and the booking clerk asks if they want smoking or non-smoking. It's a very silly gag and if you've not seen the film, I won't spoil the joke for you, but the combination of the visual pun and the actual pun makes the perfect joke, at least for me, anyway.

One of the things I like to do, especially when I can't get to sleep, is to re-invent titles that combine categories such as films with food and drink. It's a great way of coming up with inventive (or not!) puns and here are a few of my current favourites for the category of pop songs.

Theme = Animals

1) Ninety Nine Red Baboons

2) Great Bulls of Fire

3) Cow herd of the County

4) Our Mouse

5) No Bunny Does It Better

Theme = Sport

1) Eye of the Tiger Woods

2) Wichita Linesman

3) Ain't That A Free Kick In The Head

4) Misty Blue Ball

5) After the Gold Medal Rush

Theme = Body Parts

1) Hair, There and Everywhere

2) When I Kneed You

3) Holding Back the Ears 

4) Absolute Beginners (Think about it!)

5) Love Me Tendon

 

So...my grammar school education wasn't wasted after all. My old headmistress would be very proud (!)