The Black Box Joke
The Black Box Joke An essay by Riley Joyce There are some jokes that will always be with us; such as the simplest “knock-knock” joke, or the banal banana peel slip. For many of us, Mad Libs, “knock-knock” jokes, and bad puns are the earliest forms of humor we’re exposed to as children. They are safe, clean, and use a simple form of logic. Even when we tell bawdy barroom jokes over drinks, there’s a certain “surprising, yet inevitable” formula at play. On some unconscious level we know what direction the joke will take. But on a conscious level we want to be surprised. We don’t dare give away the punch line, unless the old cliché, “stop me if you’ve heard this one,” is invoked. While this type of humor isn’t the most sophisticated, it doesn’t have to be. It just has to work. A little laugh from a basic set up, followed by a punch line. They are simple, effective, and based on some sort of reason. The antithesis of this would be the Black Box Joke . This is a phrase that I’ve coined...