The Volokh Conspiracy
[Jonathan Adler, March 13, 2007 at 11:02pm] Trackbacks
The Muffin Joke:

Redheadlaw7 and I are with Jack: It's a very funny joke. The New York Times doesn't get it. I blame liberal media bias.

Sasha Volokh (mail) (www):
Dude! The muffin joke is hilarious!
3.13.2007 11:07pm
crane (mail):
I'm a liberal, and I laughed. But then, I'm not in the media by any stretch of the term.
3.13.2007 11:16pm
JB:
As I posted over there,

It's funny because of a high density of punch lines.

1) Talking muffins!
2) Talking muffins remarkably unconcerned about being baked in an oven.
3) Talking muffins breaking the fourth wall.

It's like that Far Side cartoon with the cows in the house, sitting on the couch. The phone rings, and one cow says "There it goes again, and here we sit without opposable thumbs!"
3.13.2007 11:17pm
Eli Rabett (www):
Depends on the delivery
3.13.2007 11:24pm
M (mail):
Maybe you're joking here now, too, but isn't it the moron John Tierney writing this up, and isn't he a right winger? (It's one of the very good things about Times Select that it keeps me from having to read his garbage.)
3.13.2007 11:25pm
Jonathan H. Adler (mail) (www):
Yes, M. Please try and keep up.
3.13.2007 11:40pm
L Hunt:
Reminds me of my favorite joke.

Two cows are grazing in a field.

One cow says to the other, "I don't know about you, but I'm pretty worred about that mad cow disease that's going around."

The other cow says, "Nah, I'm not worried. I'm a helicopter."
3.14.2007 12:33am
htom (mail):
It was funny enough.
3.14.2007 12:33am
Armen (mail) (www):
I've been debating this all day with a friend of mine. I mean I've tried reasoning with her. I even tried a few gold gems on her on my own.

Q: What do you say to a two-headed dragon?
A: Hello, hello.

Pure gold
3.14.2007 12:36am
Duffy Pratt (mail):
I laughed. I told it to my wife. She laughed. From this, I deduce that the joke is funny.
3.14.2007 1:50am
TRE:
REAL MEN DO NOT LAUGH. LAUGHING IS FOR WOMEN
3.14.2007 1:55am
Joe Viola (mail):
A good joke in the same vein is at White Ninja Comics, http://whiteninjacomics.com/comics/colin.shtml
3.14.2007 2:01am
Brian K (mail):
Its funny, but not that funny.

The family guy skit with the pilsbury doughboy is so much funnier. hahaha...
3.14.2007 4:12am
baclaw (mail):
I'm afraid to say that I was by myself when I read the joke and STILL laughed, which proves it must be funny.
3.14.2007 7:25am
TheGoodReverend (mail) (www):
A priest, a rabbi, a minister, a redneck, the Pope, and a blonde walk into a bar. Bartender says, "What is this, some kind of joke?"
3.14.2007 7:53am
Dan Greenberg (mail) (www):
It's funny, but SV's post on deconstructionism, just above, is much funnier.
3.14.2007 8:08am
Mike Keenan:
I laughed out loud sitting here reading it by myself. It reminds me of a silly and clever joke a 10 year old might come up with.
3.14.2007 8:19am
Justin (mail):
Former Supreme Court Law Professors saying "dude" is pretty funny too.
3.14.2007 9:38am
Alex R:
I think this a blogsphere/MSM thing... The blogosphere is coming out strongly pro-muffin.
3.14.2007 9:57am
David C. (www):
just because Tierney cant tell a joke doesnt make it any less funny.

It is all in the delivery
3.14.2007 10:31am
Spartacus (www):
No soap, radio.
3.14.2007 10:36am
NRWO:
I liked the muffin joke. I actually began laughing at the beginning of the joke ("Two muffins baking in the oven"). I imagined two muffins in an oven baking something or smoking pot. Not quite a double (or triple) entrende. Neither interpretation carries a sexual connotation.
3.14.2007 10:36am
James Dillon (mail):
I think it's funny. My co-clerk disagrees, but she has no sense of humor anyway.
3.14.2007 10:45am
Sabu mark (www):
Count the punchlines.

A horse walks into a bar.

The bartender asks, "Why the long face?"

The horse replies, "My wife just died."

Another customer says, "Wait, I didn't think horses had wives."

The bartender replies, "Well, this one sure doesn't."
3.14.2007 10:51am
redheadlaw7 (mail):
Ooooooooo....the horse one is just wrong...yet still funny. The staff at my court is not getting much done today. Just lots of talk of verbose muffins, loony cows, and mourning horses. Oh...and now my co-clerk is laughing about dogs and telegraphs????
3.14.2007 11:07am
TaxLawyer:
Another vote for funny. Very funny. And as a tax lawyer, I should know. (cf. Martin Ginsburg, "Basic tax, as everyone knows, is the only genuinely funny subject in law school.")
3.14.2007 11:36am
Yankev (mail):
The Prairie Home Companion movie beat the NYT to this debate, as characters in the movie debated whether the penguin story qualifies as a joke:

Two penguins are standing on an ice flow. The first one asks "How come you always look like you're wearing a tuxedo?"

The second replies "What makes you so sure I'm not?"

I voted yes. My wife voted no. My chavrusa voted yes and gave several of the same reasons that support the muffin joke.
3.14.2007 11:36am
Waldensian (mail):
Strong joke for funny on the muffin joke.

The penguin/tuxedo thing, meanwhile, does nothing for me. It could just be me.

Interestingly, when I first heard the joke that forms the basis of the movie "The Aristocrats," I thought it wasn't very funny at all. By the end, I was howling at each new version. Weird.
3.14.2007 11:48am
Hattio (mail):
I have to vote for not funny. I didn't think it was funny in the version I first heard (a very LOOOOONG version with two talking racehorses and a talking dog). I also don't think the penguin joke is funny. However, the cow joke by L Hunt was very funny.


And BTW, Justin, what exactly is a Supreme Court Law Professor?
3.14.2007 12:07pm
Hattio (mail):
Wadensian,
In my opinion the funniest thing about the Aristocrats was the Sarah Silverman version.
3.14.2007 12:08pm
Steve Henderson (mail):
Am I a cretin because I find it funnier when the second muffin says "Holy sh*t!" instead of "Holy cow!"?
3.14.2007 12:29pm
jp2 (mail):
I tried the muffin joke. Nothing.
3.14.2007 12:34pm
Spartacus (www):
Okay: two elephants are taking a bath. One elephant says to the other elephant, "could you please pass the soap." The second elephant replies, "no soap, radio."

No one ever heard that joke (if it could be called one)? It's definitely not funny, and makes the point that you can get some people to laugh at anything.
3.14.2007 12:39pm
jp2 (mail):
Yes, I have heard the "no soap, radio" joke. Back in the '70s, I think.
3.14.2007 1:12pm
Mr. Bingley (www):
A cannibal goes to visit his cousin in a neighboring village, and finds him sitting on the floor holding his stomach in agony.

"Bob" he says, "What's the matter?"

"Oh Tom, last night we boiled and ate that missionary, and today we've all got the worst case of indigestion."

"Well no wonder, Bob; he was a friar..."

I'm here all week folks.
3.14.2007 1:21pm
DustyR (mail) (www):
I smiled at the muffin joke, but didn't laugh. I'll chalk that up to having heard so many versions of it that it was immediately put in the "I've heard it before" and for some reason a frog popped into my mind. Still and all, I am strongly pro-muffin, especially banana nut.

I really do like The Good Rev's joke, as well as Sabu Mark's and Yankev's.

Oh, and Spartacus, thanks for the laugh. Dang it that you didn't even have to ask the riddle's question. It reminded me of one from childhood that my brother told me, so, a little OT but I wonder if folks have been asked this riddle.

Q: If a chicken and a half, can lay an egg and a half, in a day and a half, how long would it take a monkey with a wooden leg to kick the seeds out of a dill pickle?

If so, what answer were you told and did you think funny?
3.14.2007 1:27pm
Yankev (mail):
Dusty,

The penguin story, to be fair, is either Garrison Keillor's or Robert Altman's.

As far as answers, I'm not sure I heard the question before, but any of the following substance-induced quips from the early 70's come to mind:

24, because ice cream doesn't have any bones.

Depends; do you walk to school, or carry your lunch?

Just sit down for a minute with your legs between your head.
3.14.2007 2:00pm
theophylact:
Neither; one leg is both the same.
3.14.2007 2:18pm
Dan Simon (mail) (www):
Q: According to Freud, what comes between fear and sex?





A: Funf.
3.14.2007 2:26pm
SCS:
Favorite joke ever.
3.14.2007 2:48pm
Pete Freans (mail):
The muffin joke reminds of one of the thousands of memorable Simpsons exchanges: Bart is fitted with thick eye glasses, theruputic shoes, and ointment for his hair by his doctors. He approaches his friend Milhouse, sees his reflection in Milhouses' thick glasses and proclaims, (GASP) "I'm a nerd!". To which Milhouse replies after seeing his reflection in Bart's thick glasses,(GASP) "So am I!"
3.14.2007 2:52pm
GMC70:
All Good - there are no bad jokes. My current favorite:


Q: Why does a chicken coop have two doors?





A: Because if it had four doors, it would be a chicken sedan.

Sh-bang.
3.14.2007 3:14pm
Maniakes (mail):
Two Soviet soldiers are guarding a desolate stretch of border. One looks across the border and says "are you thinking what I'm thinking, Comrade?"

The second soldier replies "I think so."

"Then it is my duty to arrest you."
3.14.2007 4:04pm
Duffy Pratt (mail):
What's the difference between Capitalism and Communism?

Capitalism is a barbaric system based upon man oppressing man. Whereas, in Communism, its the other way around.
3.14.2007 4:11pm
jp2 (mail):
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One of them looks at the other and says, "Does this taste funny to you?"
3.14.2007 5:05pm
Caliban Darklock (www):
The ultimate unfunny joke, of course, is:

"That's what SHE said!"

I use that one all the time.
3.14.2007 5:09pm
Caliban Darklock (www):
So Communism is a barbaric man based on system oppressing system?
3.14.2007 5:09pm
Craig Oren (mail):
Duffy's joke about capitalism and socialism goes back at least to Len Deighton's Funeral in Berlin, published in 1964. There the joke is told by a Soviet intelligence agent, in East Germany, who recounts that "we arrested a man for telling that today!"
3.14.2007 6:49pm
Amelia in Texas:
I think the muffin joke is funny because the second muffin, who presumably must himself be a talking muffin in order to exclaim that the first muffin can talk, would be surprised to hear a muffin talk.

The absurdity of it is delightful. Same for the cow joke.

The joke about the two Soviet soldiers is funny because it's snarky (and I dearly love snark) as well as for its absurdity.
3.14.2007 9:52pm
Just John:
The aforementioned joke about the two racehorses and the dog is not funny... because it's supposed to be two racehorses and a bird. THEN it's hilarious. :D
3.15.2007 3:07am
HomerJay (mail):

one leg is both the same.

Wow...that brings back...not exactly memories, as I can't remember where I've heard it before, but it certainly cause bells to go off in my brain.
3.15.2007 10:06am
Yankev (mail):
What's the difference between a duck?
3.15.2007 10:52am
KeithK (mail):
I find it very funny that the "lowly graduate student" took it as confirmation of his authority theory when people didn't laugh at his joke during a conference presentation. Did it ever cross his mind that either neuroscience PhD's don't have much of a sense of humor or that a scientific conference is just a bad place to tell jokes? I suspect that both are true having been to a number of scientific conferences (although in a different field).
3.15.2007 1:26pm
Yankev (mail):
Did it ever cross his mind that either neuroscience PhD's don't have much of a sense of humor or that a scientific conference is just a bad place to tell jokes?



Ture, KeithK -- or that some folks just don't know how to tell one.
3.15.2007 4:12pm
HomerJay (mail):

What's the difference between a duck?


Thanks, Yankev! My brother, who is 10 years older than me, used to tell me that one when I was a little kid. Warms the cockles, it does.

And by the way, the muffin joke is very funny.

OT - I've had a lot of problems reaching TVC the last few days - have their been domain problems?
3.16.2007 2:11pm

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