Funmurphys: the Blog

The World's Funniest Joke (Scientifically Proven!)

I could tell the joke, but then you'd laugh yourself to death. OK, that's a riff on a Monty Python routine, but seriously folks, a British (natch!) university decided to find the world's funniest joke. Laugh Lab set out to run a scientific experiment to find the world's funniest joke. According to The New Scientist, not only did they find the joke, they found out that the duck is the world's funniest animal. They also found that different countries had different senses of humor, and that Japan was a joke free zone. The winning joke, submitted by a psychologist in Manchester, England:

A couple of New Jersey hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls to the ground. He doesn't seem to be breathing, his eyes are rolled back in his head. The other guy whips out his cell phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps to the operator: "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator, in a calm soothing voice, says: "Just take it easy. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a shot is heard. The guy's voice comes back on the line. He says: "OK, now what?"

I'm sure those of you who’ve been paying attention immediately see how to make this joke funnier: change it to start "A couple of New Jersey duck hunters are …." Adding the world's funniest animal is bound to make the world's funniest joke even funnier.