Yes, I really do believe that chicken crossed the road.

Most jokes are about the release of tension. A threat is set up and then knocked down, for example.

1. The observational joke works because we realize that we have faced the threat many times before and survived.
2. The silly joke works because we realize that the threat was illogical, and therefore harmless.
3. The racist sexist etc. joke works because we realize that the threat was directed at someone who we want to suffer or be humiliated. Therefore if you use those jokes, it tells the world a lot about you.

that is why i don't buy the "i was only joking!" thing when someone tells an offensive joke. jokes don't innoculate against offense, and i'm not talking about just being super-sensitive -- i'm talking about jokes that are designed to put down a portion of the population that doesn't deserve to be put down (so that means trumpublicans are fair game!)

in addition, jokes aren't funny unless there IS some shred of truth there. that's why the one about the pope kicking [insert politician of choice] off a balcony just isn't funny. i've seen it with obama as the pol, and with trump as the pol, and it isn't funny because you can substitute anyone and it just depends on whether or not you like the person and cheer at his/her demise. there is one joke i read that was awful, just awful, because it was backwards, and it wasn't backwards because it reversed obama and trump. it was awful because they were NOT interchangeable in the reality of the joke.

here is the joke, and pardon me for repeating it, but you won't know what i mean unless i do:

i'll say burt and ernie and you can guess who is who.

burt and ernie find each other together at the same time in a barber shop. they greet each other curtly, and their respective barbers give them the required service. at the end of the ministrations, burt's barber asks him if he would like some aftershave. burt declines, saying, "i don't want to go home to my wife smelling like a whorehouse." ernie's barber asks ernie if he would like some aftershave. ernie says, "sure. my wife wouldn't know what the inside of a whorehouse smells like."

now... when i read it, burt was obama and ernie was trump. but melania is the one who has posed nude, and trump is the one who sleeps with porn stars. reversed, it would've been funny, because it had that kernel of truth in it. the way i read it, it was just maddening, not funny at all.

context, context, context!

g

I actually tell all my old jokes but remove the labeling from them.
3 ladies were at at OBGYN
the first one says "I'm gonna have a boy because I was on top"
The second one says "I'm gonna have a girl because we did it missionary"
The third one starts crying and crying
The other two console her "whats wrong dear?"
To which she replies " I'm having puppies"

Me and two of my best friends went on a trip to the Baja desert when our car broke down. It was gonna be a 2 day trek back to civilization. So my friend suggests we all carry something to help us survive.
My first friend grabs the 5 gallon jug of water, and says this will help keep us hydrated in the desert.
My other friend grabs the cooler full of snacks and says this will keep us from going hungry.
I grab the car door.
The other two pause and look at me. Why?
In case we get hot we can roll down the window...