Just in case you did not see this, I felt you should see what may be the most awkward moment in the history of the world. This is Australian anchor Karl Stefanovic who decides that, if you have the spiritual leader of millions of Buddhists for an interview, you should start with a joke.
The lost in translation problem starts with issues like “what is pizza?”
See, it works.
I’ve found the way to stop a circle of joke telling is with the following:
So a Priest a Rabbi and a Nun walk into a bar, the Bartender asks, “What is this some kind of joke?”
It works because the time it takes people to get that the joke’s over breaks the rhythm of the “Joke, everybody laughs and while they’re laughing thinks of the next joke to tell.”
Bob Wall,
I beg to differ. That’s not a bad joke. It’s a tasteless joke. But it hits on all fours as a joke – setup, exaggeration, punchline and meter. Another example of this kind of joke are dead baby jokes.
Which is easier to unload? A truck full of bowling balls or a truck load of dead babies?
A truck load of dead babies because you can use a pitchfork.
My idea of a bad joke is an alleged Constitutional scholar who runs for President on a campaign platform of addressing the Constitutional crimes and damage done by the previous administration who, on top of turning a blind eye once elected, turns around and claims he has the right to assassinate American citizens without the benefit of due process and that he isn’t responsible to Congress in asking for permission to go to war.
The worst joke ever? How about the one told to me by a public defender:
A young boy and a child molester are walking into the woods, late on a moonless night.
The boy tells the molester, “It’s so dark out here, I’m really scared.”
The molester responds, “You’re scared? I’ve got to walk out of these woods alone.”
There are Tibetan Buddhist’s and then there are Zen Buddhists; know your audience.
the reporter forgot the best part:
after receiving his slice, the Lama hands over a $20 bill. The cashier takes the money and thanks him for his patronage. Several awkward moments later the Lama asks “but what about my change?”
the cashier replies: “change comes only from within”
(from Christopher Hitchens)
“‘I’m a Marxist,’ Dalai Lama tells Chinese students”
Which Marx? Groucho? Harpo? Zeppo?
It’s a perfectly good joke. Just not the kind of joke you tell someone who is not fluent in English…. Or Bdaman…. Or Tootie.
Boy did he butcher that joke. When something throws off the timing of your joke, stall until you get it back.
Just ask Bill Murray.
“‘I’m a Marxist,’ Dalai Lama tells Chinese students”
So?
Marxist:: short for “thievery at gunpoint”.
In my country, these clowns on house-wife, stone-slacker, non-thinking-TV are as dumb as in other parts of the world I believe.
Like the USofA, we’re developing a Pride-In-Stupidity and Kkkkaarrrllll is one of the pin-up-boys for stoopid in Australia.
‘I’m a Marxist,’ Dalai Lama tells Chinese students
Tsering Namgyal, a journalist based in Minneapolis, was jolted by the Dalai Lama’s talk to 150 Chinese students this month at the University of Minnesota. Writing at Religion Dispatches, he says:
Midway through the conversation, His Holiness, much to their surprise, told them “as far as socio-political beliefs are concerned, I consider myself a Marxist … But not a Leninist,” he clarified.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2011/06/dalai-lama-china-marx-communism/1
“During his interview with the Dalai Lama, who was on a visit to Sydney, Australia, Karl Stefanovic attempted to crack a Zen pizza joke.
“So the Dalai Lama walks into a pizza shop,” said Stefanovic.
“Pizza shop,” the Dalai Lama repeated.
At that moment, Stefanovic should have known his joke was doomed, but bravely continued.
“Pizza shop yes, and says can you make me one with everything,” he said.”
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Some jokes are just better left unsaid….then we have the ones I wouldn’t miss for a hamburger…..