One-liner joke

Encyclopedia : O : ON : ONE : One-liner joke

A one-liner is a joke that takes to its heart the principle that brevity is the soul of wit. A one-liner, in the strictest sense, is a joke that is delivered in a single line. One famous type of one-liner is the "yo mama" joke, such as "Yo mama's so fat, after she got off the carousel, the horse limped for a week." One-liners can be independent, such as the "yo mama" jokes, or situational.

One-liners are known for eliciting cheap, quick laughs, but they can become tiresome to audiences when used excessively by a performer. For example, Freddy Krueger became known for one-liners, particularly those related to the manner in which his victims died, in the A Nightmare on Elm Street series of slasher films. This was seen as a sign of the series' degradation, and indeed the trend was most prevalent towards the end of the series. Humor derived from one-liners nonetheless has the benefit of alleviating awkward situations in many cases.

Examples

"Hey Shocker! How does your absorbency compare to the leading brand?"
*Spider-Man in the Spider-Man 2 video game
"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies."
*Groucho Marx
"If all the girls who attended the Yale prom were laid end to end, I wouldn't be a bit surprised."
*Dorothy Parker
"She runs the gamut of emotions from A to B."
*Dorothy Parker, speaking of Katharine Hepburn
90% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
*Anonymous
"If you don't mind smelling like peanut butter for two or three days, peanut butter is darn good shaving cream."
*Barry Goldwater
"Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't."
*James Scott McEwan
"We are born naked, wet and hungry. Then things get worse."
*Anonymous
"Take my wife. Please." (addressing an usher.)
*Henny Youngman -known as the "King of the One-Liner."
"It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man."
*A Jack Handey "Deep Thought"
"There are three kinds of people; those who can count and those who cannot." (best delivered holding four fingers)
*Anonymous
"There are 10 kinds of people; those who understand the binary calculus and those who don't." (best delivered in print because saying "one zero" betrays the joke's punchline.)
*Anonymous
"Politics is made up of two words: "Poli," which is Greek for "many," and "tics," which are bloodsucking insects."
*Gore Vidal
"I have nothing to declare except my genius."
*Oscar Wilde, upon arriving at US customs 1882.
"I haven't slept for ten days, 'cause that would be too long."
*Mitch Hedberg
"A friend asked me if I slept well. I said, 'No, I made a few mistakes'."
*Steven Wright
"A window of opportunity for me usually involves a rock."
*Jay London
"If I could just say a few words… I’d be a better public speaker."
*The Simpsons “Much Apu About Nothing” (attributed to writer David S. Cohen)
"Rice is great if you're really hungry and want to eat two thousand of something."
*Mitch Hedberg
"Do I have amnesia? I've forgotten."
*Anonymous

Teamwork is a lot of people doing what i ask them to

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.