The Best Joke in the World
Posted January 25, 2009, 09:01 ET
Some years back, after I had written a book about laughter, I appeared on a number of call-in radio shows. Inevitably I’d be asked to tell a joke. I bristled a little at this, as joke-telling seems to me a mark of an inferior wit. But when pressed I would tell what I think the Best Joke In The World:
There were two brothers. They were Hamish and Flemish.
One of them liked Frank Sinatra.
You would think it was Hamish.
But you would be wrong.
It was Flemish!
I can’t explain why that is funny. It’s a bit of a shaggy dog story, told by someone too bored to tell a shaggy dog story.
It’s also a joke that no more than 1 percent of the population thinks funny.
That’s the secret of the joke, I believe.
_2005-11-10.JPG){kind=link}
