Meta-joke
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Meta-joke may refer to three somewhat different, but related categories: "self-referencing jokes", "jokes about jokes" (see meta-) also known as metahumor, and "joke templates".
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[edit] Self-referential jokes
This kind of meta-joke is a joke in which the joke itself, or, rather, a certain category of joke, is part of the joke.
Examples of meta-jokes:
- An Englishman, an Irishman, and a Scotsman walk into a bar.
- The bartender turns to them, takes one look, and says "What is this - some kind of a joke?"
- Knock knock.
- Who's there?
- Boo.
- Boo who?
- Don't cry; it's only a knock-knock joke.
- A Catholic Priest, an Orthodox Rabbi and a Muslim Cleric all sit next to one another at a diner. The Rabbi turns to the other two and says,
- "Hey, did you hear the one about us?"
- A Priest, a Rabbi and a Leprechaun walk into a bar. The Leprechaun looks around and says,
- "Saints preserve us! I'm in the wrong joke!"
The usage of the term "meta" here is similar to that in meta-reference.
[edit] Joke about jokes (metahumor)
"Metahumor" as "humor about humor". Here "meta" is used to describe the fact that the joke explicitly talks about other jokes, a usage similar to the word metadata (data about data) or metatheatrics (a play within a play, as in Hamlet).
Another kind of metahumor is when jokes make fun of poor jokes. For example, a comedian may tell a terrible or absurd joke on purpose, knowing that the terribleness of the joke itself will be humorous. Anti-humor may be viewed as a kind of metahumor. Comedians such as George Carlin and Mitch Hedberg are examples of comics who use metahumor of this sort extensively in their routines. Hedberg would often follow up a joke with an admission that it was poorly told, or insist to the audience that "that was funnier than you acted." These followups usually get laughs superior to that of the perceived poor joke and serve to cover an awkward silence. Johnny Carson, especially late in his Tonight Show career, used to get uproarious laughs when reacting to a failed joke with, for example, a pained expression.
Comic strips, and webcomics especially have been known to use metahumor. Sometimes the term "meta-comic" is used to describe strips such as Pearls Before Swine or Checkerboard Nightmare.
Other entertainment media, such as TV, films, and plays may make meta-references for humorous purposes as well, see also: breaking the fourth wall.
[edit] Joke template
This kind of meta-joke is a sarcastic jab at the fact that some jokes are endlessly refitted to different circumstances or characters without significant innovation in the humor.
- "Three people of different nationalities walk into the bar. Two of them say something smart, and the third one makes a mockery of his fellow countrymen by acting dumb."
- "Three blokes walk into a pub. One of them is a little bit stupid, and the whole scene unfolds with a tedious inevitability." ~ Bill Bailey
- "How many members of a certain demographic group does it take to perform a specified task? A finite number: one to perform the task and an additional number to act in a manner stereotypical of the group in question."
Here, "meta" is used as in mathematics (like metamathematics) to refer to the fact that each of these abstracts a large class of jokes.
