From 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things...
Okay, I think I lifted this joke from an old public access show I worked on, Big B's Traveling Sideshow (which I had done before). The show had done a bit called "Jokes Illustrated" (not written by me) which did the old time "Masterpiece Theater" bit to old jokes. I wrote a sequel to it, which was a bit more elaborate and never got to do it. So, I pulled it out here, when I might have been stuck for an idea. It's not a bad sketch but it didn't make the cut.
Jokes Illustrated
(AC: Allistar Codcake, LE: Leopold, TH: The Huns, CJ: Court Jester, MN: Man, WO: Woman, GK)
AC: Good evening and welcome to "Jokes Illustrated." I'm your host, Allistar Codcake bringing you a closer, more focused view of jokes and the people who make them. Tonight, we examine the Knock-Knock joke.
Knock-Knock jokes have only been with us since medieval times, with the invention of the door. So now people could no longer simply walk into your house, they had to knock first. When the Huns invaded Europe, they would often get into a home by knocking on the door and then wait for someone to open it.
This continued successfully until 1129, when the Huns knocked on the door of Leopold the Neutered of Prussia. When the Huns knocked on his door, Leopold asked,
LE: "Who's there?"
AC: The Huns, confused, answered,
TH: "The Huns"
AC: --and were refused entry. A court jester saw this and said,
CJ: "Hey, wouldn't it be funny if..."
AC: So with his patron, Lord Weinbury and a talented group of Monks, the jester included his Knock-knock jokes in his act to great success. However, The Huns returned that evening, destroyed the castle, raped the cattle, pillaged the women and put Leopold's head on a pike. They also tarred and quartered the court jester to much acclaim. But it was too late, the Knock-Knock joke had been born and the Huns were soon laughed out of Europe.
So let us now see an example of the knock-knock joke:
MN: Knock-knock.
WO: Who's there?
MN: Mayonnaise.
WO: Mayonnaise who?
MN: Mayonnaise have see the glory of the coming of the Lord...
AC: Thank you. There are so many variations of this form; banana-banana, boo-who and gorilla my dreams. Truly an untapped source of mirth. Join us next time on Jokes Illustrated when we examine the contributions of Thomas Alva Edison to humor with his invention of the light bulb. Good night and good humor---
MN: Hey, Allistar!
AC: What is it?
MN: Want to hear a great knock-knock joke?
AC: What?
MN: A really great knock-knock joke!
AC: Oh, all right, what is it?
MN: It's great. You start it.
AC: Knock-knock.
MN: Who's there (hysterical laughter)
GK: This has been Jokes Illustrated, made possible by a grant from the Shecky Foundation and the Why a Duck Society.
end
AC: Good evening and welcome to "Jokes Illustrated." I'm your host, Allistar Codcake bringing you a closer, more focused view of jokes and the people who make them. Tonight, we examine the Knock-Knock joke.
Knock-Knock jokes have only been with us since medieval times, with the invention of the door. So now people could no longer simply walk into your house, they had to knock first. When the Huns invaded Europe, they would often get into a home by knocking on the door and then wait for someone to open it.
This continued successfully until 1129, when the Huns knocked on the door of Leopold the Neutered of Prussia. When the Huns knocked on his door, Leopold asked,
LE: "Who's there?"
AC: The Huns, confused, answered,
TH: "The Huns"
AC: --and were refused entry. A court jester saw this and said,
CJ: "Hey, wouldn't it be funny if..."
AC: So with his patron, Lord Weinbury and a talented group of Monks, the jester included his Knock-knock jokes in his act to great success. However, The Huns returned that evening, destroyed the castle, raped the cattle, pillaged the women and put Leopold's head on a pike. They also tarred and quartered the court jester to much acclaim. But it was too late, the Knock-Knock joke had been born and the Huns were soon laughed out of Europe.
So let us now see an example of the knock-knock joke:
MN: Knock-knock.
WO: Who's there?
MN: Mayonnaise.
WO: Mayonnaise who?
MN: Mayonnaise have see the glory of the coming of the Lord...
AC: Thank you. There are so many variations of this form; banana-banana, boo-who and gorilla my dreams. Truly an untapped source of mirth. Join us next time on Jokes Illustrated when we examine the contributions of Thomas Alva Edison to humor with his invention of the light bulb. Good night and good humor---
MN: Hey, Allistar!
AC: What is it?
MN: Want to hear a great knock-knock joke?
AC: What?
MN: A really great knock-knock joke!
AC: Oh, all right, what is it?
MN: It's great. You start it.
AC: Knock-knock.
MN: Who's there (hysterical laughter)
GK: This has been Jokes Illustrated, made possible by a grant from the Shecky Foundation and the Why a Duck Society.
end
