The Genius of Knock Knock Jokes

Knock knock jokes….Why?

Max Levin, American neurologist, wrote:

If play were not pleasurable kittens would never chase each other’s tails, and so would lack practice in the motor skills needed for survival. If there were no pleasure in the appreciation of the absurd, if there were no fun in playing with ideas, putting them together in various combinations, seeing what makes sense or nonsense – in brief, if there were not such a thing as humor – children would lack practice in the art of thinking, the most complex and most powerful survival tool of all.

Almost all knock knock jokes rely on puns. According to John Pollack, puns ‘play a formative role in childhood development, by revealing the relationship between words, sounds, context and meaning…As children gleefully learn to spot and evaluate secondary meanings in common words and phrases, they’re really learning how to think critically. To get the joke, they have to overlook the obvious to explore other possible interpretations of what they have just heard, and fast.’

Once u-pun a time

The knock knock joke has a distinguished pedigree, Shakespeare himself used some for light relief in Macbeth (act 2, scene 3 – the humour apparently comes from understanding ‘roast your goose’ to be a double entendre). So, if you have children, try giving them some intensive linguistic training with some groan-worthy jokes, endless fun (well, certainly endless :-)) Knock knock!                                                               Knock knock! Who’s there?                                                                Who’s there? Banana.                                                                         Grandma Banana who?                                                                Grandma who? Knock knock!                                                               Knock knock! Who’s there?                                                                Who’s there? Banana.                                                                         Grandma. Banana who?                                                                Grandma who? Knock knock!                                                               Knock knock! Who’s there?                                                                Who’s there? Banana.                                                                         Grandma. Banana who?                                                                Grandma who? Knock knock!                                                               Knock knock! Who’s there?                                                                Who’s there? Orange?                                                                         Auntie. Orange who?                                                                Auntie who? Orange you glad I didn’t say “banana” again.        Auntie you glad it isn’t grandma?

Further Reading

The Pun Also Rises by John Pollack is a fascinating book on the art of punning. It examines why we pun, the history of puns and subversive uses of puns in totalitarian regimes. Knock knock! The best knock knock jokes ever by Tim Archibold is a great book for children.