Theory of Humor. A scientific paper, written by Tom Veatch, describes his Theory of Humor. When is something funny? When is it not funny? When does it cross the line? Why are puns generally shitty? And the mysterious and magical powers elephant jokes have on children, revealed! A great data set to use for practice in applying the theories presented in the paper can be found here.
posted by iamkimiam on Nov 20, 2007 - 57 comments

Dickipedia. No doubt it will grow.
posted by metasonix on Nov 20, 2007 - 60 comments

Was American Idol's Sanjaya a fraud? Graduate art student Bill Vendall claims that he created the American Idol character "Sanjaya" as an art project. He claims the character is "a symbol for the self referencing nature of progressive evolution." This is being debated around the internets.
posted by MythMaker on May 24, 2007 - 48 comments

On Sunday, April 1, ThinkGeek.com jokingly introduced the 8-bit Tie, and due to customer demand, claims that now it'll be a real product. On Friday, April 13, apparently due to customer demand, hard drive manufacturer WiebeTech has now introduced the MouseJiggler, and claims it's not a joke.
posted by Fofer on Apr 14, 2007 - 28 comments

Elephant jokes. (And the reason some of you don't like them. Cretins.)
posted by DeepFriedTwinkies on Jan 16, 2007 - 52 comments

Owen Wilson has denied any connection between his new movie, "You, Me and Dupree," and '70s supergroup Steely Dan, a spokesman for the actor said Friday. The band recently posted a letter on their Web site claiming that Wilson's Dupree character was based on their Grammy-winning song, "Cousin Dupree," about a couch-hopping houseguest. In a statement released by his spokeswoman, Ina Treciokas, Wilson said: "I have never heard the song `Cousin Dupree' and I don't even know who this gentleman, Mr. Steely Dan, is. I hope this helps to clear things up and I can get back to concentrating on my new movie, `HEY 19.'"
posted by wfc123 on Jul 29, 2006 - 62 comments

Making any jokes or statements during the screening process may be grounds for both criminal and civil penalties.
posted by quonsar on Apr 24, 2006 - 73 comments

Dating is a search problem. Solve it with Google Romance. When you think about it, love is just another search problem. And we’ve thought about it. A lot. Google Romance™ is our solution. You might want to start by browsing a few popular profiles, here, here, or here. Enjoy.
posted by nearo on Apr 1, 2006 - 28 comments

Must-haves for your coffee table, lavatory reading, or just killing time on the subway: The Nutritional Benefits of Nose Picking; Perfecting the Art of Fart Projection (NEVER be blamed again!); How to Murder a Complete Stranger (and get away with it) [paging scarabic]. These and other eyebrow-raising books can be yours, assuming you already have a book that you can put these dustjackets on. FlapArt: The Alternative Book Cover.
posted by Gator on Mar 17, 2006 - 17 comments

Bob Saget Immortalized in Song "The illest muthaf*cker in a cardigan sweater."
posted by Mroz on May 19, 2005 - 17 comments

The German Joke of the day . "In Germany, We have ways to make you laugh."
posted by ronsens on Jan 22, 2005 - 23 comments

More incredible stuff from MacWorld!!! Extra little bonus item announced!! Weeeee! I'm sure you all can't WAIT!!!
posted by jimjam on Jan 12, 2005 - 107 comments

Letters to a new employee I think it's so nice that the President and CEO of Starbucks International would send a welcome letter[s] to such an unimportant person. Don't you?
posted by johnj on Dec 28, 2004 - 28 comments

RoboDump I need one of these for my workplace
posted by meowchow on Nov 25, 2004 - 12 comments

The Pierre Boulez Project. (via Alex Ross)
posted by kenko on Aug 17, 2004 - 3 comments

I mean, who wants to transform themselves into an alien, you know? Joshua does. With disturbing results.

Q: And his ears?
A: I cut them off. It was not hard.

posted by kirkaracha on Aug 3, 2004 - 27 comments

South Park does the "Aristocrats" joke. (WARNING! Windows Media file, very very not safe for work.) "The Aristocrats" is a long-lived comedians' in-joke--or, rather, an extraordinarily filthy joke that's not really a joke. (Gilbert Gottfried knocked 'em dead with it shortly after 9/11.) Now it's going public (sort of): Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza are making a movie featuring over 100 comedians telling their own versions. The South Park version linked above is "not even in the top 5 for dirtiest." Yikes!
posted by 88robots on Jun 7, 2004 - 54 comments

Drunken Temple Boxing! You may have defeated my Southern Hook Palm technique, but can you defeat the 1000 styles of Rumsfeld?
posted by kirkaracha on May 12, 2004 - 2 comments

Remixing Bush's tasteless joke. Has some graphic images.
posted by skallas on Apr 11, 2004 - 19 comments

Finally, an Internet "really short quiz with astonishing results" that is 100% accurate.
posted by Shane on Mar 16, 2004 - 32 comments

Hillary Inserts Foot In Mouth Bubba supporters like us should say something.
posted by turbanhead on Jan 7, 2004 - 63 comments

"Are you a terrorist?" There's a judge in Tarrytown, NY, who's got an interesting spin on applying the Patriot Act. Or something.
posted by alumshubby on May 22, 2003 - 33 comments

Use Google to search the term "french military victories", then press the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button. This certain result happens every single time. Is this a hack, a joke, a tragic diplomatic slip up for a international companny or just bad programming?
posted by BrodieShadeTree on Mar 11, 2003 - 32 comments

Hmm...this one looks genuine: I AM GEORGE WALKER BUSH, SON OF THE FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH.... THIS LETTER MIGHT SURPRISE YOU BECAUSE WE HAVE NOT MET NEITHER IN PERSON NOR BY CORRESPONDENCE. I CAME TO KNOW OF YOU IN MY SEARCH FOR A RELIABLE AND REPUTABLE PERSON TO HANDLE A VERY CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS TRANSACTION.... I AM WRITING YOU IN ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE PRIMARILY TO SEEK YOUR ASSISTANCE IN ACQUIRING OIL FUNDS THAT ARE PRESENTLY TRAPPED IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRAQ....
posted by Artifice_Eternity on Jan 31, 2003 - 16 comments

Buy a real hamster and bugger the expense.
posted by Carlos Quevedo on Dec 2, 2002 - 10 comments

Is it legal to moon the White House? These guys seem to think it is. I wonder if this makes their asses terrorists?
posted by clango on Oct 25, 2002 - 21 comments

Hitting the trifecta. A tasteless joke and a morbid lie from the only person to actually benefit from Sep. 11. Is political advantage really worth this kind of crass lying? A toast to the restoration of honor and dignity to the White House and our appreciation that the "adults" are now in charge! I'm off to buy the new Ann Thrax book to bolster my right wing indoctrination re-education.
posted by nofundy on Jun 28, 2002 - 65 comments

What rough peep, its hour come round at last, [cache]
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
posted by eilatan on Mar 7, 2002 - 13 comments

If Steve Jobs designed automobiles, then this is what they'd be like: Unique. Innovative. Unprecedented.
posted by Steven Den Beste on Jan 14, 2002 - 22 comments

Reuters reports this is the funniest joke in the world. This is the result of Laugh Lab, a British experiment. They had a survey and this is the announced winner. There's no accounting for taste, but surely we can do better.
posted by tommasz on Dec 20, 2001 - 115 comments

Pass gas, go to jail. Well, not really, but I had to find something to keep this idea going.
posted by lawtalkinguy on Jun 20, 2001 - 0 comments

True or False? According to Karl Mueller (a.k.a. "Gus"), the FBI came a knockin' on his door after taking his "Trench Coat Mafia" parody site a little too seriously. I can imagine it happening, but considering what a prankster he is, one does wonder whether this is all a late April Fool's joke. What do you think?
posted by lia on Apr 20, 2001 - 11 comments

How to smash babies in public restrooms across America. Yet another site in the fine tradition of Bonsai Kitten.
posted by Spanktacular on Apr 17, 2001 - 19 comments

$14,999? It's a steal! And come on, there's only 2 left... (Yes, it's more election-era humor.)
posted by teradome on Nov 16, 2000 - 5 comments

Read the letter to Jeff Bezos here.
posted by DragonBoy on Aug 8, 2000 - 5 comments

This of course begs the question, what is so comforting about green toffee? I don't know about you, but I prefer my toffee brown. And why would you make a hair removal product resemble anything remotely edible? It removes hair for chrissakes!
posted by mathowie on Aug 22, 1999 - 0 comments