What goes into a good joke? Professional comedians say the secret ingredient is…surprise. If you can catch your audience off guard, even with a silly joke, you’ll get a laugh.
And whether or not we realize it, we’ve all experienced that for ourselves. Have you ever found yourself laughing at a joke and wondered, “Why am I laughing at this? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” Or maybe it’s not dumb, it’s just so absurd — you can’t explain why it’s so funny. It comes down to that secret ingredient, surprise. And some good comedic timing, of course.
That’s why we laugh at puns, too. You probably know someone obsessed with terrible puns. They’re so dumb, they make you groan — and sometimes they even fill you with inexplicable rage. But we still laugh at them for reasons we can’t explain.
And then, of course, there’s the dad joke — a joke that’s so corny, it could only be told by your, well, dad. Do they develop a sixth sense for ridiculous jokes the minute they become fathers? We’ll never know.
Here are 75 jokes that are so bad, you can’t help but laugh at them.
1. It all comes down to the flag
If you’re going to make a joke about another country, you might want to tread carefully. But this one’s okay. You’re just making a joke as literally as possible.
Mad cow disease is real. Its scientific name is bovine spongiform encephalopathy, which causes infected cows to start acting strangely. It doesn’t, however, make them think they’re helicopters.
This joke is short enough to catch your listeners by surprise, and it works for pretty much everyone. The only people who can’t tell it are those named Frank. Sorry, Franks.
Sometimes, those in-your-face literal jokes are the funniest. They’re funny because they catch people by surprise with their simplicity. And you thought it was something complicated.
This joke requires a little bit of performance, so you have to be willing to put on a show. If you do it right — and you’re willing to make everyone uncomfortable — you can surprise them into laughter.
Have you ever heard a joke that was so dumb you wanted to boo the person telling it right out of the room? And yet, we’re all laughing. So, why’s this so funny?
Sometimes, jokes are so short they’re over before you realize it. Then you catch up to the punchline and understand why it’s so funny. This must be the same dyslexic guy that sold his soul to Santa.
This old joke circulated decades ago. It made us groan back then and the reaction hasn’t changed no matter how much time has passed. It still makes us laugh.
If this joke went over your head, let me explain it to you. A thesaurus is supposed to give you synonyms for words, right? That double “terrible” is the clue.
If you told this joke at a party, I don’t think you’d get any laughs. I think you’d get a bunch of groans. You definitely wouldn’t get another invitation.
At first, this joke sounds like it’s about to impart an interesting fact about religion and the reason the Pope can’t be cremated. But it turns out it’s the same reason we can’t be cremated.
Every time someone tells this joke, they get a round of shocked laughter. Of course, that’s usually followed by exclamations of: “What is wrong with you?”
Okay, this one might be bad, but it’s a classic. Seriously, you can whip this joke out in any situation and get a round of laughter. It’s dumb, but it’s so funny.
Don’t think about it so hard; it’s just a silly joke. There’s probably a reason why they jump backward off the boat, but this joke will never explain it.
This joke has a lesser-known Part II and Part III: why did the second monkey fall out of the tree? Because it was nailed to the first monkey. Why did the third monkey fall out of the tree? Peer pressure.
I don’t think I can explain why this joke is so funny or why it’s become a minor legend on Twitter. It’s undeniably stupid, but somehow, I can’t stop laughing.
In joke form, this is pretty darn funny, even though it’s incredibly stupid. But in real life, it would be so pathetic it would leave everyone speechless.
This is undeniably one of the stupidest jokes I’ve ever heard in my life, and for that reason, it’s hysterical. It might take you a second to get it, but then you just can’t resist.
Okay, fun fact: you shouldn’t pee on jellyfish stings, and it’s pretty gross that anyone does it. But for the sake of this dumb joke, it’s super funny.
In case you’re not up to speed on your drink lingo, a dry martini is one made with dry, rather than sweet, vermouth. But you probably knew that. Regardless, the joke’s still funny.
A stupid punchline has to have a stupid response. In this case, it’s “Don’t be silly, all our presidents had foreheads!” I don’t know which line is worse, and I’m mad they made me laugh.
There might just be a whole franchise here. You could have Derek and Stephanie III: Becoming Official and Derek and Stephanie IV: This Just Isn’t Working Out.
Okay, laugh if you want to but there’s probably someone out there who legitimately thinks it works this way. So, while you laugh, you should also despair for humanity.
Although this is a funny joke, it would be an terrifying real-life scenario. Hopefully, it wasn’t inspired by true events. As a side note, this pun is terrible.
Here’s a fun fact: the reason we call junk mail “spam” is because of a Monty Python sketch from the 1970s. It’s been almost 50 years but the term stuck, paving the way for this joke.
You probably remember a little bit from your high school chemistry classes. If you don’t recall those that focused on the periodic table of elements, this joke may be over your head.
This joke takes a minute to get because there’s a double meaning. What’s more, it’s a double meaning no one sees coming. Why is that so funny — and so annoying?
This is one of those jokes your dad probably told, painting it like he was giving a science lesson. Once you’re listening intently, he drops this silly punchline.
Don’t you hate it when people don’t laugh at your jokes? This husband spent some time building this joke up. Better put the mugs back in the kitchen, Dave.
In case you weren’t familiar, an antipasto is an appetizer course. It usually contains cheese, meat, olives, and other finger foods. It’s not the opposite of pasta.
This joke was posted by the Twitter account @DaddingAround and it’s not hard to see why. This is prime dad humor right here. Don’t let your dad read this.
Sometimes, parents can get away with dorky jokes while their kids are still little. But not this dad. Even his three-year-old daughter already knows his jokes are corny.
A faux pas is a term that means a social blunder or gaffe, like accidentally calling someone by the wrong name. But it’s pronounced “fo pa”, as in “fake father.” Get it?
Technically, dad buffalo is misspeaking here. Bison and buffalo aren’t the same animals. Bison are native to North America while buffalo are largely found throughout Africa and Asia.
Why do I feel like I was just rick-rolled in a new way? It’s not exactly like all the other pranks, but it has the same feeling. I feel a bit violated.
My favorite thing about this — there wasn’t any explanation given, and none demanded. This artist must be at peace with setting themselves up for lame jokes.
The whole point of this joke, of course, is that psychics are also referred to as mediums, and medium is a shirt size. It’s still a terrible joke and we DON’T appreciate it.
Sometimes, the dumbest and funniest jokes are the simplest. It took such a small amount of effort for this person to make a joke that leaves us ABSOLUTELY FURIOUS.
So, let me get this clear. Someone made up this joke. then they took the time to carry a pot of chili outside and take a picture…all for this joke. What’s the world coming to?
This joke’s pretty funny, even if it’s corny. But I don’t advise telling it in the middle of childbirth. Your wife might kill you in the delivery room.
Sometimes, jokes make you laugh because they catch you by surprise. But are they funny? Well, the debate rages on about that. They do have one of the main elements of comedy, surprise.
Quick, think back to your days of high school math and you’ll understand this joke. Of course, if you’re like me, you might’ve blocked it out with all the other bad memories.
Frankly, I don’t know why anyone would buy or need 12 bees…unless they were a beekeeper of course. But either way, this joke is cute enough to make you chuckle.
It sounds as though this guy’s friend wasn’t a fan of Ruth. I’m sure he formulated this pun in his head the moment he met her and then waited for the day when he’d finally be able to use it.
This person’s either about to cook an amazing dinner with all those herbs or they bought them all just for the purpose of this pun. If that’s the case, they should be ashamed of themselves.
A Venn diagram is…well, pretty much what’s described right here. If you’ve read A Fault in Our Stars, you probably remember what it is, even if you don’t quite understand how they work.
Hey, in this day and age, people can name their kids almost anything they want, and there are some doozies out there. Is Coke a worse name than Talula Does the Hula?
I know this isn’t a real thing, but if it was, it’d be solely to make this pun. It’s a horrible pun and I hope the person who made it has a TERRIBLE DAY.
The reason the moon doesn’t shave is that it doesn’t have hair, but okay, I’ll give it to you. Just for the sake of this ridiculous joke, we’ll pretend for a moment.
Yes, we get it. They have your Microsoft Word and Excel and everything else that’s part of Microsoft Office. And that’s no joke — those subscriptions are expensive.
We’ve all heard the classic “Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side.” When it comes to corny jokes, chickens are prime subject material.
The joke of this one is, of course, that the dictionary was so bad there were no words to describe it. Which, incidentally, is also how I feel about this joke.
We’ve all heard our grandmothers say something along these lines, but they’re always speaking metaphorically. This joke managed to make a cute saying into something horrifying.
By any chance, was this a dad who wanted to borrow the fridge? Because that is a prime dad joke right there. I’m just going to go ahead and assume he’s a dad.
Remember when you first figured out that your parents weren’t named Mom and Dad and it blew your little baby mind? This kid doesn’t have it quite right.
What goes into a good joke? Professional comedians say the secret ingredient is…surprise. If you can catch your audience off guard, even with a silly joke, you’ll get a laugh.
And whether or not we realize it, we’ve all experienced that for ourselves. Have you ever found yourself laughing at a joke and wondered, “Why am I laughing at this? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” Or maybe it’s not dumb, it’s just so absurd — you can’t explain why it’s so funny. It comes down to that secret ingredient, surprise. And some good comedic timing, of course.
That’s why we laugh at puns, too. You probably know someone obsessed with terrible puns. They’re so dumb, they make you groan — and sometimes they even fill you with inexplicable rage. But we still laugh at them for reasons we can’t explain.
And then, of course, there’s the dad joke — a joke that’s so corny, it could only be told by your, well, dad. Do they develop a sixth sense for ridiculous jokes the minute they become fathers? We’ll never know.
Here are 75 jokes that are so bad, you can’t help but laugh at them.
