Q: What do you call a fake noodle?
A: An Impasta!
Explanation: Noodles, such as spaghetti noodles, can be called pasta.
An imposter is a person who pretends to be someone else.
So, a fake noodle is an “impasta” which sounds like a combination of imposter and pasta… and that is what makes this joke funny.
Did you see the movie The Imposter? Here is the trailer:
Q: What is it called when a cat wins a dog show?
A: A CAT-HAS-TROPHY!
Explanation: Today in the United States is National Cat Day! so a cat joke seemed appropriate.
When someone (or some animal!?!) wins a contest like a dog show that person often wins a trophy. When something bad happens it is called a catastrophe or a disaster.
This joke plays with the word catastrophe and breaks it into parts: cat-has-trophy- which sounds a lot like catastrophe. Personally, I think it would be great if a cat won a dog show! Have a great National Cat Day!
Q: Did you hear about the hungry clock?
A: It went back four seconds!
Explanation: To “go back for seconds” means to serve yourself more food from the kitchen, the serving dishes or perhaps the buffet line. And you only “go back for seconds” if you are hungry. The word ‘four’ (4) sounds the same as ‘for.’
A clock tells time by using hours, minutes and seconds. In the joke, ‘seconds’ has two meanings: to go back in time four seconds and to go back for a second helping of food… and that’s what makes this joke funny.
Here is a classic scene from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens when Oliver went back for seconds:
Q: What’s the difference between a guitar and a fish?
A: You can’t tuna fish!
Explanation: Tuna fish? No, tune – a – fish. You see, for a guitar to sound good, you have to tune it. A fish cannot be tuned… but there is a fish called a tuna fish.
This joke is funny because “tune a” sounds like “tuna.”
Here is a tuna fish video that is in tune and has a nice jingle at the end:
Q: How do you make a fire with two sticks?
A: Make sure one of them is a match!
Explanation: This joke only works if you know what a matchstick is. If you have a match or a matchstick you can easily make a fire. This joke leads one to think that the answer will be “rub two sticks together” but that would be too much work for a joke.
Here is a link to a Jack London story, To Build a Fire: http://www.jacklondons.net/buildafire.html
If you want to build a fire by rubbing two sticks together you could try this:
Q: Why can’t fishermen be generous?
A: Because their business makes them sell fish!
Explanation: This is a bad pun (are there good puns?)! Their business makes them ‘sell fish’ or shall I say “selfish.” Yes, sell fish sounds just like selfish but there is a world of difference in the meaning. A selfish person is someone who wants everything for him or herself.
Here is a video of some folks selling fish at the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, WA:
Q: How do you paint a rabbit purple?
A: With purple hare spray!
Explanation: Hair≠ Hare but they sound the same. Hair is on your head and sometimes people use hairspray to keep their hair in place. Hare is an animal similar to a rabbit. And there is no such thing as Hare Spray! (But there is spray paint.)
That is what makes this joke funny- playing with the word hare/ hair and the idea of purple hare spray to paint a hare the color purple.
All of this reminded me of the movie Hairspray so here is the final song:
Q: Why do bananas have to put on sunscreen before they go to the beach?
A: Because they might peel!
Explanation: A banana peel is the outside skin of the banana. Your skin can peel if you are in the sun and you get a sun burn. In order to avoid a sunburn you need to use sunscreen.
This joke is funny because of the double meaning of the word peel (the outer skin of a banana and what your skin does when it gets burned. Sunburns, though, are not funny- use sunscreen!
Q: What’s a llama’s favorite movie?
A: Llamadeus!
Q: What do you call a very fast llama?
A: A Llamaghini!
Explanation: Both of these jokes play with the word llama: the first changes Amadeus into Llamadeus; the second changes Lamborghini into Llamaghini. Many jokes in English play with words in this way.
Here is the trailer for the movie Amadeus:
Q: What’s more amazing than a talking llama?
A: A spelling bee!
Explanation: I love llamas– especially here in Peru. And no, llamas do not talk but it sure would be amazing if they did!
In this joke the idea of a talking llama leads to the idea of a bee that talks or maybe even spells (Llama is spelled l-l-a-m-a). This joke is funny because a spelling bee is a contest where students show how much they know about spelling words… it is not a bee that spells.
Here is a clip from Akeelah and the Bee- a movie about a spelling bee:
Explain the Joke 
