The grocery store cashier who guessed my punchline wrong

Last Tuesday I was testing a new pun about onions at the self-checkout in Birmingham. The cashier overheard me mumbling and asked if I was writing a speech or something. I told her it was for a dad joke forum and she laughed, then tried to finish my joke herself with a totally different ending. Hers was actually better, so now I ask my barista to test punchlines before I post them. Anyone else got an accidental joke editor from a stranger?

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1 Comment

johnh821d ago

I read a piece last week about how comedians test material on strangers in parking lots and laundromats, which is basically what you’re doing with your barista. It makes sense, though. Strangers have zero reason to be polite, so when they laugh or fix your joke, that’s real feedback. My wife does the same thing with her work emails, she’ll read them to the guy at the hardware store before sending. He’s got no stake in it, so he’ll just say “that sounds mad” or “that’s fine” and somehow it works. Take this with a grain of salt, but I’d say keep the cashier’s version and let her take credit next time.