Bar joke


A bar joke is a very common and basic type of joke cycle. The basic syntax is as follows: "A man walks into a bar and ". The initial perception of the joke is that a man is walking into a bar to have a drink, but this only lasts a few seconds as the punchline is quickly uttered. This joke has gained an incredible amount of variants over the years. It is often used by comedians, and people telling jokes to friends.

Variants

The bar joke has a large number of variations. The types of variations include puns or word plays, or replace the man with woman, a famous person, people of various occupations, animals or inanimate objects. Sometimes the unexpected happens: "A man walks into a bar. Ouch!"
Another major variant involves several men walking into the bar together, often with related professions, such as "a priest, a minister and a rabbi." In effect, this is a merger between the "bar joke" and jokes involving priests, ministers and rabbis in other settings. This form has become so well known that it is the subject of at least one joke about the popularity of the joke itself: "A priest, a minister, and a rabbi walk into a bar. The bartender looks at them and says, 'What is this, a joke?'"
According to Scott McNeely in the Ultimate Book of Jokes, the first bar joke was published in 1952.