The “I have a joke” meme took over Twitter this week and it was actually a pretty useful exercise in teaching joke structure. Frankly, Twitter needs that, because not everyone has taken a stand up writing class. According to Know Your Meme is was started by @thewittydoctor, who tweeted on July 23rd, “I have a joke on doctor, but aap pehle fees jama karao.”
That supposedly translates to “I have a joke on doctor but you have to pay a fee first.”
Even without the translation, it was retweeted a few hundred times:
I have a joke on doctor , but aap pehle fees jama karao.
— WITTY 2.0 (@thewittydoctor) July 23, 2020
The basic structure is to state the thing you have a joke about in the first half of your sentence and then sneak the joke itself into the second half, by making a comment on the subject. Hmm, describing jokes sounds insane, never mind. maybe just read 30 of the best “I have a joke” jokes and you’ll be ready to write your own:
1.
I have a hydroxychloroquine joke, but it doesn’t work
— Ilan Schwartz MD PhD (@GermHunterMD) July 25, 2020
2.
I have a #StarWars joke, but it’s not the joke you’re looking for https://t.co/yqKTyJdkXM
— Jason Johnson (@DrJasonJohnson) July 25, 2020
3.
I have a joke, but you won’t be able to hear it until a male writer repeats it as his own ten minutes later.
— Sarah Watson (@SarahWatson42) July 25, 2020
4.
I have a joke about delayed gratification but
— Stephen Mangan (@StephenMangan) July 25, 2020
5.
I have a Mitch McConnell joke, but it’s in Russian.
— Charles Booker (@Booker4KY) July 25, 2020
6.
I have a joke about Jonestown, but the punch line is just too long.
— Walter Olson 😷 (@walterolson) July 25, 2020
7.
I have an overused sneaker joke but it’s got no sole https://t.co/pNi5kYBOiz
— Finish Line (@FinishLine) July 25, 2020
8.
I have a Charles Manson joke and it kills. https://t.co/uybZPMbkF6
— Nell “Wisconsin will turn blue” Scovell (@NellSco) July 24, 2020
9.
I have a joke about white rappers but it’s a little off-beat.
— Robert A George (@RobGeorge) July 25, 2020
10.
I have a joke about federal laws but I’m kicking it to the states
— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) July 25, 2020