I was posting a joke in the olde clean jokes gallery earlier today, but was unable to post it without tweaking it slightly, adjusting it in a way that I thought improved it a little. Subjective judgement I know, but I went on to wonder what would happen to a joke if it were repeatedly adjusted by a series of people.
So an idea I would like to try out is to slowly metamorphize the joke in a chinese whispers like way. The principle is that you take the last posted version of the joke I have included here ( previously posted by me in clean jokes), and tweak it somehow. It should remain funny, and the tweak should not be too major in a single step. The version I display here below the line is one I tweaked already, and in red I print some of the original replaced lines for comparison, and to give an idea of the principle.
Will the joke evolve to be completely different, or just a flavour change? Will it rapidly disintegrate, or might it improve? Please think carefully before you make a change, and try to be sensible.
I would suggest that once this post appears, you do not all jump in at once, but wait a few hours, or you will all be modifying the same joke version. Wait a while, so we get a chain of mods rather than a fan.
If you think it a daft idea, then please ignore the post rather than ruin it. It might work, but my guess is that it most probably will have fallen flat after a few posts.
Original extract:
No, no, just name anyone else," Dave says. “President Bush,” his boss quickly retorts.
“Yup,” Dave says, “Old buddies, let’s fly out to Washington.” And off they go. At the White House, Bush spots Dave on the tour and motions him and his boss over, saying, “Dave, what a surprise, I was just on my way to a meeting, but you and your friend come on in and let’s have a cup of coffee first and catch up.”
Well, the boss is very shaken by now but still not totally convinced. After they leave the White House grounds he expresses his doubts to Dave, who again implores him to name anyone else.
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Modified version, whole Joke
Dave was chatting to his boss one day, and mentioned that he had been in the pub with the Duke of Edinburgh the previous night. “Sod off,” said the boss, “you mean you were IN the Duke of Edinburgh”. “No, No” said Dave, “me and Phil go back quite a few years. I move in these social circles and I know more or less everyone there is to know. You could Just name someone at random, anyone, and I probably know them.”
Tired of his boasting, his boss called his bluff, “OK, Dave, how about Tom Cruise?”
“No problem boss, Tom and I are old friends, and he is staying in the Hilton this week, Time I looked him up again .”
So Dave and his boss nip into London and knock on Tom Cruise’s door and Tom opens the door and shouts, “Dave! What’s happenin?!? Great to see you! Come on in for a beer!”
Although impressed, Dave’s boss is still sceptical. After they leave Cruise’s suite , he tells Dave that he thinks Dave’s knowing Cruise was just lucky. As they leave the hotel, they are asked to keep back as a cavalcade of big American cars is about to pass. Learning that President Bush is in the open topped armoured Cadillac, the boss says " Ok, I bet you don’t know President Bush". “Of course I do, regular golfing partner” says Dave , and as the car passes he waves and calls out “Hi George”. The car stops, and George shouts to Dave, “Sorry can’t stop to chat now Dave, got a meeting in Downing Street. You remember Tony from that party last year? I’ll give you a ring later.”
Well, the boss is very shaken by now but still not totally convinced. After they leave London he expresses his doubts to Dave, who again implores him to name anyone else. “The Pope,” his boss replies. “Sure!” says Dave. “My folks are from his village, and I’ve known the Pope a long time.” So, on a whim and determined to prove Dave wrong the boss buys tickets and off they fly to Rome.
Dave and his boss are assembled with the masses in Vatican Square when Dave says,
“This will never work. I can’t catch the Pope’s eye among all these people.
Tell you what, I know all the guards so let me just go upstairs and I’ll come out on the balcony with the Pope.”
With that he disappears into the crowd headed toward the Vatican. Sure enough, half an hour later Dave emerges with the Pope on the balcony, but by the time Dave returns, he finds that his boss has had a heart attack and is surrounded by paramedics.
Working his way to his boss’ side, Dave asks him, “What happened?”
His boss looks up and says, "I was doing fine until you and the Pope came out on the balcony and the man next to me said, “Who the hell is that on the balcony with Dave?”
Nao
