What follows is a collection of jokes and other folklore that I collected for a class on the subject at UC Berkeley taught by renowned folklorist Alan Dundes. The object was to analyze a form of human creativity that is often taken for granted.

This gave me the opportunity to think in an entirely new way about everyday rituals, stories, jokes, and expressions. The analysis had to include the time and place where one first heard a joke, for example, followed by an in depth account of what makes the joke funny in the particular culture it belongs. The results are often as hilarious as the joke itself…enjoy.

click on individual items in the outline