How To Tell a Knock-Knock Joke

Joke telling is one of the oldest forms of humor. The first joke purportedly dates from around 190 BC. Some jokes are quite extensive and take several minutes to relate. Other jokes are quick one-liners. Then there is the form of interactive joke telling called the Knock-Knock joke.

A Knock-Knock joke is actually a quick bit of dialogue or a comic sketch performed between the Knock-Knock joke teller and his or her audience. The idea behind telling Knock-Knock jokes is to get your audience to inquire after a fictitious character who is calling at the door.

To tell a Knock-Knock joke, you first have to think of a word or phrase that you can divide into syllables or sections in such a way that the first syllable or word sounds like it might legitimately be someone's first name. For example, the word "Can" has a similar sound to the name "Ken."

When telling a Knock-Knock joke, you begin with the two-word phrase "Knock-Knock." It is then assumed that the audience participant will inquire with the question "Who's there?" Therefore, before a Knock-Knock joke is told, the participant has to be familiar with the sequence.

The next step in Knock-Knock joke telling is for the teller to respond to the inquiry by stating the first word or syllable of the phrase he or she intends to use to pay off the Knock-Knock joke. In our example of Knock-Knock joke telling, therefore, the teller would respond by saying "Ken."

At this point, the participant would follow up with the teller of the Knock-Knock joke by asking "Ken who?" The Knock-Knock joke teller, drawing on the phrase he or she has chosen for the punch line, would pay off the Knock-Knock joke with this response: "Can I borrow a cup of sugar?"

If you want to tell a Knock-Knock joke, there are numerous books available with thousands of Knock-Knock jokes, or you can make up your own. Like any form of joke telling, telling a Knock-Knock joke requires a keen sense of timing and a bit of a acting ability. With the right combination of originality and timing, you can become quite popular telling Knock-Knock jokes.