World's funniest Joke - Official
Posted: 11 Jun 2006, 19:01
Quote:
"The world's funniest joke was unveiled by scientists today at the end of the largest study of humour ever undertaken.
For the past year people around the world have been invited to judge jokes on an Internet site as well as contribute quips of their own.
The LaughLab experiment conducted by psychologist Dr Richard Wiseman, from the University of Hertfordshire, attracted more than 40,000 jokes and almost two million ratings.
As well as identifying the joke which appealed most to people around the world, the experiment revealed wide humour differences between nations.
Scans conducted on people being told jokes also identified the brain's laughter centre - a region near the back of the frontal lobes.
The joke which received the highest global ratings was submitted by 31-year-old psychiatrist Gurpal Gosall, from Manchester.
It reads as follows:
Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps: "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator says: "Calm down, I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says: "OK, now what?" "
The joke is believed to be based on a '51 Goon Show script by Spike Milligan - certainly has his stamp about it.
The whole thing sounds like an exercise by sad po-faced psychologists to gain street cred by collecting jokes to impress their kids.
"The world's funniest joke was unveiled by scientists today at the end of the largest study of humour ever undertaken.
For the past year people around the world have been invited to judge jokes on an Internet site as well as contribute quips of their own.
The LaughLab experiment conducted by psychologist Dr Richard Wiseman, from the University of Hertfordshire, attracted more than 40,000 jokes and almost two million ratings.
As well as identifying the joke which appealed most to people around the world, the experiment revealed wide humour differences between nations.
Scans conducted on people being told jokes also identified the brain's laughter centre - a region near the back of the frontal lobes.
The joke which received the highest global ratings was submitted by 31-year-old psychiatrist Gurpal Gosall, from Manchester.
It reads as follows:
Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps: "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator says: "Calm down, I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says: "OK, now what?" "
The joke is believed to be based on a '51 Goon Show script by Spike Milligan - certainly has his stamp about it.
The whole thing sounds like an exercise by sad po-faced psychologists to gain street cred by collecting jokes to impress their kids.
