Taking a hooker to Disneyland... Help me get this joke

[Moneyline]

I live in Vegas and it seems like every hack comic in town tells a version of this one joke. It goes: "Why do people take their kids to Vegas? That's like taking a hooker to Disenyland." The joke always kills, but I don't get it.

One theory I have is that people find it funny because Vegas and Disneyland are supposed to be opposites, with the former catering to adults and the latter to kids. But hookers aren't the opposite of kids, so this doesn't seem to hold up.

My second theory was that people at shows & comedy clubs are usually drunk and will laugh at anything, but this doesn't hold up either because I've seen plenty of other jokes fall completely flat.

My final theory is that people just find the word "hooker" titillating, so they laugh when they hear it unexpectedly. This theory seems more plausable than the others, but it still seems like I'm reaching.

Can someone with a more advanced sense of humor than mine please enlighten me? I don't find this joke funny at all, but since I'm going to hear it every time I go to a comedy show I'd at least like to know why most people think it's hilarious.

Thanks.

[YourFoxyGrandma]

Disneyland=lots of kids running about, Vegas=lots of hookers [running about]. Taking a kid to Vegas is like taking a hooker to Disneyland. It's really not complicated; If this doesn't do it for you, I don't know that anything will.

EDIT: It's also not really that funny.

[Hal 2000]

[ QUOTE ]
I live in Vegas and it seems like every hack comic in town tells a version of this one joke. It goes: "Why do people take their kids to Vegas? That's like taking a hooker to Disenyland." The joke always kills, but I don't get it.

One theory I have is that people find it funny because Vegas and Disneyland are supposed to be opposites, with the former catering to adults and the latter to kids. But hookers aren't the opposite of kids, so this doesn't seem to hold up.

My second theory was that people at shows & comedy clubs are usually drunk and will laugh at anything, but this doesn't hold up either because I've seen plenty of other jokes fall completely flat.

My final theory is that people just find the word "hooker" titillating, so they laugh when they hear it unexpectedly. This theory seems more plausable than the others, but it still seems like I'm reaching.

Can someone with a more advanced sense of humor than mine please enlighten me? I don't find this joke funny at all, but since I'm going to hear it every time I go to a comedy show I'd at least like to know why most people think it's hilarious.

Thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oddly enough, I find the word titillating titillating. As per the joke, not a great one, I agree, but these comparison jokes usually tend to work.

[TStoneMBD]

i dont find the joke hilarious, but its very witty.

[Moneyline]

[ QUOTE ]
Disneyland=lots of kids running about, Vegas=lots of hookers [running about]. Taking a kid to Vegas is like taking a hooker to Disneyland. It's really not complicated; If this doesn't do it for you, I don't know that anything will.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not really satisfied. You can pay for a hooker for sex in Vegas, but you can't pay a kid for sex at Disneyland. Well, I guess you could theoretically, but it's not encouraged...

Seriously though, using your logic you could take any type of person unique to Vegas and substitute them for the hooker and the joke should still be funny. Is the joke still funny if you're taking a showgirl to Disneyland? I don't know, because I don't see why the joke is funny in the first place... but if you're one of the legions who do find the joke funny, is it still funny with showgirl substituted for hooker?

If not, your theory is incorrect.

[VoraciousReader]

I actually think the joke would be funnier the other way around.

"Why do people take kids to Disneyland...that's like taking a hooker to Vegas!"

Kind of a "coals to Newcastle" motif.

[YourFoxyGrandma]

You're thinking about this way too much.

[Moneyline]

[ QUOTE ]
You're thinking about this way too much.

[/ QUOTE ]

Now this is something I can agree with. I pay money to hear this joke every weekend, so its persistence is beginning to grate on me like water torture. I figure if I can learn the nature of the beast I will be more likely to come to grips with it.

[Tyler Durden]

[ QUOTE ]
"Why do people take kids to Disneyland...that's like taking a hooker to Vegas!"

[/ QUOTE ]

This actually made me laugh out loud, but then I read it again and didn't think it was funny. weird eh

[bones]

Kids and hookers are on opposite ends of the innocence spectrum, as are Disneyland and Vegas (based on public perception).

[tonypaladino]

[ QUOTE ]
You're thinking about this way too much.

[/ QUOTE ]

http://trephination.net/gallery/macros/captobvious.gif

[Moneyline]

[ QUOTE ]
Kids and hookers are on opposite ends of the innocence spectrum, as are Disneyland and Vegas (based on public perception).

[/ QUOTE ]

I think your theory is plausible, but I don't really buy it. The way to test it, I think, is to substitute other characters of ill repute for hookers, and see if the joke is equally funny.

I substituted "murderer" for "hooker," there are a lot of murders in Vegas after all, but I still don't find the joke funny. However, I came up with something in my second trial. "Why do people take their kids to Vegas? That's like taking a crackhead to Disneyland!" We have a winner, but I'm not yet ready to accept your theory. We should keep in mind that the word "crackhead" and the occasional Kurtis Blow reference carried about 7 or 8 seasons of Comic View. "Crackhead" is just a funny word, and I think when I laugh at the crackhead version of the joke I'm laughing at the appearance of the word rather than a comparison of innocence.

It's also worth noting that I didn't find the joke funny when the word "pedophile" was substituted for "hooker." However, I did laugh when I thought of what the audience's reaction to that joke might be.

[ChipWrecked]

Take the kids to Disneyland, or a hooker to Vegas.

You get [censored] either way.

[Dr. StrangeloveX]

Why would you take a kid to vegas? It's like taking a hooker to disneyland: there's nothing for them to do and neither party is going to have fun.

Mix a bit of truth (vegas not the greatest family destination) with a somewhat relevant yet ridiculous juxtaposition (disneyland not the greatest hooker destination) and voila! a not very funny joke.

[Mr_J]

Bones is right. It's because each is sort of out of place in those enviroments, it's not something you do. You're thinking about this way too much, and you're pretty slow for not getting it. It's got nothing to do with the words. The connection between vegas and hooker, and kids and disneyland doesn't matter. You could just say taking your kids to vegas is like taking a churchie to a sexpo convention. The idea is to illustrate that kids are out of place in vegas (since it's meant to be a sin city).

Taking the kids to vegas is like a jock going to a geek convention, a pornstar going to church, bush attending a world peace summit. Get it?

[ QUOTE ]
Why would you take a kid to vegas? It's like taking a hooker to disneyland: there's nothing for them to do and neither party is going to have fun.

Mix a bit of truth (vegas not the greatest family destination) with a somewhat relevant yet ridiculous juxtaposition (disneyland not the greatest hooker destination) and voila! a not very funny joke.

[/ QUOTE ]

Bingo.

[Moneyline]

[ QUOTE ]
Why would you take a kid to vegas? It's like taking a hooker to disneyland: there's nothing for them to do and neither party is going to have fun.

Mix a bit of truth (vegas not the greatest family destination) with a somewhat relevant yet ridiculous juxtaposition (disneyland not the greatest hooker destination) and voila! a not very funny joke.

[/ QUOTE ]

This explanation is very good. The idea that the joke is just a bad comparison, and therefore not funny is quite logical. I'm not ready to say that the case is closed, but we have a prime suspsect. There is one sticking point, however. If it's just an awful joke, then why does it receive such a hearty reception? And why is it repeated with such great frequency? If you can answer those two questions to my satisfaction, I just may get you some tickets for something like V: The Ultimate Variety Show... but only if you promise to heckle the MC without mercy once he tells the hooker in disneyland joke... again.

[Moneyline]

[ QUOTE ]
Get it?

[/ QUOTE ]

No. See my response to the earlier post for a full explanation. Just because you take an object and put it in a situation in which it does not supposedly belong does not make it funny.

"You took your kids to Vegas? That's like taking a dump in the urinal." As much as I enjoy the excretory functions, it's still not funny.

[Jeff W]

[ QUOTE ]
You're thinking about this way too much, and you're pretty slow for not getting it.

[/ QUOTE ]
http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/5126/rainman0pb.jpg

Who is on first.

[lighterjobs]

[ QUOTE ]
"Why do people take their kids to Vegas? That's like taking a hooker to Disenyland."

[/ QUOTE ]

genius!

[ptmusic]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Kids and hookers are on opposite ends of the innocence spectrum, as are Disneyland and Vegas (based on public perception).

[/ QUOTE ]

I think your theory is plausible, but I don't really buy it. The way to test it, I think, is to substitute other characters of ill repute for hookers, and see if the joke is equally funny.

I substituted "murderer" for "hooker," there are a lot of murders in Vegas after all, but I still don't find the joke funny.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wait a second... "Why do people take their kids to Vegas? That's like taking a murderer to Disneyland!" IS pretty funny.

-ptmusic

[ptmusic]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Get it?

[/ QUOTE ]

No. See my response to the earlier post for a full explanation. Just because you take an object and put it in a situation in which it does not supposedly belong does not make it funny.

"You took your kids to Vegas? That's like taking a dump in the urinal." As much as I enjoy the excretory functions, it's still not funny.

[/ QUOTE ]

Made me laugh.

-ptmusic

[shant]

YSSCKY

70% of hooker's fathers dont love them

[DougShrapnel]

this thread is surprisingly hilarious.

[Jeebus]

because you are wasting your money taking your kids somewhere with nothing for them. Just like you are wasting money on the $300 an hour hooker showing her the epcot center...unless your getting alittle on the log ride.

[Moneyline]

How the hell do you post an image?


You just don't get it. Taking a retard to Disneyland is completely different from taking someone of questionable moral virtue there, so this is completely useless as a means of comparison. Personally, I'd like to take a retard to Vegas, let him loose in the Hard Rock and have him harass all the guys in silk shirts with product in there hair... we can all dream, right?

[SwordFish]

[ QUOTE ]
.... you can't pay a kid for sex at Disneyland. Well, I guess you could .....

[/ QUOTE ]


You're thinking of Neverland


SF