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

[tonypaladino]

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You're thinking about this way too much.

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[Moneyline]

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

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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?

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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.

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Bingo.

[Moneyline]

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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.

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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]

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Get it?

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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]

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

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Who is on first.

[lighterjobs]

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

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genius!