job application joke (Washington Sq. Park)

Although we're standing there with a relatively large video camera, some people don't wait for us to actually point it at them before they just start telling us the joke. "Wait, wait," we've learned to say, "Can we actually TAPE you telling the joke?" And some, such as this guy, slip from normal conversation into the joke so seamlessly, it's not until the punch line is just around the bend that you go, "Oh, this is a joke." The job application joke here is actually the second take due to the way he makes it a story about his friend, complete with irrelevant background information to lend general authenticity. As a joke, it kinda doesn't work, but if you ever want to tell someone a joke without them knowing they're being told a joke, well, this is the guy to contact.

thousand pound canary joke, french (Washington Sq. Park)

I don't even remember how Scott, who posted and named this joke, knew this was about a thousand pound canary, but then again Scott is the kind of guy who understands The French even if he doesn't understand French.

condiment joke (take 2) (Washington Sq. Park)

sympathetic cannibal joke (Washington Sq. Park)

Some things are just inherently funny: cannibals! We were taking a break looking at footage from the day when we saw this woman with her friend kind of looking over at us like, "What's with the camera?" Or maybe it was more "You guys are funny-looking"— it's a similar look, really. Anyway, we went over and sure enough she had one ready to go. And it's about cannibals!

10 white people in an elevator (Washington Sq. Park)

This is one of those jokes that isn't worth much in print, but it so tickles this guy that one can't help being tickled in return. Even if you're a cracker.

thirsty cow joke (Washington Sq. Park)

The old interactive joke. These kids were hanging in the park and, shall we say, seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely on this fine Saturday, as students will do on fine Saturdays. Yet even in his highly enjoyable state, the "helper" doesn't take the bait. A perfectly good joke-- ruined! That's the risk you run with the interactive joke, and we may never know what happened to the girl following what can only be called joke mayhem. Look, all StopMe moments can't be, uh, high points.

car trouble penguin joke (Washington Sq. Park)

You kind of knew seals love ice cream but you never really articulated it to yourself. We got this one right near the fountain at Washington Square Park and it's a winner. I tried to tell it to my wife before watching the footage and forgot to include the part about the flippers lacking opposable thumbs, thus the spillage, and thus the blank face when I got to the punch line. This one's going into the "Favorites" collection.

honeymoon joke (Washington Sq. Park)

After they told this joke one of the women turned to me and said, "You get it?" Now there's only one answer to this question, which we all learn in second grade when we get asked to spell "I cup." I answered the question properly, but I must admit here, before the world, before the grown up kid who asked me to spell "I cup," I did not answer truthfully. An explanatory email thrown my way would help.

linoleum and women joke (Washington Square Park)

We stopped this family, complete with stroller, child, mom and dad as they were exiting the park. We small-talked about being new dads (which Scott and I are), the challenges and joys of parenthood blah, blah, blah, and then the mom started adjusting the kid in the stroller a good 20 feet away while the dad proceded to tell this rather misogynist little gem. I figured he waited until she was out of earshot but then she called over, "I knew you were gonna tell that one!"

german joke (Washington Square Park)

Ah, the Germans. Known for their sheer goofiness, it's no surprise this woman had an absolutely hilarious joke ready to go. At least her friend thought it was pretty funny

golf joke

I like the way he dances around the words "have sex." He didn't want to dirty our very pure website and kept going with "make love," which I find rather charming. Interesting how many people said things like, "I know some jokes but none of them would be appropriate." Appropriate for what-- the internet? The place where vids of skateboarders breaking their wrists and dogs fu-- I mean, "making love" to rabbits flourish? It never takes much to get these people to spill the dirty joke, but this guy, refreshingly, keeps it quite clean!

handkerchief joke (Washington Sq. Park)

Welcome to location #3: Washington Square Park and the surrounding area. Central Park and Coney Island served us well, but this outing produced almost 30 jokes! We must be getting better at asking. This joke is a repeat, and eventually there'll be a button that lets you see other versions of the same joke, but then again this isn't the joke you'd care to hear someone else do.