Knock-knock joke

 ( Joke Cycles ) 

The knock-knock joke is an audience-participation joke cycle; a knock-knock joke is primarily a child's joke, though there are exceptions.

The scenario is of a person knocking on the door to a house. The teller of the joke says, "Knock, knock!"; the recipient responds, "Who's there?" The teller gives a name (such as "Noah"), a description (such as "Police"), or something that purports to be a name (such as "Needle"). The other person then responds by asking the caller's surname ("Noah who?" / "Police who?" / "Needle who?"), to which the joke-teller delivers a pun involving the name (" place I can spend the night?" / " let me in—it's cold out here!" / " help with the groceries!").

The formula of the joke is usually followed strictly, though there are cases where it is subverted.

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History A possible source of the joke is William Shakespeare's Macbeth; first performed in 1606. In Act 2, Scene 3, the porter is very hungover from the previous night. During his monologue, he uses "Knock, knock! Who's there" as a refrain while he is speaking:

Writing in the Oakland Tribune, Merely McEvoy recalled a style of joke from around 1900 where a person would ask a question such as "Do you know Arthur?", the unsuspecting listener responding with "Arthur who?" and the joke teller answering "!"

A variation of the format in the form of a children's game was described in 1929. In the game of Buff, a child with a stick thumps it on the ground, and the dialogue ensues:

In 1936, Bob Dunn authored the book Knock Knock: Featuring Enoch Knox, and he is regarded by some as having invented the modern knock-knock joke.

In 1936, the standard knock-knock joke format was used in a newspaper advertisement. "Hee Haw News" p. 4. Rolfe Arrow. (Rolfe, Iowa). 10 September 1936. That joke was:

A 1936 Associated Press newspaper article said that "What's This?" had given way to "Knock Knock!" as a favorite parlor game."'Knock Knock' Latest Nutsy Game For Parlor Amusement." P. 1.3 August 1936. Titusville Herald (Pennsylvania). Byline 2 August. New York. The article also said that "knock knock" seemed to be an outgrowth of making up sentences with difficult words, an old parlor favorite. A popular joke of 1936 (the year of Edward VIII's brief reign) was "Knock knock. Who's there? Edward Rex. Edward Rex who? the Coronation." Fred Allen's 30 December 1936 radio broadcast included a humorous wrapup of the year's least important events, including a supposed interview with the man who "invented a negative craze" on 1 April: "Ramrod Dank... the first man to coin a Knock Knock."

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Popular culture "Knock knock" was the catchphrase of music hall performer Wee Georgie Wood, who was recorded in 1936 saying it in a radio play, but he simply used the words as a reference to his surname and did not use it as part of the well-known joke formula.

Nigel Rees (2025). 9780007220878, Collins. ISBN 9780007220878

The format was well known in the UK and US in the 1950s and 1960s before falling out of favor. It then enjoyed a renaissance after the jokes became a regular part of the badinage on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.

An example of a non-standard knock-knock joke is: Knock knock. Who's there? Death. Death wh-gkh (gagging sound of sudden fatal choking).

Being familiar with the back-and-forth pattern of the joke is crucial. In an episode of the TV detective series Monk, Adrian Monk is feeling sad. His assistant, Natalie, tries to cheer him up. She says she has thought of something funny, and asks if he wants to hear it. "Yes," he answers. She begins, using the standard formula, "Knock knock." Adrian pauses, obviously thinking about this, but puzzled. Then he dismisses it, saying, "That's not funny." The joke, this time, is that he is not familiar with knock-knock jokes.

Categories: Joke Cycles, Puns, Doors

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