Dad jokes are that special brand of cheesy humor that makes you groan up a little in your seat. The punch lines are typically predictable puns or plays on words, and the cheesiness just adds to their endearing quality. They’re the kind of jokes that are often told by dads to their kids, or just random people in general, and that’s why they’re called dad jokes.
A lot of people consider dad jokes to be the lowest form of comedy, but that’s not entirely true. They can actually be quite funny when told well. Just think about the time you and a group of friends cackled at Norm Macdonald’s hackneyed jokes during a roast, or when you heard a really cheesy joke at a party and it just made everyone smile and laugh a bit more.
The reason that bad dad jokes are so fun to tell and listen to is because of how they’re used. Like other types of cringe comedy, they’re meant to make the audience feel a little embarrassed. But unlike other types of cringe comedy, the audience in a dad joke is not the kids who are being embroiled in the joke; rather it’s the father, who derives enjoyment from the children’s embarrassment.
That’s why it’s no surprise that books like Dad Jokes for New Dads: Embarrass Your Kid Early! are popular, or that dad jokes are a huge part of millennial humor. So next time you’re tempted to crack a bad dad joke, remember the reasons why we love them so much. bad dad jokes