Defectus

This is a collection of my anti-anti-jokes.

What are anti-anti-jokes? Well, the way I see it at least, it’s a kind of absurd humor which typically parodies regular jokes by either mixing them together in nonsensical or convoluted ways, or by starting with what looks like a joke and then devolving into chaos. Anti-anti-jokes often exploit the setup-punchline structure of jokes, which can sometimes lead to ridiculously long narratives.

The name “anti-anti-jokes” is a humorous continuation of the “anti-joke” concept, which is a kind of joke that subverts expectations by having an unexpectedly serious punchline (sometimes called an “anticlimax”). So jokes have regular punchlines, anti-jokes have serious punchlines, and anti-anti-jokes have absurd punchlines (though typically the setup is absurd as well).

Anti-anti-jokes originated in and are mostly found on the subreddit r/AntiAntiJokes, which was opened in late 2012. I posted my first anti-anti-joke in late 2018, and over the next few years I posted many more. Most of these were short and relatively uninteresting; some, however, became so long, intricate and interconnected, that they’ve earned the status of stories in my book. I’ve listed these select few here.