


Resolved Noodle Incident can lead to this when the explanation is less entertaining than the original mystery was.

Deliberate use of the trope is a common stable in Anti-Humor. May be the outcome of Poe's Law, when a satire/parody fails because the audience didn't realise it is a satire/parody and took it seriously. Compare Lampshaded Double Entendre and Euphemism Buster, "Just Joking" Justification. Or better yet, imply the second interpretation with a short sentence.Ī Sub-Trope of Measuring the Marigolds. It's only explaining the joke's primary interpretation that ruins it. However, explaining a joke using a less-than-obvious Alternative Joke Interpretation can mean that explaining a joke can get a second laugh out of the same joke. "See, it's funny because now it's his turn in the barrel! Hee-haw-hee-haw." We laugh at this jackass, for reasons we all know and need not discuss, as we are too wise to explain the obvious. Occasionally in this case, where the joke does work, an audience member will guffaw and burst out with an explanation of why they are laughing. For example, "It is a Double Entendre, by which I mean 'have sex with me'". The comedian proceeds to explain it, anyway, with a joke explanation. Here's another way: Comedian tells a joke. That would be explaining the joke, which you cannot make us do. We won't go into why ridiculous comedians are funny. This makes the comedian look ridiculous, which does get a laugh. The comic sincerely tries to explain why the joke (should be) funny. Explaining a joke just makes it not funny, except in those rare cases where the hopelessness of the attempted explanation becomes its own (unexplained) joke.
