A Little Pick-Me-Up

Is there an airport nearby or is that just my heart taking off?

Are you a parking ticket? Because you've got fine written all over you.

Do you have a raisin? How about a date?

          Trying to get a girl’s attention is awkward. But what better way is there to acknowledge that awkwardness than with a corny pick up line? The corniness in the above pick up lines is apparent. When I Googled pick up lines to use for this post, I did not come across a single one that I would not consider corny in some way. One line that I found, “Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?” seemed more sweet than corny at a first reading, yet I think even this pick up line could be considered corny. As I’ve stated earlier in this blog, sentimentality and triteness are key indicators of corniness, and this heaven pick up line has both elements. The fact that pick up lines are almost universally corny can also be seen in the way that the term “pick up line” has become almost synonymous with a “corny line”, and they are used more for humor than for actually attempting to pick someone up.

            The corny nature of pick up lines might have developed to relieve the awkwardness involved in striking up a conversation with someone new. By making light of the situation with a corny joke, the person using the corny pick up line attempts generate a laugh from the joke’s recipient in order to relieve the tension. Often a corny pick up line sends the message that the person using the line does not take himself or the line too seriously, making a potentially awkward situation feel more relaxed and humorous. Additionally, the lighthearted nature of these pick up lines implies that the person using the lines does not necessarily expect a serious answer. A laugh would be a perfectly acceptable response to these lines, which makes them good icebreakers instead of inquiries. The person using the line, “do you have a raisin? How about a date?” hopes to obtain a laugh and does not actually expect an answer to his question about a date.

            Of course, the corny nature of pick up lines makes anyone who uses them extremely vulnerable to rejection. The fact that these lines have been used countless times before takes the wit away from them and in most cases makes them entirely ineffective. So using corny pick up lines is a risk. On the one hand, they can relieve the tension by displaying a lighthearted attitude, but they can also indicate a lack of originality, ending the conversation before it even had a chance to begin.

Delivery!

Consider these two jokes:

                                            “What is brown and sticky? … A Stick!”

                “What is a ghost’s favorite fruit? … Boo-berries!”

These jokes are equally corny and rely on silly puns to make the listeners laugh. Yet, the logic behind these jokes is so basic that the jokes themselves cannot be wholly responsible for the laughter. Often what makes a corny joke funny is not the joke but how it is delivered and how the person telling the joke acknowledges the silliness of the joke. These two videos display very different, but I think equally effective ways of delivering corny jokes to maximize their humor.

I were to tell you the joke about the stick as if I thought that it was the most hysterical joke I have ever heard, much of the humor in the joke probably would have been lost. The delivery of the stick joke involved playing up the contrast between the silliness of the joke and the seriousness of the setting. The guy telling the stick joke used a very stern tone of voice, and the setting leads one to expect that he is going to say something intellectual and serious. The book and fireplace make the ridiculous punch line come as even more of a surprise because it goes against the listeners’ expectations of an intellectual comment. In this way, the delivery of the joke amplifies the surprise that the listener feels when hearing the punch line and elicits more laughter as a result.

In contrast, the person telling the ghost joke takes the opposite approach and plays up the ridiculousness of the joke by wearing a sheet over his head and using silly sound effects. These added elements to the delivery emphasize the fact that the joke-teller does not take the joke seriously, and this makes the listeners more receptive to the stupidity of the joke. Acknowledging the corniness of the joke is an effective way of eliminating the possibility of listeners feeling awkward because they find themselves questioning whether or not the joke was meant to be silly. By matching his delivery of the joke to its absurdity, the person delivering the joke makes his listeners feel more at ease.

            Consider this a warning. If you want to add these two jokes to your repertoire, definitely take into account the fundamental role that the delivery plays in how your listeners will receive them before attempting to stir up any hysterical reactions.