Why did the chicken cross the road? In Tad Friend’s 2002 New Yorker piece “In Search of the World’s Funniest Joke,” he details the work of Dr. Richard Wiseman, a British psychologist who conducted a global humor study that included an experiment comparing scores for the same joke with different animals inserted in it. “We found that the funniest animal of all is a duck,” said Wiseman. “So science has determined that, if you’re going to tell a talking-animal joke, make it a duck.” Write a short story that involves a duck, whether in a main role, or in a minor appearance. See if you can facilitate the duck’s function as a humorous device: Is its appearance unexpectedly wacky or quirky? Do the human characters respond in a humorous way, or does the hilarity extend from a deadpan atmosphere?
Please log in to continue.
LOG IN
Don't yet have an account?
SIGN UP NOW -- IT'S FREE!