How many people do you know who get all your jokes? (a revived question)

One. Thankfully, he lives in town, and I get to see him from time to time.

Only one, my brother.

My sons, my brothers, an ex-friend, Gail

(Shit – now I’m tearing up and I just put mascara on for a date.)

Sorry, I ought to have included her details, which expand a little on the question. Here they are:

I’ve found that a lot of people get some of my jokes, some people get a lot of my jokes and only three people get all of my jokes.

How about you? Do you find that many people understand your humor or that your humor is understood sporadically? What do you think makes your humor so universal or non-universal?

Oh – to answer that part of it some of my humor relies on literary references and puns that not all that many people get. The rest of it is just dry wit, incongruity or teasing that many more people get.

Nobody gets all of my jokes. (Sometimes, a day or a week later, neither do I.) Occasionally when I’m called on a joke with a “What did that mean?” then I’ll just answer with a wink and a nod to preserve my air of mystery (and to hide the fact that I’ve forgotten the joke, or that it never made a lot of sense in the first place).

One of the things I most appreciated about Robin Williams, for example, was the subtlety of some of his jokes, even in front of mass audiences. I recall watching some of his riffs while watching, and howling with laughter at something that no one else got, even in a room full of knowledgeable people who otherwise should have gotten the reference. I don’t want anyone to get “all” of my jokes.

Just a very few. Like @janbb, a lot of my humor references literary and/or highbrow theater.

2 My sense of humor is often subtle and sarcastic that so many totally miss the humor I put forth. It took years but my wife finally caught on. But I have one friend who got it from the start and why we became good friends.

1. My wife.

1. My sister, who I never see, :(
2. My oldest daughter (the other daughter is too quick to take offense)
3. My son
4. Best of all, the guy I’m with 24/7.

As an aside, I used to have a coworker who was awfully stuffy at first. Kind of stuck up. But as she got to know me she thawed out. She finally learned when I was serious and when I was joking, and she was quick to get them after that. I enjoyed working with her.

I know my audience. If some of my friends who get all my jokes heard what I say to coworkers, they wouldn’t understand those jokes.

All is so absolute. All and never make me nervous. It feels like a multiple choice quiz.

My parents get 99% of my jokes. My husband is above 90% too.

Most people get the majority of my jokes.

I almost never tell jokes.

I amuse myself endlessly with puns, quips, ironies and quotes.
The funniest joke I could tell at this writing?
And I think he would agree.

Donald Trump

2. My humor can be very deadpan sometimes.

I don’t know if anyone gets them all. Maybe my kids, but they’re quick to tell me when my jokes make no sense or are just lame, so…

My range is far too wide for anyone to keep up at all times.

My wife is best at it since she knows me well (after >20 years together, she better!), though she doesn’t have quite the tech skills to know stuff like why telling a CNC mill G 00 Z-50. is silly and wrong.

I never tell jokes either, but I make jokes, and that’s what I take as the intended meaning of the question. Anytime I make a play on words, toss out a humorously intended allusion, or attempt a wisecrack, I call that making jokes. (I don’t include pranks in this category, though.)

I can’t think of anyone who gets all of mine, although my husband comes close (and of course some of them are just lame); but I’m pretty careful about my audience, so there’s nearly always somebody who gets any particular one. A lot depends on context, and there’s no one who actually shares all my contexts. Isn’t that pretty much true for anyone?

I learned the hard way, long ago, to avoid humor of any subtlety at all when I don’t know my audience. A misunderstood joke can do more damage than a deliberate insult.

@Jeruba Yes – that’s the way I read the question as well.

Me, too. I very rarely tell a joke. And when I do, you can be certain it will be a lame one! :)