Oliverisms

I have always found Oliver funny. Ever since he was a little baby, he could make me laugh without even trying. I present for your consideration, Exhibits A through C:

I can’t imagine anyone looking at those pictures and not laughing, but I readily admit that I am biased.

Anyway, the other day, I was reading a blog post at The World According to E, Ryan and the Girl:

Ryan loves to tell jokes that he reads or hears. Sometimes, this motivates Lily to jump in with her own made-up joke.

Ryan: What is a ghost’s favorite game?

Me: I don’t know. What is a ghost’s favorite game?

Ryan: Hide and shriek!

Me: (laughing) Great joke Ryan!

Lily: Wait…Daddy…I have one!

Me: OK, let’s hear it Lily.

Lily: What is an owl’s favorite game?

Me: I don’t know. What is an owl’s favorite game?

Lily: Whooo….whooo…I love to play basketball.

Brilliant.

This made me think of, what I refer to as, Oliver’s surreal jokes. As far as I can tell, he doesn’t yet understand the concept of jokes that rely on wordplay, but he loves telling you things that sound funny to him, as well as doing things that make others laugh. He’s an excellent mimic, which always makes me giggle, but sometimes he does things that take me completely by surprise. For example, a few weeks ago, we were walking past a big, yellow digger and Oliver started to sing the Bob the Builder theme song. Oliver loves theme songs, he doesn’t necessarily have to have seen the show (Dinosaur Train is popular with him at the moment even though he’s never seen an episode) but if it’s a show he enjoys then he tends to sing its theme with both gusto and precision. When we got to the section that goes: “Can we dig it? Yes!” I joined in and gave a resounding “Yes!” when he asked if we could dig, build and fix it. When I shouted “Yes!” in answer to the question of whether we could fix it, Oliver stopped still, looked at me in mock horror, said “Oh No Mummy!” and burst out laughing. Given my echolalic little boy scripts everything, I found it delightful that he was not only spontaneous, but he said something purely for comic effect.

His comedic masterpiece however was his adaptation of a “Why did the chicken cross…?” joke. He had heard this joke more than once so I find it doubtful that he couldn’t remember the punch line. Personally I think he rejected the ending in favour of something a little less pedestrian. Anyway, without further ado, here is Oliver’s joke:

Oliver: Why did the chicken cross the playground?

Me: I don’t know Oliver, why did the chicken cross the playground?

Oliver: Hello Chicken!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Please do give him writing credit if you use it in any stand-up routines.