The Up-Down Joke

Tori loves to tell jokes. Especially the bad pun jokes that elicit a groan when they go well, and a blank look when they don't. She has been known to keep a small notepad in her purse with bad pun jokes in it. If you see her getting it out, just move away quickly.

And poor thing, I've never gotten her jokes too well. But there's one that she told over and over that tickled me, because she honestly couldn't tell it successfully. I heard a joke this week about Santa going down the chimney, and it got me to laughing, thinking about her up-down joke.

Here's how she used to tell the joke, when she was maybe four or five (please read these aloud at medium speed for best effect):

"What goes up the down the up the chimney down-down up?

And she'd be answered by blank faces. Again, she'd ask:

"What goes up the down chimney up the down-down?

Nothing. She would ask it several times, giggling at her own cleverness, only to be let down by the adults who couldn't imagine what she might be asking. Finally, she'd turn to me for translation. The joke actually should go:

"What can go up the chimney down, but can't go down the chimney up?"

By this time, her target has heard so many ups and downs, they aren't even sure which way is up. And eventually, they give up. The answer, of course, is an umbrella.