Hunting for the perfect joke
Looking for the one joke which will make us all laugh
There are many suggestions and variables suggesting the perfect joke. One study in Europe even concluded that the perfect joke which was most understood and laughed at was along the lines of 'Why is Canada called so?' The punchline is a play on words about the German prounciation for Canada sounding like a negative response. Naturally trying to tell this joke in the English (or even the French or the Spanish) speaking world is a wasted punchline.
In an essence, this shows the limits of a joke; language and culture. Language will always be an issue because the translation of jokes can render their punchlines impotent in a foreign tongue. No matter how funny the joke is in its original language, its meaning can change completely either through translation or meaning. Even if the joke is easily translatable, the person may still be required to understand the culture and atmosphere in which the joke was born out of.
One of the great things about this world is the diversity of jokes and different meanings and understandings within certain groups. New York is a microcosm for all of this. Every conceivable race, religion and nationality will have resided in this great city at some point and their cultural jokes and comedy sketches will have travelled with them. Where in one neighbourhood a joke will render everyone incapable of doing anything but laughing, in another neighbourhood the joke will be met with indifference at best.
It therefore suggests that there is no perfect joke which will make everyone who is told it laugh out loud but that will never stop comedians spending days, months or even years attempting to crack the code for the perfect joke.