American Folk Metafiction

[benlehman]

It was a dark and stormy night.

Two tramps sat on a rail.

One tramp said to the other tramp, "Tell me a story, Bill."

So Bill began...

























It was a dark and stormy night.

Two tramps sat on a rail.

One tramp said to the other tramp, "Tell me a story, Bill."

So Bill began...

Comments

[benlehman.livejournal.com]

I have heard the same joke with a different object, although I can't recall off the top of my head what it was. The joke seems to be that it is an anti-joke. There is no punchline, and you were dumb to wait on it.

I think that "Two Tramps Sat on a Rail" is a very different and possibly much older (behold the Chinese version.) While there is something of a "hahahah, you had to wait for the story that wasn't there" aspect to it, it also have some considerably deeper levels.