Why bad jokes are easier to remember than the good ones

Robert Provine, professor of psychology at Maryland University, who is writing a book on laughter, said: "What makes a joke successful is also what makes it difficult to remember. The punch line involves an unexpected turn.

"If someone tells you a list of flowers, like roses, daffodils, petunias and brick. That was unexpected and funny. You remember 'brick', but not probably the correct list of flowers."

Prof Provine believes that good jokes work in the opposite way to a poem or piece of music.

He said: "It's easier to follow a song because it has rhyme and rhythm. I hear a good joke but usually I can't remember all of it."

Examples of a bad joke:

What do you call a judge with no thumbs? Justice Fingers
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Why do cows have bells? Because their horns don't work.

Examples of a better joke:

A linguistics professor was lecturing his class one day.

'In English', he said, 'A double negative forms a positive. In some languages, though, such as Russian, a double negative is still a negative. However, there is no language wherein a double positive can form a negative.'

A loud voice from the back of the room piped up, 'Yeah, right.'
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Two men are in the woods when one collapses. He's not breathing so his friend calls 999.

'My friend is dead. What should I do?'

'Stay calm,' says the operator. 'First, let's make sure he's dead.' There is silence, then a shot.

'OK,' says the caller. 'What now?'
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