The Basic American Joke

The basic American joke is deadpan. It goes like this. A guy walks into a bar, and the first thing he sees is a horse having a beer and talking with the bartender, and the bartender says, "Why the long face?"

I mention this because Simon Rich has come up with a variation in The New Yorker  (Nov. 18, 2013). I will paraphrase. A guy walks into a bar and the first thing he sees is a tiny man--about a foot high--wearing a tux and playing a miniature piano. So the guy asks the bartender, where on God's earth did you find him?  The bartender replies that a genie has taken up living in the men's room, and he will grant anyone a single wish. The guy immediately walks into the men's room and introduces himself to the genie and asks for his wish. "Okay, what do  you want?" the genie asks. The guy responds, "World Peace," and the room is immediately filled with whirling geese.

The guy returns to the bar and says to the bartender, "That genie must be hard of hearing. What did you ask for?" And the bartender says, "Well, I didn't ask for a twelve inch pianist."

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