| abstract
| - A common joke, told in the following format: The format does tend to make it annoying, as the second person usually wants to hear a joke, rather than be forced to participate. But it is possible to make them funny in the right situation. Because this trope is so well-known, it's subverted more often than not, by replacing the punchline with an unexpected insult instead. A second subversion is when person 1 isn't actually trying to set up a joke, but person 2 acts like it is. Generally this leaves out the 'knock knock' being said, with person 1 knocking on an actual door. The Other Wiki has an article on this plus examples, even prototypical ones from Shakespeare's time. Compare Light Bulb Joke, What's a Henway?. Examples in media:
* In Paulie Shore is Dead:
* In Police Academy 6, Hightower was fighting a thug, and the thug was getting the upper hand enough to tell one of these jokes. It was so bad, it ticked Hightower off enough to punch the guy out.
* Father Ted:
* Catch Me If You Can combined a subversion of this with a Precision F-Strike, to good effect.
* From Mirror Mask:
* There is a book that claimed that this is the greatest knock-knock joke ever:
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* Dominic Deegan introduces a Crowning Moment of Awesome for physics students with a variant:
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* Then there's this one.
* Also turned into a crowning moment of either heartwarming or heartbreaking in the movie Half Nelson.
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* And shows up in Ozy and Millie, but with an interrupting space alien.
* Dave Barry referenced this when writing about the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney;
* From Family Guy. Stewie becomes unbearably nice once he has a near-death experience, so much that he tells Brian a knock-knock joke that ends with "your friend, Stewie, and he'll always be there for you." Brian retaliates:
* In News Radio, Bill tries out his new knock-knock joke on Dave:
* In Matt Ruff's Sewer Gas and Electric, in the afterlife, Abbie Hoffman is telling Ayn Rand a Knock-Knock Joke, trying to teach her about humor. .
* This gem from Animaniacs:
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* And now for a little subverting? First, 'Windsor Hassle':
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* Second, with Pinky and The Brain, from 'Welcome to the Jungle':
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* Once Snowball finds someone more receptive?
* This Order of the Stick.
* Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip:
* This dialogue from a Secret Invasion tie-in of "Deadpool
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* Another example with Deadpool. After telling his life story to a movie-maker, Wade knocks on the door of his long-lost father.
* Played with in Bill Bailey's Tinselworm tour:
* Subverted in the Discworld novel The Wee Free Men when Tiffany first visits Miss Tick, who is currently working out of a tent that has no actual door:
* Depending on your tastes, the following is either a case of Dude, Not Funny or Gallows Humor:
* Ernie Steele of Backyard Sports does not use puns in his Knock Knock Jokes, but instead stops them in the middle. For example:
* The children's book Camp Knock-Knock is about a kid having a knock-knock joke challenge involving names, and getting stuck with the name Frederick Ornat. Freddie Ornat, here it comes!
* Prarie Home Companion did a whole song based on knock knock jokes which is surprisingly catchy, and can be heard here with the jokes starting at 0:40.
* The Buffybot tries for an epic one:
* Saturday Night Live, a 1991 Wayne's World sketch from the first Gulf War. Wayne and Garth are geeking out over the new US smart-bombs and the novel first-person Night Vision footage on CNN.
* During one of Mitch Hedberg's stand-up routines, where he talks about hotels, he says he likes to wear signs around his neck "so little kids can't tell [him] knock-knock jokes. 'Hey, how you doing, nephew?' 'Knock-knock...' 'Read the sign, punk!'"
* A King of the Hill episode when the gang are at the alley after Hank cried in a romance film.
* In Planescape: Torment, with Morte trying to get Nordom to play the Straight Man:
* The first movement of PDQ Bach's cantata "Knock, Knock," and its alternate version, "Sam and Janet."
* An episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show had Ted Baxter write his own knock-knock joke, but getting stuck on the punchline:
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* He eventually comes up with one at the end of the episode that Mary thought was Actually Pretty Funny:
* In the Community episode "The Science of Illusion" Britta delivers this Knock-Knock Joke in a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming after being called a Buzz Kill several times in the episode:
* In the Philippines, a popular variation is to replace a line in a song with a knock-knock joke. Popularized in a noontime show named Eat Bulaga! An example:
* A really bad Harry Potter related one:
* A subversion from Kickassia, when N. Bison has Dr. Insano cornered:
* Played with on The Office episode "Golden Ticket"
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* Later
* From Beavis and Butthead:
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* Later
* No actual examples, but in Angels of Light and Darkness, Suzie tells a stupid joke that isn't one, and John comments that her sense of humor is declining to the point where she'll be invoking this trope, next.
* Dennis Miller in his 1993 HBO special, after a joke bombs early on:
* One time in The Wonder Years, after an awkward silence between her and Kevin following a serious spat, Winnie signals her willingness to reconcile with a knock-knock joke:
* Regularly featured as a segment on Lamb Chop's Play-Along, and honored with a song to boot.
* An absolute classic from an episode of Home Movies, while Linda is giving birth. Linda: FUCK YOU WHO!? }}
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* Possibly stolen from Space Ghost Coast to Coast:
* In Quest for Glory IV, this is your cue that you should NOT open a coffin, unless you have a ton of HP.
* One episode of Hello Cheeky subverted this delightfully.
* The Powerpuff Girls and their Professor see one of these.
* Sesame Street
* In every Hillbilly Moment onThe Amanda Show {{quote|Announcer: "It's time for a Hillbilly Moment!" (goofy laugh) Lula Mae: "Hey, hey, knock, knock." Enos: "Who's there?" Lula Mae: "Uh...[object]." Enos: "[object] who?" Lula Mae: "I'm gonna hit you in the head with a/an [object]." Enos: (laughs) "Huh?" Lula Mae hits him in the head with the [object]. (Enos stumbles and sometimes falls over.) Enos: (laughs) "That's a good' un!" Lula Mae: "Yup."
* Knucklehead from Pee-wee's Playhouse always has these.
* Susie Carmichael tries telling one to the Rugrats, but they lose it.
* Crank Yanker Special Ed also tries telling one.
* Spongebob Squarepants has an unsensible one to Squidward during his fun to-do list. Spongebob: Hey Squid, knock-knock! Squidward: Who's there? Spongebob: ... I AM!(laughs) Squidward: (laughs a little) okay.
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