Lori Dierman interview with Sam Dinerman, Mark Balser, and Mindy Fine

The John Burrison Georgia Folklore Archive recordings contains unedited versions of all interviews. Some material may contain descriptions of violence, offensive language, or negative stereotypes reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. There are instances of racist language and description, particularly in regards to African Americans. These items are presented as part of the historical record. This project is a repository for the stories, accounts, and memories of those who chose to share their experiences for educational purposes. The viewpoints expressed in this project do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of the Atlanta History Center or any of its officers, agents, employees, or volunteers. The Atlanta History Center makes no warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of any information contained in the interviews and expressly disclaims any liability therefore. If you believe you are the copyright holder of any of the content published in this collection and do not want it publicly available, please contact the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center at 404-814-4040 or reference@atlantahistorycenter.com. This interview starts with Sam Dinerman, the interviewer, Lori Dinerman's father, providing his background and explaining how he approaches storytelling and telling jokes. Then he tells two funny stories, one about a Joke Tellers Convention and one about a sick cat. Then at 7:36 Dinerman starts telling animal jokes about how to catch a polar bear, a woman who had never seen an elephant, a circus zebra who meets other animals, and a gorilla who meets a golf pro. At 14:30 he launches into a humorous and sexually based story about a traveler who learns how to water a camel, which leads to another one in which he uses racist language to tell a story about how a Mexican man tells time. Then at 20:47, Mark Balser, a friend of Lori Dinerman, tells a funny story in which a mother, father, and baby gnu (or Wildebeest) eat all the gnats. At about 26 minutes, Sam Dinerman tells a short story about a family of moles that ends in a pun. He then tells one in which an Italian man decides to become a priest after almost dying while sky-diving. He successfully goes skydiving after becoming a priest, then again after becoming a bishop, arch-bishop, and pope. Dinermans next story is about a barber who tries to discourage an actor from traveling. At 33:55 Mindy Fine, another of Lori Dinermans friends, tells a story in which a Catholic woman with thirteen children tries to start taking oral contraceptives. At 34:40 Sam Dinerman follows this story up with one about a priest who prays for a street-walker, then one about a preacher who loses his bicycle, both of which end in punch lines about how the priests are not celibate. Then at 38:40, Dinerman starts telling doctor jokes, including a dirty one about the fictional Von Crickenberg syndrome. To conclude the interview, at 43:35 Dinerman explains that he doesnt replicate accents when he tells stories, but they can help. The most important part of telling a good joke or story, however, is the context and creating common ground with the audience. Sam Dinerman (1920-2010) was born in Savannah, Georgia, to Harry (1883-1956) and Leah Dinerman (1885-1957), Jewish immigrants from Poland; he was one of six siblings. He joined the military in 1941 and served internationally before returning to Atlanta, where he worked at Honeywell, Inc. He married Selma Levetan (1923-2004) and had three children, including Lori Dineman. No biographical information about Mark Baser or Mindy Fine has been determined. FOLKLORE COLLECTING PROJECT FOLKLORE )01 LOR.I DINERMAI'-i SPRING QUARTER, 1974 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction II. Srief Dascriptlon of 'I'rlp And Informant III. ,Setting IV. Transcription from Tape 1. Opening:- Jo1re 2. Animal .Jokes a, The Sick Cat b. Polar Bear 1iddle c. he Elephant nd the Old Maid d,The Zebra and the Bull e, The Gorilla nd the Golf Professional f. The Arab and th Cmel g, Telling the Time in Mexico h. The Three Gnus i. The Three Moles J. Religious Jokes a. Angelo Sicola b, ony's Barbershop c. he Pope and th Pill d. he Confession e. rrhe Miss inp: 3icyc1.e 4. Doctor Joke- The Von Crickenberg Syndrome 5. Closing Line iT. Motif and 1raletype =terJ'rehce ]?age. VI. Picture VII. Release Form Where would we stand, as a people, if we were not able to laugh at ourselves? Our culture Is filled to the brim with jolrns .ci.nd anecdo':.es and new ones are constantly being added to the list. People all over the world have laughed at themselves and at others for centuries and, hopefully, they will continue to do so. The day shall be a sad one when we are no longer able to look at our many mistakes wi.th humorous attitudes, Jubilation must remain as a permanent fixture ln our soclety and we must Let the sweet, sweet song of laughter fill the air as we continue to be the mirrors that catch all of the imperfections of the perfect,' My excusion was not a lengthy one as my father provided me with a small portion of the jokes that he has accumulated during his lifetl.me. We settled down on the back porch of our house, here at l?f9 Bramble 'toad, N,E,, Atlanta, Georgia, for an evening of laughter, Our back porch 1.s open to the common noises of our suburban neighborhood, such as the screaming children playing ball next door, the barking dogs and chirping birds and the roaring jets as they glide over our community towards their destinations, Our house lies about six down from the busy Lavista Hoad and isa linking passage for Lavista Hoad and North Druid Hills , It is a medium sized house with three bedrooms, two baths, kitchen, den and dining and living rooms, and, of course, the porch, Attending our laughter session were the followlng; Mr, Sam Dinerman, major contributor, Mrs. Selma Dinerman, wife. of the major contributor, Mark Balser and Mir1dy Fine, ends of mi!.ne, and myself, JVly father 1s a solidly built man who stands around five feet, ten inches and weighs approximately one hundred and sixty pounds, He is balding and the remal.ning hair is beginning to gray, He has bright blue eyes and a fair complexion, He is in very good physical shape and malntains his state of healthiness by doing various odds and ends around the house in every spare minute, He is employed by Honeywell, Im~,, My father has raised three children, two boys and a girl, and has been married to Selma for twenty nlne years, A brief description of his youth can be found in the transcription, During recording time, we were all seated on the back porch in the cool of the evening, very relaxed, There were many sound effects from neighboring contibutors, as we did record after dinner( approximately 7:30) and that is a fine time for the usual pre-darkness street sounds, We all enjoyed hearing the jokes that Mr, Dinerman told as they were quite humorous. Facial features and gestures of the hands were used freq1_iently during the session and they added to the total effect of each joke. sure I thorous,:hly enjoyed listening to the jokes and I'm quite Mr, Dinerman delighted in telling them. Mr, Sam Dinerman Age, 54 Born in Savannah, Georgia Recorded on May 2,1974 7:30 P,11, Lori , "OK, Mr, Sam Dinerman, , , " Dad, ''I'm your father'' Lori, Dad, "Just a few questions., ,general questions, Uh, for instance, where and when were you born?" "Born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1920, which makes me a good fifty four years old, and resided 1n Savannah most of my life until I left for the military service back in 1941, and from then on at different points of the world and finally back to Atlanta." Lori, "And what about, uh, your family life- when you were young.,." Dad, "Well, we had a very good family life, There were six ldren, Lori, Dad, Lori, Dad, three boys and three girls, We all liked to enjoy a good joke and tell stories as far as I can remember, My oldest sl.ster was, adeptat;telling stories and I would consider her to be an excellent storyteller, In fact, almost a liar!" "Is that where you got most of' your, uh, material from? Your family or .. ," "No, uh, actually most of the jokes that,uh, I've come across are usually at social gatherings or at friend's groups and get together and spin a few stories and one reminds you of another<J 11 "Any particular comedians?" "Why yes, uh, you pick up certain stories from comedians. Not all jokes because some of them apparently you don't like and you reject and you will remember the ones Lori: "And uh, OK, let's see ... alright" you do like." Dad, "Come on out and join us!" Dad, "Alright, have a seat," Mom, "I wa.s to Ruckie-do you want me to tell you a joke that Ruckle told me? Dad, "Just a minute, .,you 're being recorded,. .,alright, go ahead,., that 9s alright,you'll get a chance~'~ Mom, "I already forgot the joke!" D1ad, "Think a bout it, " Lori: "OK um, well do you have one to start us off with. Just, you know, off the top of your head?" Dad, "Well, now telling stories or jokes usually, if you 're not a stand up oomedlan and you have a repetoire, usually something has to come up or some situation or some incident that reminds you of a story, So, .to begin with, I'll tell you the story about this person who had a very good friend who was the President of the Joke 'l'eller's Association. And uh, so this friend of his, the President of the Assoc i.onll uh, once a year attended a joke teller's convention, So uh, he expressed a desire to go along, you know, and attend convention, but he was a little reluctant because he didn't .know how to tell stories, So, his ,Presid!3nt friend Assured hi.m that really, there wasn't very much to it, Uh, they had become so with the jokes, that 1s the members of the convention, liar they Jrnew them all by heart, In fact. they had them, had numbers a.ssigned to them, So instead of telling a joke, they'd merely just say 'Number 66' or '38! , So, 'on that premlse, they decided, he decided, to go ong, So at the convention the President gets up and after the formal bus ss is conducted Mom, Dad, and eve:r:'ything, he says, "Now, ladies and gentlemen, We've come to the best part of the whole meeting," he says,'' now we'll tell jokes. Who wants to start it off?" So this guy in the back jumps up and he says, "Nuber 671 Man, it brought the house down. Another guy jumps up," 4Lf'" Just broke them up, Another s,:uy jumps up," 317 1 " And it took minutes for the laughter to subside, So this went on for ouite a while so, finally, the non-member who was attending the meeting, he stood up and says," Ladies and gentlemen, my good friend, he's not a member of this association, would like to tell a joke," He stands up and says," Number 622," And complete silence. Nothing, So a little later on he asked his friend President, he said," What did I do wrong~ What did I do WTOng?" He said," Well,you didn't do anything wrong," he said,"bilt let's face lt, some people just don't know how to tell a joke" "Kitty cat, what do you, do you want to tell a joke, kitty cat? C ~mon~ 0 111 Say Meow,,,'' '' Speaking of cats, there's a story told about this farmer who had a sick cat and after a few days of moping around, he decided that he'd better call the vet, So, this is back in the old days when telephones were not too good, so he called the vet and he says,"Hey Doc I a sick cat out here. What should I do for it?" ''Uh, I'll send you out some pills and you give him six every hour for the next two days straight," So the pills arrived and the farmer, having listened obediently, administered the pills as perscribed, So, the next day, he Dad, Lori: Dad, Mindy, happened to look outs e y glane-ed outside, a11d what he saw made him run to the telephone and call the vet. He says," Hey Doc'" he says, "you know that sick cat that I told you about yesterday?" The vet sats," Now wait a minute, now, did you sa;y cat?" " Yes cat! C- A- T!" he said, " Good gracious map," he said,''I thought you said calf, C-. A- L- F Don't tell me you gave all those 'pills to that little cat!" He says," I sure did," He says," What's happening? What's the cat doing?" He said,'' Well, he's out in the backtard and he"s got six other cats with him$ Got two diggini, two coverinf up and two huntin' new territory!" "Now, I'll ask you a riddle, Uh, do you know how to catch a polar bear?" "~To, how do you catch a polar bear?" ''It's very simple, First thing you do is cut a hole in the ice and then you take a can of peas and sprinkle them around the hole, And when the bear comes up to take a pea, you kick him right in the ice hole 0 T1hat&s good~" Lori, "How about some more animal jokes?" Dad, " Some more a.nimal jokes?" Dad, "Alright, Ah, this elephant escaped from the zoo in this very small, rural town and ended up in this old maid's cabbage patch, Now, as strange as this may sound, this old maid had never seen an elephant ln all her life, She didn't know what this strange beast was, So, in the morning when she glanced out into her cabbage patch and there was the elephant, forraging Dad, around in her cabbages. She ran to the telephone and called the sheriff, Said," Sheriff you've got to come out here right away There's some strange beast or animal in my cabbage pateh and he's tearing my out with his tail'" So he says,''What's he doin' with the cabbages?" She said," Well, if I told you, you wouldn't believe me!" "Another animal story, The Zebra and the Bull, In this same circus the zebra caught the mumps, So in order not to contaminate the rest of the animals, they farmed the zebra out with this farmer and when they came back through this same town,a month later they would pick up the zebra at that time, So, the zebra made himself at home on the farm and began to feel better after a few days, The zebra was a rather intelligent animal, So, he wanted to make friends with the rest of the animals and he'd never been outside of a circus or a zoo in all his life, so, and he'd never seen any other type of animals exeept those in the zoo, So he approached this chicken and said, Good morning," said,"I'm a zebra, what are you?" So he sa"id," I'm a chicken, '' A chicken? Well, what do you do?" "Well, I cluck around and I lay eggs and, uh, scratch around for food," "Well, that's very interesting," he says," and I thank you," So he meandered around and the next thing he came to was a pig, "Good morning," he says," I'm a zrbra, what are you?" Said, otnk, oink. I'm aipig, ''A pig? Weli, what do you do?" Says, around in the mud, and generally just eat a lot and get fat," "Well, I do thank you, That's quite interesting," And he waH~ed on. Next animal he came to was a goat, And again, "Good morning,'' he says," I'm a zebra, what are you?" 0 I 0m a goat~'' ''Well 11 what do you do'?"~ (I1:tne goat said~ 0 Well, I walk around eatin' tin cans and buttin' things and everything and generally just take it easy," "Well, thank you and I enjoyed talking to you," So the zebra then wandered out into the pasture, And there he met this ferocious bulL Said, " Good morning. I'm a zebra, what! are you?" " RBJlaumph! I'm a bull!" He says," A bull?" he says,"we11, what do you do?" Says," You silly ass, you pull your striped pajamas off and I'll show you what I do!" Lori, "Dad, I remember you telling me one about, uh, I could never remember it, but uh, it's the one about the gorilla and the golf player. " Dad, " Oh, the gorilla and the golf pro." Lori, " Yeah. " Dad, "Well, there's several variations of that, but uh, this particual-r one that I remember,,,Th1s uh, golfer has played golf with this professional for several years and he never was able to beat him. In other words, the professional always won his money. So he was determined to get back at this pro. So he bought this gorilla and he trained is gorilla to hit the golf ball, drive a golf ball,.and he brought him out to the oourse one day and he walked up to the pro and he says," Now listen," says," I got a gorilla over there that I bet you five hundred dol'ars oould beat you in a round of golf." And the pro says," You 're on!" says," I '11 tell you what I '11 do. I '11 let the gorilla tee off first." So the gori gets up there and tees the ball up and WHAM! He hit that ball and it went five hundred yards. It landed that far, about a foot and a half, from the cup, And when the profess1onal saw this he said," Here's your five hundred dollars, I could never beat that guy' It's impossible!' I can't drive a ball five hundred yards That's amazing, I've never seen anything like it. So he payed him the five hundred dollars and as they were walking back towards the clubhouse he says," You know, I've never seen anybody drive like that. Never How's his puttin'?'' He says," It's the same way- WHAM!" Dad, " So, there's all kinds of animal stories. And, let's see, let's thl.nk about another one. My favorite story is about the camel, 'This uh, Ameriean businessman is over in and he had to make a call in a very remote spot of the desert which was accesable only by camel, And not knowing anything about camels, uh, he was told to go down to this used camel dealer and the man would sell him a good used camel at a reasonable rate and this would enable him to make h1s trip, So he approached Abdul, the camel dealer, and told him what his name was and Abdul assured him that he had a very fine camel at a very reasonable rate that would certainly get him to this spot which required three days of travel. He said," But sir," he says," before you go, be sure to water the camel." Said," Well, alright," So he took the camel and gave him the money, He dragged the camel down to the waterhole, camel kneeled at the edge of the hole and started drinking water and drank water sol about three and a half And finally, the c;c1,mc.c sort of staggered baek on his feet and backed off from hole and the man figured he was thoroughly filled with water, so, he hopped on the camel went. Well, they had been gone out in the desert for about two days when the camel began to falter and stagger and the first you know, the camel just simply .konked out,, So, he, somehow, miraculously made it back and he was so i,nfuriated that this c.amel dealer had, you know, jipped him, see, so he came to this camel dealer and he says," List1cn, You told me you were going to sell me a good camel," said," you sold me a lousy used camel, That thing konked out after two days out there in the desert," "Well," he says," did you water the camel?" Says," Yes. I watered the camel," "But did you water the camel th-Oroughly? Did you get water into his humps?" He says," How in the heck do I kn.ow if I got water into humps? How do you, know, how do you get water into his humps?" He says," It's very simple, While the camel is drinking water crawl underneath him and you take two rocks, one in each hand, and you hit the camel on his testicles while he's drinking water andhe,Huuuu, sucks the water up into his humps, " He says," Gosh, I couldn't do that, That would hurt something terrible," "Oh no, no, no, it wouldn t, It won't hurt you at all if you're careful to keep your thumbs out of the way!" Lori, "That's like the one about uh, about milking the cow," Dad, " How's that?" Lori, "That you told me before, about milking the cow and telling time, Dad, " Oh, milll:ing the cow and telling time? I think the story you are proba,bly alluding to is the one where underneath his burro, donkey, Oh yeah, Mexican told time in this particular instance, here again this American businessman had gone down to Mexico to a rather remote city where he had a hotel room Dad 1 and he oh, went out sightseeing and he forgot and left his wrist watch on a dresser in the hotel room and he had a two o'clock appointment, And somehow or another he sensed that time was sort of slipping by but there happened to be a siesta time. All the shops are closed, nobody on the street and th'i)re was no clock anywhere to be seen and he became desperate. So it was too far back to the hotel and he knew he'd be late so just s.s he was about to panic he looked over and there, at the end of the street,was a little Mexican fellow sleeping underneath his burro. , ,, So he ran up there and says," Jose, Jose! Can you tell me what tlme lt is?" Jose opened his eyes and propped himself up on one elbos and he says," Si, Senor," and he takes his other hand and he holds the donkey's testicles in his left hand and juggles them and he squints with one eye and says"H ten minutes till two,. senor," He couldn't believe his eyes. He walked away and said," I can't believe this.'' He went beck in a few minutes and said," J-ose, , would you mind telling me the tln:03 " And sure , the ss.me way, ,, just a minute e ~ 1 Onee , squints with one eye, juggles the donkey's testicles abd ss.ys," Iz now two / " ,rose, I'm not believing. You can't tell time this way, How in the world can you tell time that ,,. , senor, When I lift the donkey's balls," he says~'' I see the ook on the church steeple," " f1ark, do you know one?" Lori: "Mark, you've got one for us. Yeah, you've got to tell us that Mark, ij 1 Do you kr1ow what a gnu 1Seoo a g- n- U?~' Dad: u A gnu?1' Mark, " Yeah, Do you know what a gnat is?" Dad, Mark: "There's three gnus, A momma gnu, a poppa gnu and a baby gnu, And these gnus, they just loved gnats,' That's all theY ate was So one day, the three gnus went out and looked for gnats, They came back with truckloads of gnats, So momma gnu said to poppa gnu," Poppa gnu, cal'i we eat the gnats now?" And poppa gnu said to momma gnu," No, momma gnu, we'll eat the gnats in the morning," So the next morning, they wake up and all the gnats are gone, Like three or four bucketfulls of them are all gone! So momma gnu said to poppa gnu," Poppa gnu, did you eat the gnats?" Poppa gnu says to momma gnu," No, momma gnu, I didm 't eat the gnats," Momma gnu says to poppa gnu, "Por:pa gnu, did you eat the gnats?" Poppa gnu said to momma gnu,"No momma gnu, I didn't ea,t all the gnats," r0 omma gnu says to baby gnut O Ba gnu, did you eat all the gnats'?" Baby gnu says to momma 5rn1, No,momma gnu, I didn't eat all the gnats." So afternoon they went out and collected truckloads full of gnats, like it mu8t have been ten truckloads o:f gnats, Millions of them, you"ve never seen so many gnats! So they get back to the house and momma gnu says to poppa gnu," Pop:pa gnu, can we eat the gnats now?" and poppa gnu said to momma gnu," No, momma gmi, we' 11 wait till tomorrow. So they wake up and all the gnats are goneit every single one of them" So momma gnu said to poppa gnu, " Poppa gnu, did you eat the gnats?'' Poppa gnu says to momma gnu, " No, momma gnu, I didn't eat the gn8, ts ~ " Poppa gnu says to momma gnue " -~:omma gnu~ did you eat the gnats?" Momma gnu says to poppa gnu," No, poppa gnu , I d.idn' t eat all the gnats." And poppa gnu says to baby gnu," Baby gnu, dl.d you eat all the gnats?" And baby gnu says to poppa gnu," No, poppa gnu, I didn't eet all the gnats," So that day they went out and they collected, they collected just fields of gnats- just :fields of them, Like all within a ten mile radius, They just collected all these gnats. So they finally go back to the house that evening and momma gnu says to poppa gnu,"'Poppa gnu, can we eat the gnats now?" And poppa gnu says to morrm1a gnu," tJo momma gnu, we '11 wait until tomorrow morning," The next morning when they woke up, every single gnat was gone just like the two previous nights. So momma gnu says to poppa gnu," Poppa gnu, did you eat all the gnats?" and poppa gnu S/3.ys to momma gnn,"No, momma gnu, I didn't eat all the gnats," Poppa gnu said to momma gnu," Momma gnu, did you es.t all the gnats?" Momma gnu says to poppa gnu," No, poppa gnu, I didn't eat all the gnats," And poppa gnu says to baby gnu," Baby gnu, did you eat all the gnats?" And baby gnu said to poppa gnu," No, poppa gnu, I d.ldn 't .eat all the gnats." So that day they went out and they collected just millions of gnats. Lilrn, nobody knew there were this many gng.ts on the world, Like the whole country- they just got every single gnat in the whole country. They finally get all these gnats back to the house and Momma gnu says to poppa gnu," Poppa gnu, can we eat the gnats now?" And. poppa gnu says to mcmma gnu, No momma gnu, we' wait until tomorrow morning." So they wake up the next morning and every single is gone and the whole family is in disbelief, They just can't believe it. Every single gnat is gone, i'lomma gnu says to poppa gnu," Poppa gnu, did you eat all the gnats?" Poppa gnu says to momma gnu,"No,, momma gnu, I didn't eat all the gnats." Poppa gnu says to mommu gnu," Momma gnu, dild you eat all the gnats?"'; Momma gnu said 'to poppa gnu," No, poppa gnu, I didn't eat all the gnats." And mo=a gnu says to baby gn, "Baby gnu, did you eat all the gnats?" And baby gnu says to momma gnu," Yes,momma gnu, I ate all the gnats, Every single gnat," And the parents just stood there- like what are they going to do to baby gnu? So finally they decided just to send baby gnu to his room and discuss what type of punishment, Baby gnu goes to his room, Poppa gnu says," Momma gnu, what are we going to do with little baby gnu?" And after a long deliberation, they figured out a punishment for the little baby gnu, And the moral of the story is,,.oh no,,,wrong time, wrong time to tell! Poppa gnu says to momma gnu," Momma gnu, here you paddle,,," Dad, "You paddle- you paddle your own gnu!" Mark, 's been a long time!" Dad: "Well that's alright," Mon, "I want to hear it" Mark, "So momma gnu says to poppa gnu," Poppa gnu, it's your son, you punlish baby gnu!" And poppa gnu says to momma gnu," No momma gnu, he's just as much your son, You take care of little baby gnu," The moral of the story ts "Paddle your own gnu!" I was so worn out from the beginning!" Ded: "This family of moles, poppa mole, momma mole and baby mole were uh, trenching their way through the earth there when poppa mole stuc1c his nose up through the earth and sn around and says," !'an, m1rn ! Smell that good e coun c ured ham! " They Dad, were very close to the farmer's hamhouse there. And momma mole, she stuck her nose out and uh," Um, it does smell delicious, Um, smell that molasses all over! Um!" The little baby mole stuck his nose up , " 'rhat 's funny, .. all I smell is molasses!" "Well, I tell ya, storyte in' ls a lot of fun, But you've gpt to have r,omebody keep crack in' them so one. C'mon, somebody think of one," remi.nd you of another Mon, "How about having lunch together with J osti?" Dad, "I'll tell you a funny one, This uh, young Hm fellow by the name of Angelo Sicola was a sky-diver and he just loved to make parachute jumps, So, one day Angelo Sicola goes up to ten thousand feet and he jumps and he almost has a severe mishap, The parachute practically didn't open till he was six hundred :feet above ground, and it scared the devil out o:f him, but he did come down alright, This had a very profound impression on him and he got to.thinking,"Well, what am I doing with my life? Really, there's a message here somewhere. God has given me a message, I think I'll devote my life hereon to the faith, you know, to spreading the faith," So Angelo Sicola approached this priest and tpld him that he :felt the urge to become a priest and he would like very mu.ch to become one, so , the priest said," Alright, but you 're gon.na have to work very hard." Angelo assured him that this is what he was gonna do, So, Angelo entered the priesthood, and he really applied himself diligently. /Ind after several years o:f hard study, he became bishop, So when he made bishop he :felt so elated that in order to celebrate this joyous occasion, he went up in the airplane and went to ten thousand feet and made a parachute jump.and came right down on the target, I mean a beautiful jump, Absolutely beautiful. And then he went back and studied further for several more years and became archbishop, Here again, in order to celebrate, he went up in an airplane to t.en thousand feet, jumped again and precisely, right exactly where he was supposed to land. Just beautiful, So then he really began to apply himself, A.nd after many, many years he became P'.)pe. So this time when he went to celebrate, he got ready to get in the airplane, his advisors sa'il.d," Your Holiness, really you aught to stop being silly. After all, a man, uh, in your position now with dignity attached to being a pope and everything. ileally, it demeans you to sky dive," But he was a very stubborn sort of man and everything and this was the only way he knew how to express himself, He got in the airplane and went up to ten thousand feet and he jumped and the next day the headlines read: "POPE SICOLA HITS THE SPOT!" Lori, "That's s favorite- he tells it all the time." Dad, "SpeaJ,ing of the Pope, this young fellow was in Hollywood and he had ambitions to become a top notch actor and uh, he always confided in this barber friend of his, He'd come in for a haircut there and he'd tell this friend of his, his barber friend Tony, he says of all the wonderful things he was gonna do when he became a famou.s actor, had a lot of money, he was gonna travel, oh he was gonna go every place in the world and 'l'ony, of course you know, sort of ridiculed him, He says, "Ah, you're crazy!" he says," what do you want to go travenlng for? 'rhere 's nothing to see. liverywhere you go people take you for your money," "No, no, no, no. This is something I've always wanted to do. ~'1d I'm gonna go," So he got a good role, another good_ role and the first thing you know, he's on his way to stardom. But he always patronized his barber shop. ,So, one day he comes in and says," Tony," he said," I'm gonna make that trip that I told you," Tony wouldn't give him any satisfaction, "Nah, you're crazy, You're gonna go over there and spend your money, People in France, they hate America," "Well," says," I'm not gonna go to France; I'm going to Italy." . Se.ys," Ah, so what," says, "even over in I_taly they tre1;; t you the same way." "Well,I'm gonna go do other things beside that," said," I'm gonna go have an audience with the Pope," Said," Now, I know you're crazy!" Says," 1 don't.care what'you "/ay Tony, I'm going!" So he went, And when he came back from the trip, first thing he did was to come bacl, to the barbershop, He said," Tony," he said," you know what? I aught to know better than to listen to you," said," I went to France and the people were simply lovely, 'They couldn't do enough, I mean they were so accomodating and so gracious," says," when I got to Italy they were e:wen more friendly, They just simply couldn't do enough for me, And not only that," he says," I was sucoesful in getting an audience with the Pope. And do you know what he asked me when I bent dmm to kiss his hand?" Said,"No, what did the Pope ask you?" He says," Eh, who gave you that terrible haJ.rcut?" Dad: "1.,/ell, what other stories?" Mindy: "I have one 1:f I can rementber it, I'll probably mess it up, Ok- there's this Catholic woman and she had thirteen children, you kK!ow, and she was real upset, you know, so she went to a priest, you know, and she said," Father,listen, I have thirteen children, Please give me your blessings, I want to go on the Pill, I have too many children," He says," Daughter I can't do that, You know it's against the Catholic Church Rules, I can't give you my blessings to go on the Pill," She savs, "Well Father, what aJiL I ,:,;oing to do? I've got thirteen ~ ohi.ldren and I can't afford to have any more," He says," Well daughter, have you ever tried usi.ng the rhythm method?" She se,ys," Well sure Father, but don t you know l. t 's hell getting a band at two o'clock in the morning?" Mom, "Tell the one about the street walker when she bumped into the priest," Dad, "Oh, well,uh, this street walker went to confession and when she related to the priest who was listening of her activities the priest was e,bsolutely shocked, He was just absolutely shocked, And this prayed on his mind, And prayed on his mind, So the next day as he was walking down the street, he accosted her on the street, he recognized her, and he walked up to her and said," My dear child, I want you to know that last night I prayed for you, Oh, how I prayed for you!" .She said," Father,I wish I would have known. that! I was only ten minutes around the corner" Lor1: "OK" Dad, "Well, there's so many different kinds of stories and jokes and everything., 1 t 's just hard to remember some of them but, what Lori, 0 1 JOK6S 11 's see, you've covered animals and Popes and religious how about.,,., ij'J Dad, "I "ve got another good religious joke," Lori: "OK s 1 Dad: "'rhis ccncerns two preachers, rather young men, who uh, were ardent bicyclists, And uh, every uh, Monday morning they met at six o'clock sharp and they would ride their bicycles for miles and miles through the city. Ax1d this went on for several years. But one morning at six o'clock, one Monday morning, at six o'clock, uh, one of the uh, preachers was there waiting and finally uh, here comes the other one v,ithout his bicycle, walki".lg, He says,'' Good ,gracious," hE;? says, .what happened?' Where's your bicycle'?" Says,1t1ell, I,I'm rather disillusioned, I think,I,I'm pretty sure that a member of my congregation stole it, Uh, it uh, at the church meeting last Sunday," he says, "but I'm not sure''~" So his friend' says~ uwell, uh~ have you considered giving a sermon and uh, perhaps you could touch the conscience of this guilty person ,1.f he's in your congregation and uh,mtake him, you know, prod him to return bicycle," So he says," Well, that's an excellent idea," So the next Monday morning at six o 'clocl, he appeared with his bicycle, Says," Oh," says," I see you were succesful in recover your bicycle," Says," Yes," says," I sure was, I took your suggestion and I gave a sermon and uh, I used the 'I'en Commandments as a basis." Says,"Well," he says," you must have really touched the member of your congreg;at ton,'' he says, " It really must have hit his conscience real hard. " He says, " Well I don't know, " he says, " No, I wouldn't say so, .. he sa,ys ~ 11 I uhj Dad, gave the sermon on the 'ren Commandments and as I was going down the Ten Commandments, the 11st of Commandments, I got to the one that says," Thout shalt not Comm.it Adultery" ar2d I remembered where I left the bicycle," "So, but 1cmyhow, so much for that type, Uh, doctor jokes are always popular. And one of my favorites is Von Crickenberg's Syndrome joke, which uh, concerns thi.s patient in the hospital that had been in the hospital for months with the Von Crickenberg's Syndrome, which was basically a malfunction of his digestive system. What was involved, no what he ate, fiye minutes after he ate it, it came out of his rear end completely intact, no physical change, exactly like it was before he ate it, So this guy is laying in his bed, bemoaning h:!.s fate, and in comes this new intern,just been assigned to the hospital,and he had no idea what this man's problem was, And when he walked up to his chart and read it, he couldn't believe it! And he questioned the patient and ,of course, the patient had been asked by so many doctors. and prodded by so many doctors he just dldn't want to ha,,e anything to do with it, he he was rather reluctant to.discuss it, And the young intern says," I just don't J:.elieve it," he says,"'I think it's fake!" He says,"Alright, I'll show you," So he had .9, strawberry tart there that had been served for dinner and he took the strawberry tart, ate .it, and sure enough, five minutes later, out comes the strawberry tart, completely intact, no change whatsoever, And the lntern is just simply, uh, he's dumbfounded, So he runs to the Medical Library and this ,incidentally, was in a very large medical center. They had one of the finest libraries in the world, And he researched for about three days straight. A11d finally he found the des on of the Von Crickenbere; Syndrome, so named for Dr, Von Crlckenberg of Austria and because this Dr, Von Crickenberg had discovered nine such other cases by himself. The only doc that had come across such a thing. So he came running back to the staff to tell them what he had found and one of them said," Well, that's rather odd," said," we 're having a world- wide medical convention in this city this week and of all the people to be here is Von Crickenberg himself, We aught to call him on over here and let hl.m examl.ne the patient," So they called Von Crickenberg and told him what had and Von Crickenberg says,"Acn!" he says," No this l.s impossible!" he says,"There can be no other cases of the Von Crickenberg Syndrome, I have discovered all nine cases in the whole, wide world, There are no more cases of the Von Crickenberg Syndrome!" "Well, come on over and see for yourself," So, he finally comes over, And once again, the patient d.emonstrates for Dr. Von Crickenberg and sure e11ough, you know, five minutes later, , , Von Crickenberg is elated. He's elated t He s found another case of the Von Crickenberg Syndrome, So he turns to rush out of the room to make his report to the Medical Journal and the patient, by this time, has had it, Says," Wait a minute, Dr, Von Crickenberg," says," wait a minute, Please!:' Says," Let me talk to you for just a minute,@ says, "now, all these other guys around here, they're," says," Just a bunch of amateurs, 1'heir don't know what they 're doing, They 're just messing around with me. and everything, Now, you're an authority on this thing, Help me, e, help me" Now, Von Crickenberg, being a true Lori: diagnostician~ is ln.terested only ln the diagnosis, you know, like most diag-nosticians. So he turns to man and says , " My dear fellow, Let me tell you, In diagnostic medicine," he saidt 11 the diagnos is the most important thing. The cure is l.mmaterial," But he says," Dr. You've got to help me! I want to be normal lilre everybody else! " He says, "'/ell, in your casei the cure is very simple0 everybody else, eat shit!'' If you want to be normal like "Tell me um, I noticed that you put an accent into that,,, do you think that's really important in telltng a joke?" DAd: 11 ~lelli if you, :now I don @t use an accent very we But if you Lori: Dad: Lori: Dad: do have the ability fo uh, use acc~nts, it does give an atmosphe: re to a joke. I think it adds to it immeasurably, I really think it does, It makes a big difference when telling a story. But, to me, the most important thing in ing jokes uh, in an unprofessional capacity among friends and everything, is the ability to 11 a E,tory that .fits :l.nto the conversation, ' ' I And then it has tremendous significance, or impact or it's really very funny, But if you take a story out of context and tell it, well,' it just, it loses all its' punch. That's the way I feel about 1t. "That's how a comedtan puts together his dialogue for a show, I suppose 0 ~ ~ 113 "He begins to talk about a certain ect and then he brings the j oJre up .. ti "I guess he '11 try to uh, relate to uh, some that he has in common with members of the audience like talking about h:i.s wife like Hermy Youngman with his one iners there. He says, "Now you taJre my trife~please 111 you know, that sort of stuff~ seej or uh~ q'my wife has found a. Cure for a uh~ new control technique~'' 11What 11 s that?'' '~She takes off her makeup at night,. 11 You know, things like that, So uh, most of them try to uh, project a situation whereby they make the members of the audience feel lilrn they have a lot in common an.d this ,z:ives them common ,;,:round and then they both seem to enjoy the story, But uh, I just don't have too much more to add to this uh, I'm sure that your course is ,,ery interesting and I imagine there will bs a lot of awful good stories told or folklore stories or whatever you want to oall them, Lori, "Do you have a osing joke or a couple more to throw in?" Mon: ~ 1Glosing line? 0 "Just like the guy said, if you want to be healthy and wealthy and mostly wealthy, just remember these three word.a: STICK 'EM UP! ! ! ! " I dl.d not find m9.ny motifs or taletypes for the jokes that were contributed as most of these ,jokes are rather contemporary and are, therefore, not listed .in any of the sources 1n the library, The ones that I did. find are very general.and may not hold any value, but I have listed them belo,r, "he Zebra and the Bull I.Animal Uses Human Speech B211 ?,Speaking Chicken 8211,J,2.l, J,Speaking Goat 8211.1,2, I+. Speaking Eog 13211. L 4. 5. Speakin;,: 13ullock 8211. 1, 5. J, '['he Gorilla and the Golf Professional I.Animals with Human Traits 13200 Priest Jokes l.'l'abus of Priests C573 2,Application of the Sermon- 'l'aletype 1833 Doctor Jokes l,Jokes on Doctors(Physicians) J'aletype 1862 2. Extra.ordinary Diagnosis F'956 -RELEASE- 13y letting u;s collect your traditions-~stories, sanes j music 9 rememberences, or beliefs of earlier days---you have made a valuable contribution to preserving and understandi,:ig Southern history, and especially the way of life of your commun:.ty. Because you ha'(e given unselfishly of your time to do this, the Georgia Folklore Archives, whose representatives are dedicated to preserving these traditions, wants to protect your rights to this material by guaranteeing that it uill not be used for unscrupulous cowmercial profits. By signing this sheet, you are giving us permission to use this material for educational purposes so that people i,ho are interested can understand how life was in the old days. If you don't want your name to be used, say so--we respect your right to privacy. Thank you for the time you have given to help us record a heritage that is an iI'1portant part of American life. "In consideration of ny intent in helpinr: to preserve ny folk herita13e, I hereby grant permission to the Georgia Folk Archives and its Director, John Burrison, to publish, ot otherwise n,al:e use of, the material recorded from me by the agent of the Georgia Folklore Archives whose name appears on this sheet. 1 Si Address i _ 1 -._. A~i ~)Jir!VttfodrJ Agent of Geor13ia Folklore Archives __ -""11''-'-vv"----------'------------ Additional Witness -rn Jji~' :if/~ J Georeia Folklore Archi:es '- 1 ~ c/o Professor John Burrison Georgia State University 33 Gilmer Street Southeast Atlanta, Geor13ia 30303 ~EURGIA FOLKLORE ARCHIVES CATALOGUE INFORMANT IV\ '",9__() t :"-L 1g address and phone number: \ s'-i<1 .JS c0=lok Q&_, ~ '2_ 1 ,<\-+-[~"'"'"'\ G:- ~ c:,o ,:',ct_') ,nd/or ethnic affiliation: Year and , It CATALOGUE INFORMANT M ,,x IZ ::3.,, Is._, tg address and phone number: 11-%- \\1,,.,-.\-l \\o\l&LV\., \;+-1~"'"'',C.J, '30 6C,.,'J ,nd/or ethnic affiliation: :r, Year and clo.-o-a : It ~~URGIA FOLKLORE ARCHIVES CATALOGUE INFORMANT og address and phone number: \;J,Vl 0d" c..~lo\, \c&_. 'iv>-, A+Lc.."'\-"', C,'- 30,a;:;;.1 S-'1 :1.nd/or ethnie affiliation:~>->-- c._c--..str-,._~ er, Year and cl~cg:S rc,'c'r \0+'/ fOl 11.. 20 I . II GEORGIA FOLKLORE ARCHIVES CATALOGUE COLLECTOR 1anent" address and phone number: \ J.69 B "'"-"'\' L "iu"1; \1',',-A- Hc.."'\..-,,Gf er and year: s;~, :0 l~l 'f : fol \1.. ..:io I description of contents: ( 1 oll,\.<..l'"s - '"'':___\ -~~V.'-"'> 1 ';" "-"'"' ,~lees , ,\Lc..\co,- jo\l.,.s . II A PDF transcript exists for this recording. Please contact an archivist for access. Professor John Burrison founded the Atlanta Folklore Archive Project in 1967 at Georgia State University. He trained undergraduates and graduate students enrolled in his folklore curriculum to conduct oral history interviews. Students interviewed men, women, and children of various demographics in Georgia and across the southeast on crafts, storytelling, music, religion, rural life, and traditions. As archivists, we acknowledge our role as stewards of information, which places us inaposition to choose how individuals and organizations are represented and described in our archives. We are not neutral, andbias isreflected in our descriptions, whichmay not convey the racist or offensive aspects of collection materialsaccurately.Archivists make mistakes and might use poor judgment.We often re-use language used by the former owners and creators, which provides context but also includes bias and prejudices of the time it was created.Additionally,our work to use reparative languagewhereLibrary of Congress subject termsareinaccurate and obsolete isongoing. Kenan Research Center welcomes feedback and questions regarding our archival descriptions. If you encounter harmful, offensive, or insensitive terminology or description please let us know by emailingreference@atlantahistorycenter.com. Your comments are essential to our work to create inclusive and thoughtful description.