Lightbulb joke

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Jokes of the form "How many does it take to change a lightbulb?"

title: "Lightbulb joke" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public description: "Jokes of the form "How many does it take to change a lightbulb?"" topic_path: "uncategorized" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightbulb_joke" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Jokes of the form "How many does it take to change a lightbulb?" ::

thumb|right|150px|An [[Edison screw]] lightbulb can be screwed into the [[lightbulb socket#Edison screw bases|base]] without assistance

A lightbulb joke is a joke cycle that asks how many people of a certain group are needed to change, replace, or screw in a light bulb. Generally, the punch line answer highlights a stereotype of the target group. There are numerous versions of the lightbulb joke satirizing a wide range of cultures, beliefs, and occupations.

Early versions of the joke, popular in the late 1960s and the 1970s, were used to insult the intelligence of people, especially Poles ("Polish jokes"). Such jokes generally take the form of: A. Three — one to hold the light bulb and two to turn the ladder around.}}

Although lightbulb jokes tend to be derogatory in tone (e.g., "How many drunkards..." / "Four: one to hold the light bulb and three to drink until the room spins"), the people targeted by them may take pride in the stereotypes expressed and are often themselves the jokes' originators. An example where the joke itself becomes a statement of ethnic pride is: A. One, we're very efficient but not funny.}}

Lightbulb jokes applied to subgroups can be used to ease tensions between them.

Variations

Some versions of the joke are puns on the words "change" or "screw".

A. None—the light bulb will change when it's ready.}}

A. Two, but don't ask me how they got in there.}}

Lightbulb jokes are often responses to contemporary events. For example, the lightbulb may not need to be changed at all due to ongoing power outages.{{cite web | url = http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-10263515_ITM | title = And the winner is ... California | author = Michael Miller | publisher = Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal | date = 2001-02-16 | access-date = 2007-12-14 | quote = There are also a dozen light-bulb jokes zooming around the Internet, but what good are lightbulb jokes if you don't have power?

The Village Voice held a $200 lightbulb joke contest around the time of the Iran hostage crisis, with the winning joke being:{{block indent|Q. How many Iranians does it take to change a light bulb? A. You send us the prize money and we'll tell you the answer.}}

References

Notes

  • {{cite journal | jstor = 1499697 | title = Many Hands Make Light Work or Caught in the Act of Screwing in Light Bulbs | author = Alan Dundes | journal = Western Folklore | volume = 40 | issue = 3 | pages = 261–266 | year = 1981 | doi = 10.2307/1499697 | publisher = Western States Folklore Society
  • Alan Dundes (1981). "Many Hands Make Light Work or Caught in the Act of Screwing in Light Bulbs". In {{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=DBOj_8QLarQC | title = Humor prism in twentieth-century America | author = Joseph Boskin | pages = 250–7 | year = 1997 | publisher = Wayne State University Press | isbn = 978-0-8143-2597-1
  • {{cite journal | doi = 10.2307/539876 | jstor = 539876 | title = The Light-Bulb Jokes: Americans Look at Social Action Processes | author = Judith B. Kerman | journal = The Journal of American Folklore | volume = 93 | issue = 370 | year = 1980| pages = 454–458 | publisher = American Folklore Society

category:incandescent light bulbs category:joke cycles

References

  1. Elaine Viets. (1991-09-04). "Light Bulb Jokes: Screwed-Up Humor". [[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]].
  2. (2004-11-07). "How Many Students Does It Take..". New York Times.
  3. (11 July 1965). "Try and Stop Me". Daily Review (Hayward, Cal.).
  4. (July–August 1966). "Anti-Italian-American Riddles in New England". Journal of American Folklore.
  5. Dundes, 261.
  6. Kerman, 454–455.
  7. Kerman, 456–457.
  8. Richard M. Grimes. (1996). "Shedding Light on Public Health". Palgrave Macmillan Journals.
  9. Dundes in Boskin, 255–256.
  10. Dundes in Boskin, 253–255.
  11. Morris W. Beverage Jr.. (September–October 2003). "Slow Change in a Fast Culture". Educause Review.
  12. (2003). "The New Accountability". Routledge.
  13. (1991). "Folklore and Its Electronic Modes of Transmission: Xerography, Electronic Mail, and Facsimile". University of California, Berkeley.
  14. Dundes in Boskin, 255.
  15. Dundes, 264.

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